How to Achieve Dynamic In-Store Displays?

China is a super manufacturing and copying powerhouse; once a product sells well, numerous imitations appear overnight. Therefore, as a manufacturer, how to capture consumers' attention and achieve effective in-store display merchandising is extremely important. According to statistics, improved in-store displays can increase product sales by more than 20%.

Part One Definition, Standards, and Significance of Merchandising

1. Definition of Merchandising

Making products more vividly displayed in front of consumers, making them easy to identify, attracting their attention, and thereby gaining more opportunities to be purchased.

2. Why Establish Merchandising Standards? What is the Significance?

The competition in the FMCG market is intensifying. By establishing merchandising standards, not only can the company's brand image be enhanced, but consumers can also see a clean and orderly display style among many competing products, creating a strong visual impact, making it easier to form memories and trigger impulsive purchases.

Research has found that consumers (especially women) often make unplanned purchases—deciding to buy upon seeing product displays. Merchandising can enhance the display effect and stimulate consumers' purchase intention. In other words, the quality of product display is the last chance to drive sales; only products that attract customers' attention will sell! Consumers who go to supermarkets make random purchases in the majority. They stay in a supermarket for an average of 15 minutes (excluding hypermarkets), stop in front of a product area for 15 seconds, and 75% make decisions within 5 seconds. If they don't see the product they want to buy, 40% will buy another product. Lost sales opportunities never return; once you miss a consumer's purchase, you lose that sale forever. The next time, the consumer won't buy double to make up for the loss.

Part Two Product Display

Product display is divided into shelf display and off-shelf display.

Shelf Display

1. Principles of Shelf Display

Quantity: Increasing the number of display faces will strengthen visual impact, create a sense of abundance, and increase sales.
Concentration: All products of the company's series should be displayed together to achieve related and holistic brand association and influence.
Color: Eye-catching colors and appropriate color combinations can leave consumers with an impression of product richness, strong selectivity, and corporate strength, enhancing the display effect.
Lighting: Appropriate lighting can enhance the color of products, deepen the exquisite and noble aesthetic effect, and create expected display effects and shopping atmospheres such as romance, enthusiasm, and freshness. It also attracts buyers' attention and fosters affinity with the products.
Leading Products: The best-selling leading products should occupy the largest display space.
Prominent Position: Key brand products should be placed in the first best position, i.e., at eye level.

2. Selection of Shelf Display Positions

The same product in the same store can see huge sales changes due to different shelf positions.

Golden Shelf Position: 60-160cm, visible at eye level, easy to reach, accounting for 50% of sales.
Secondary Position: 160cm-180cm and 30cm-60cm, accounting for 30% of sales.
Top and Bottom: Above 180cm and below 30cm, accounting for 15% of sales. Always maintain a fixed display position for products to prevent competitors from encroaching. Additionally, consumers in the store generally walk in one direction; few people walk back and forth in the same aisle. Most Easterners have a right-side orientation and pay more attention to products on the right. Therefore, in the same aisle, the shelf on the right side of the traffic flow is often better than the left.

3. Requirements for Shelf Display

Company products should be displayed vertically, with the same specification and packaging on the same shelf level horizontally. Each specification should have at least three display faces, and the larger the face, the better—sales are almost proportional to the display face.
Best-selling specifications or those promoted by the company, or those with higher profits, should be placed in the middle best shelves, or periodically rotate specifications to the best shelves.
When conditions allow, fully utilize the company's merchandising items such as price cards, insert strips, wobblers, hanging flags, and balloons. The front of products on the same shelf should face customers uniformly. Remove a few bottles from neatly arranged products to show good sales.
Products must have clear price tags; be careful not to misplace price tags.
Place products with earlier production dates in front for quick sale to avoid product retention and expiration.
All product Chinese labels should face outward.
Place heavy and large items at the bottom, and small and light items on top, for consumer convenience and aesthetic habits.
During new product promotion, ensure new products occupy at least 1/3 of the display space.
Place products next to the best-selling products in the same category to "borrow light."

