---
title: "Is Offline Business Getting Harder? Has 'Terminal is King' Failed?"
description: "Many distributors are asking how to manage outlets to achieve 'terminal is king'. The answer lies in eight characters: outlets, display, visits, and sell-through. This article elaborates on these four extremes, covering strategies for outlet management, display optimization, visit excellence, and sell-through maximization, and discusses the interplay of 'dao' and 'shu' in execution."
author: "高级研究员 海游"
publisher: "New Distribution"
email: "zhaobo258@gmail.com"
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published: "2023-09-20"
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# Is Offline Business Getting Harder? Has 'Terminal is King' Failed?

> Many distributors are asking how to manage outlets to achieve 'terminal is king'. The answer lies in eight characters: outlets, display, visits, and sell-through. This article elaborates on these four extremes, covering strategies for outlet management, display optimization, visit excellence, and sell-through maximization, and discusses the interplay of 'dao' and 'shu' in execution.

Recently, many distributors have been consulting on one thing: how to manage outlets well to achieve 'terminal is king'? This may be a clichéd question, but the more basic the old question, the more it can determine the life or death of manufacturers and distributors. My answer is often just eight characters: outlets, display, visits, and sell-through. If you achieve perfection in these eight characters, the market is yours. Today, I will elaborate on these eight characters in detail.

**Outlets to the Extreme**

The ultimate point of offline FMCG business is the outlet. If you manage outlets well, your business will not be bad. Achieving outlet excellence can satisfy both sales volume and brand building. Specifically, it includes the following seven points:

1. **Product Strategy**: For brand owners, understand consumer needs, develop products that meet market demand, and ensure product differentiation and innovation. Provide a rich product line to meet the needs of different consumer groups. The core logic is to match products with outlet attributes.
2. **Channel Management**: Establish a stable distribution network, select reliable distributors and retail partners, and ensure smooth and stable product circulation. Attract and motivate distributors to actively promote products through reasonable channel cooperation policies and incentive measures.
3. **Promotional Activities**: Regularly hold promotional activities, such as discounts and gifts, to attract customers. Cooperate with terminal outlets to carry out joint marketing activities to increase product awareness and sales.
4. **Training Support**: Provide training support to sales personnel at terminal outlets, including product knowledge and sales skills. Help sales personnel better promote products and improve sales performance.
5. **Data Analysis**: Use data analysis tools and technologies to conduct in-depth analysis of sales data at terminal outlets, understand consumer purchasing behavior and preferences, and provide a basis for product and sales decisions.
6. **Customer Experience**: Focus on consumers' shopping experience and provide good pre-sales and after-sales service. Establish a customer relationship management system, maintain positive interaction with consumers, and build brand loyalty and word-of-mouth effects.
7. **Innovative Technology**: Use innovative technologies such as the Internet of Things and artificial intelligence to optimize supply chain management and sales processes, improving operational efficiency and customer satisfaction.

**Summary**: Through the above measures, manufacturers and distributors in the FMCG industry can achieve better sales performance and market share at terminal outlets, enhancing brand influence and competitiveness.

**Display to the Extreme**

Display is a direct way to show product value to consumers, so you must constantly think about what 'what' to display, in 'what quantity', at 'what position', showing 'which side' to customers, and in 'what form'. It is best to follow the display instruction diagram, and another key point is to save as much display procedure and time as possible. Specifically, it includes the following seven points:

1. **Design Attractive Display Plans**: Carefully design product display plans to make products easy to find and attract consumers' attention at terminal outlets. Consider product characteristics, target consumer groups, and the characteristics of the display area, and place products reasonably. In modern channels, use color and lighting effects to enhance product appeal.
2. **Highlight Brand Image and Values**: Use display methods and materials to highlight the brand's image and values. Use brand logos, slogans, and related images, as well as decorative elements that match the brand image, to strengthen brand recognition and consistency.
3. **Optimize Product Layout**: Reasonably arrange the order and position of product displays so that consumers can easily find the products they need when browsing. Place best-selling products in more visible and accessible positions to increase sales opportunities. At the same time, place related products together to facilitate comparison and selection.
4. **Provide Rich Product Information**: Provide clear and detailed product information in the display area, such as product features, uses, advantages, and prices. Use display media such as signs, display boards, and digital screens to convey product information and brand stories to consumers, increasing their understanding and interest.
5. **Use Display Promotional Materials**: Use promotional materials such as display racks, POP materials, posters, and product labels to increase the attractiveness and information transmission effect of product displays. These materials can help highlight product features, promote sales, and guide consumers' purchasing decisions.
6. **Regularly Update Displays**: Regularly check and update displays to maintain freshness and attractiveness. Adjust displays and replace products in a timely manner based on seasonal changes, promotional activities, and market trends to ensure displays remain effective and attractive.
7. **Train Terminal Sales Personnel**: Provide display training and product knowledge training to terminal sales personnel so that they can understand and effectively execute display plans. Sales personnel can become promoters of displays, helping to show the best product display effects and provide professional consultation and sales support.

**Summary**: Through careful design and effective execution of terminal display strategies, manufacturers can improve product visibility and attractiveness, stimulate consumers' purchase desire, and thus increase sales volume and market share.

**Visits to the Extreme**

The core of visit excellence includes two aspects: one is excellent customer relations, and the other is excellent service.

First, excellent customer relations: Sales representatives can establish close relationships with terminal outlets and provide personalized support and services. This proactive communication and cooperation approach helps enhance the image and credibility of sales representatives at terminal outlets, promoting product sales and market share growth. Specifically, it includes the following six points:

1. **Understand Terminal Outlets**: Before each terminal outlet, understand its business situation, needs, and characteristics in advance. Understanding the outlet's business model, target consumer groups, and competitor situation helps sales representatives better communicate and cooperate with the outlet.
2. **Establish Personal Connections**: Establish good personal connections with the operators and staff of terminal outlets. Understand their needs, preferences, and concerns, and proactively care about their business conditions and challenges. Build trust and friendly relationships through personalized communication and exchange.
3. **Provide Professional Product Knowledge and Support**: Sales representatives should have rich product knowledge and be able to provide professional consultation and support to terminal outlets. Understand the characteristics, uses, and advantages of products, and be able to help outlets solve problems related to product use and sales.
4. **Regularly Visit Terminal Outlets**: Regularly visit terminal outlets and communicate face-to-face with operators and staff. Through visits, understand the outlet's operations, sales status, and feedback. Solve problems in a timely manner and provide necessary support and assistance.
5. **Win-Win Cooperation with Terminal Outlets**: Establish long-term cooperative partnerships with terminal outlets, focusing on win-win thinking. Promote mutual business development and benefit growth through good communication on cooperation methods, promotional activities, and sales policies.
6. **Pay Attention to Customer Feedback**: Regularly communicate feedback with terminal outlets to understand their evaluations and suggestions on products and services. Based on feedback, improve and adjust your own services and support to meet the needs and expectations of terminal outlets.

Second, excellent service: Sales representatives can provide excellent terminal outlet services, meet customer needs, and enhance customer loyalty and satisfaction. At the same time, this high-quality service also helps improve product sales and brand image, gaining a competitive advantage in the market. Specifically, it includes the following four points:

1. **Proactive Communication**: Communicate with operators and staff of terminal outlets in a timely manner to understand their needs and problems. Maintain a positive communication attitude during the service process, listen to their opinions and suggestions, and provide effective solutions.
2. **Provide Personalized Support**: Provide personalized support and services based on the characteristics and needs of terminal outlets. Understand their business models, target consumer groups, and operating conditions, and formulate corresponding service plans and support programs based on actual conditions.
3. **Provide Marketing Support**: Provide marketing support to terminal outlets, including promotional activities, advertising, display materials, etc. Cooperate with outlets to jointly formulate marketing plans to increase product awareness and sales.
4. **Respond and Solve Problems in a Timely Manner**: For problems and complaints from terminal outlets, sales representatives should respond in a timely manner and try their best to solve them. Maintain good response speed and efficient problem-solving ability to improve customer satisfaction and loyalty.

**Summary**: Customer relations and service are the core elements of daily visits for frontline personnel. In essence, they complement each other. Customer relations excellence should emphasize differentiation and personalization; service excellence should emphasize speed, attitude, and quality.