4. How to Use Best-Selling Products for Display

When consumers wander in the store, they can pass 100-200 products in a minute. Products that attract attention get 5 seconds of consumer time, the so-called "5-second advertisement in the store." All merchants' "hand-to-hand combat" in the store is actually to win these 5 seconds of effective attention. But consumers pass a product on average every 0.5 seconds. How to make your product stand out among 100-200 products and gain attention?

Best-selling products are often located in the highest traffic areas, where consumers stay longer, and thus have more opportunities to be noticed and purchased. Data shows: Products displayed next to best-selling products receive far more consumer attention than other products.

When displaying products next to best-sellers, pay attention to the following two issues:

If your product has obvious weaknesses in quality, packaging, price, etc., compared to the best-seller, stay away from it; otherwise, you will become a foil and expose your product's defects.
Be sure to show your product's different personality from the best-seller, highlight the differences, so your product can compete at the same level. Product merchandising is the best way to express personality.

Off-Shelf Display

1. End Cap Display

Must display promotional product specifications with clear promotional information signs such as "Special Price," "Prize," etc.
Products on the end cap should be abundant; each end cap should display at most two items, preferably one.
Products on the end cap must be large packaging specifications.
When conditions allow, fully utilize the company's merchandising items.

2. Floor Stack Display

Choose a location on the route most frequently taken by consumers.
Stacking Display Method: Pay attention to the stability of the base; use cross-stacking. POP and product packaging fronts should face consumers, with appropriate height for easy access. Types: Island Floor Display: Located in the center of the main traffic aisle, accessible from four directions. Except for the bottom layer, all boxes are cut open to expose the trademark. Trapezoid Floor Display: Against a wall, accessible from the other three sides. Except for the bottom layer, all boxes are cut open, with each layer receding. Pyramid Display: Square shape, wide at the bottom and narrow at the top, with multiple layers in circles.
Cut-Box Display Method: When there is no fixed or special stack base or display rack, cut the cartons according to the box structure and trademark printing format, usually cutting the front in a trapezoid shape down to the lower waist. This allows full product display and simple display using the box (see Micro-course 1 for details).
When replenishing products, follow the principle of from back to front and from top to bottom.
The display should preferably be one product specification and large packaging. The height of the stack should be convenient for consumers to pick up.
The floor stack must have clear promotional information or price tags.
The floor stack must have company banners or POP around it.

The above is the company's "Supermarket Display Rules." In reality, sales personnel are constrained by the store's own regulations, the sales base of competing and own products in the store, and customer relationships, so they cannot fully implement the display rules as taught.

Part Three How to Actually Do Supermarket Displays

I. Correct Understanding of Supermarket Displays To truly improve their supermarket display "martial arts," sales personnel cannot rely solely on memorizing dozens of display rules. They must understand the deeper meaning of display rules and apply them flexibly.

1. The Significance of Display Rules Lies in a Unified Visual Effect

Different companies have different display rules. In fact, the significance of display rules is not in the rules themselves (e.g., whether "brand vertical, packaging horizontal" or "packaging vertical, brand horizontal" is better is hard to conclude), but in having a standard so that consumers see a consistent display style at different points of sale, making it easier to form memory points.

2. The Core of Display Rules is to Occupy Maximum Space

If you think there are too many display rules to remember, just remember one sentence: "Display as many products as possible and occupy as much display space as possible."

If you can push competitors off the shelf, you can push them out of the market!

3. Supermarket Display is Not an Isolated Task

The effect of supermarket displays depends on store support, and the reasons for store support include:

You invest more display fees.
Good after-sales service, professional and thoughtful sales staff, and good customer relationships.
Your products sell well and have high profits in the supermarket.
Your promotional activities enhance the supermarket's "low price" image.

Supermarket display is not an isolated task. To improve supermarket display effects, you need to work on product portfolio design, pricing, promotions, display fees, after-sales service quality, and business visits. Relying solely on sales personnel visits to improve display effects (especially fighting for display positions) becomes "water without a source" and "a single hand cannot clap."

4. Display Has No End, Only Execution

Securing the best display position and space is only the first step; maintaining the display effect relies on the tireless efforts of sales personnel in daily work, day after day, month after month, year after year. Which manufacturer supplies more promptly, visits more frequently, and does more solid store display work will maintain its own display position and gradually seize competitors' positions. To some extent, supermarket display performance is a reflection of the salesperson's dedication, a contest of execution and endurance.