**Sell-Through to the Extreme**

To achieve sell-through excellence, the core elements to consider are brand excellence, experience excellence, and shelf-life excellence.

First, brand excellence: Sales representatives can comprehensively enhance brand image and influence. Focusing on product knowledge, establishing good customer relationships, executing integrated marketing strategies, and providing high-quality after-sales service are all important factors in achieving brand excellence.

1. **Comprehensive Understanding of Brand, Product Knowledge, and Skills**: Deeply understand the brand you represent, including its history, core values, product characteristics, and competitive advantages. Master the brand story and positioning, and be able to accurately convey and showcase the brand's value. Possess rich product knowledge, clearly understand the characteristics, functions, and advantages of brand products. Understand the uniqueness of brand products and be able to effectively convey product information through professional sales skills and language, stimulating consumers' interest and purchase desire.
2. **Establish a Professional Image**: As a representative of the brand, sales representatives should pay attention to personal image. Keep a neat appearance, dress appropriately, and communicate with customers in a professional, friendly, and approachable manner. By personally demonstrating brand values and image, establish brand reliability and trust.

Second, experience excellence: Do a good job in the tasting and trial experience process, actively listen to consumer feedback and opinions, and continuously innovate and improve. For example, the following two points:

1. **Product Information**: Provide consumers with detailed and accurate product information, including product features, uses, ingredients, safety, and other aspects.
2. **Feedback**: Pay attention to consumer opinions and feedback, actively collect and listen to their voices. Maintain good communication and feedback mechanisms, and respond to consumer inquiries, suggestions, and complaints as soon as possible.

Finally, shelf-life excellence: With the improvement of consumers' health awareness, fresh shelf life has gradually become one of the core competitiveness of FMCG manufacturers. Shelf life is not only about meeting shelf-life constraints but more about optimizing the supply chain system to achieve the best product freshness.

1. **Order Management**: Closely monitor inventory status and reasonably arrange ordering plans to avoid excessive or insufficient inventory backlog.
2. **Channel Management**: Maintain good communication and coordination with channel partners to ensure reasonable distribution and circulation of products in the channel.
3. **Logistics Management**: Cooperate with logistics suppliers to strengthen control over logistics processes and timeliness. Ensure that products maintain the best quality and shelf life during transportation from production to sales terminals.
4. **Market Monitoring and Forecasting**: Use market monitoring and analysis tools to understand market dynamics and trends in a timely manner. Use data analysis to predict product popularity and demand trends, so as to adjust inventory and sales strategies in advance and avoid product backlog and unsold inventory.

**Summary**: Brand excellence, experience excellence, and shelf-life excellence are the three core elements surrounding consumer purchase behavior. To achieve excellent sell-through, start with these three points.

**Final Thoughts**

The above four extremes, I believe some distributors can still imitate and apply, but the results vary greatly. What is the reason? This involves the issue of 'dao' and 'shu'. 'Dao' refers to the implementation path chosen by the enterprise to achieve marketing goals, including both strategic aspects and the corporate culture that matches it. 'Shu' refers to the specific strategies and techniques adopted in actual operation to achieve the goals of 'dao'. Process systems are cold, but execution must have warmth. Therefore, to do the four extremes well, it is necessary to arrange the interdependence of 'dao' and 'shu'. 'Dao' provides guidance and goals for 'shu', while 'shu' is the specific means to realize 'dao'. Without clear 'dao', 'shu' will lose direction and goals; without effective 'shu', 'dao' is just a castle in the air and cannot be realized.

In addition, from October 9 to 11, at the 5th China FMCG Conference and the 1st China FMCG Distributor Conference, the industry's first China FMCG Distributor Conference will be held. At this conference, 12 outstanding distributors from across the country will be invited to give keynote speeches on site, interpreting the current distributor business from all angles, including enterprise growth paths, challenges and opportunities, operational practice, tax risks, etc., and deeply analyzing the 'dao' and 'shu' in distributor business for you. At the same time, the industry's first "City x Population - Distributor Business Development Model" and the "2023 FMCG Distributor Survival and Development Report" will be released, which are well worth your visit to the scene to explore!


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