5. Supermarket Display Requires "Knowing What to Give Up"

After all, the display space given by supermarkets is limited; increasing the display face of one item will inevitably reduce another. So supermarket display is never perfect; you can only strive for better. Based on the promotion focus of different products in different periods, have gains and losses, prioritize the display of key promoted items, and sacrifice the display faces of "secondary" items.

II. Practical Tips: Know Yourself and Your Enemy, Counter Every Move The difficulty of supermarket displays mostly comes from the store's various regulations. Therefore, being familiar with common supermarket display regulations and how to counter them can help you know yourself and your enemy, counter every move, and turn passivity into initiative.

1. Comply with the Supermarket's Own Display Standards

Background: Each supermarket has its own display style and regulations. In practice, manufacturers' product displays must comply with these regulations, which limits the display effect (e.g., centralized display by taste, packaging, or price prevents manufacturers from displaying together). In this case, design a display plan tailored to the store.

Actions: ◤1. Design the display plan. When formulating a display modification plan for the supermarket, first draw a diagram of the store's snack area: including shelf width, number of layers, distribution of competing products on the shelf, the display space already secured for your product, and the expected specific display position. ◤2. For supermarkets that display by specification vertically (products of the same specification from different manufacturers are placed vertically together), use the following technique (see Figure 1). Countermeasure: In the same specification area, try to make your products "connect vertically, arrange in a straight line," using the adjacent positions of two specifications to place your two specifications next to each other, creating a centralized display effect (see Figure 2). ◤3. For supermarkets that display by brand (the supermarket allocates a section for each manufacturer, and products of the same manufacturer are placed together), the technique is as follows. Supermarket shelves are generally 4-6 layers; the most effective shelves are the middle layers (100cm-170cm). If you use horizontal display (one item per layer horizontally), the top and bottom layers will not occupy effective display positions. If you use vertical display (each item arranged vertically) while ensuring each item has at least two display faces, the limited space may not allow all items to be displayed. Countermeasure: Use a cross-display method (horizontal and vertical combination).

Try to give every barcode an effective display face.
Don't be fooled by the existing number of shelf layers; redefine the shelf layers with an effective display perspective. Example: As shown in Figure 3, a supermarket shelf has 5 layers. With an effective display perspective, you can redefine the layers as 3 layers. Note: Treat layers 1 and 2 as the first layer, layer 3 as one layer, and layers 4 and 5 as one layer. When displaying multiple barcodes on this shelf, it is recommended to display as shown below: Note: 1. This ensures every barcode can occupy a display face on the effective display layers (layers 2 to 4). 2. Similarly, when the shelf has 4 layers, redefine it as two layers.

2. Seizing Display Positions When Entering the Store

Background: ◤1. When a product enters the store, the supermarket buyer will specify the new product's display position and display face in the form of a "Supermarket Display Configuration Table" (the store manager can make some adjustments). Once the configuration table is set, it cannot be easily changed. ◤2. When a new product enters, the order will be negotiated with the supplier for the minimum order quantity and initial order quantity for each item.

Actions: ◤1. When a new product enters, put effort into negotiating with the buyer to secure the most "favorable display conditions." Common negotiation directions:

Use promotions to promote display.
Promote unique selling points: your product has unique selling points compared to existing products in the supermarket, can bring new consumer groups, and increase the overall sales of the category shelf (e.g., if the supermarket's existing products are mid-to-high priced, your product has advantages in the low-price market).
Exclusive benefits for the supermarket (e.g., exclusive distribution of a barcode, lower price, higher profit, better after-sales service).
Annual plan outlook.
Use competitive psychology.
Use weak competitors: a certain competitor (a weak brand with poor sales) currently occupies so many display faces; if you give me the same display faces, I guarantee to achieve a certain sales volume and profit. ◤2. Deliver the initial order in full quantity. Once the display configuration table is set, the initial delivery must be 100% complete with all items in full quantity, and communicate with the store manager to ensure the table is fully implemented. Otherwise, the hard-won display position may "shrink," and you may even have to pay new product barcode fees again at the next replenishment. ◤3. Adjust the minimum order quantity. Supermarket orders are mostly computer-generated. The minimum order quantity set at entry will affect the supermarket's order quantity and safety stock for your product, thereby affecting sales and display. Therefore, when determining the minimum order quantity, sales personnel should actively participate and propose adjustments.

3. Seizing Display Positions During Daily Visits

Visit Time: Know the competitor's sales representative's visit time to the supermarket, adjust your visit time to follow closely, weaken their display results, and seize display faces.
Every promotion is an opportunity to expand display faces.
Seize weak brands: "Brand X's sales have been declining, yet it occupies such a large shelf. Give me a few of its display faces, and I guarantee to increase sales by a certain amount."
Wait for the right moment: The layout of stack bases and shelves in each supermarket department generally doesn't change, but adjustments are made during renovations, store anniversaries, season changes, festivals, new product entries, and product eliminations. This is the best time to seize display faces (especially when competitors are out of stock, out of supply, or removed by the supermarket for violations; your product should immediately seize the opportunity, using strong promotions as leverage to negotiate with the supermarket for display faces).
Sales Rep Alliance: Form an "alliance" with sales reps of other brands: "In the future, when doing store merchandising, we won't fight each other; we'll all go after Brand X's display faces."
Display Face Exchange: Even if there are "idle" display faces far from your product area, seize them, because you can exchange these "spoils" with other manufacturers for useful display faces or do favors (seeking cooperation with that manufacturer's sales rep).
Timely Supply: Master the sales volume of each supermarket, help the supermarket adjust your product's safety stock, and deliver promptly to ensure that display faces don't decline due to stockouts or missing items.
Seek Assistance in Display: Build good relationships with the store's merchandising staff, and ask them to take care of your product's display faces when you are not in the store. Form alliances with non-competing merchandising staff of other manufacturers; when one party is absent, the other helps with displays.
Seize the Transit Warehouse: Supermarkets set up transit warehouses near the shelves (top layers, bottom layers, both sides of stairs, corners at the entrance) to store small quantities of goods for easy replenishment. If your product's stock in the transit warehouse is insufficient, it will directly lead to your display faces being squeezed by competitors.
Develop a Second Display Space: If the good stack position in the leisure area is taken, try to secure a stack position in other areas adjacent to the leisure area (e.g., the instant noodle area). The stack fee may be lower, and because your product is different in that area, it is very eye-catching and has a good promotional effect.
Develop Display Dead Corners: The end of the supermarket aisle is usually a business dead corner with low traffic and sales. Manufacturers can try to buy the year-round stack position in the dead corner near their product shelf at a very low price, then communicate with the supermarket to set up large posters, cartoon POP, free tasting tables, mirrors, etc., to guide traffic and activate the dead corner.

Currently, the modern sales channel of stores accounts for an increasing proportion of product sales, especially for FMCG, and it tends to strangle traditional channels. Therefore, doing product merchandising well, especially in-store product merchandising, plays a very important role in enhancing the company's brand image and product sales. I hope everyone can combine theory with practice and truly apply what they have learned.

This platform will soon organize dealers interested in transforming to B2B platform e-commerce to visit and study some well-performing domestic B2B platforms. If you want to learn more with the editor, you can add the editor's WeChat. When adding, please reply with the keyword: 考察 (Inspection)

- END-

The best FMCG dealer learning platform in China Dedicated to providing professional, practical, and actionable tutorials for enterprises and dealers Committed to helping Chinese FMCG dealers grow rapidly The most professional and practical knowledge base in the FMCG industry Reply with the red number below to get the corresponding content Reply with number 1 to view the complete knowledge base | 001 Excellent Article Selection | 002 Dealer Market Operations | 003 Terminal Visit Management | 004 Sales Supervisor Skills | 005 Sales Improvement Tips | 006 Channel Expansion | 007 Managing Dealers | 008 Dealer Development | 009 Dealer Internal Operations Management | 010 Team Management | 011 Efficient Distribution Skills | 012 Sales Manager's 18 Skills | 013 KA Operation Methods and Strategies | 014 First Lesson for New Salespeople | 015 Internet, Brand | [Long press QR code to follow]