Click 'Read Original' for details. Every March and April, major beverage manufacturers start their annual 'water war.' Pressuring storefronts, stocking shelves, and filling coolers are the daily basics for every frontline sales rep at this stage. But how to do these three things well involves considerable know-how. The author summarizes six standard actions for sales reps in terminal operations: lift, cut, stick, move, arrange, and stuff. Through these six words, our sales reps can know what to do at the terminal and how to do it.
Lift: As the name implies, it means lifting our products out of the small store's warehouse—but where to lift them to? That's where the skill lies. Take beverages: in summer, shelves and coolers move fast. A cooler typically holds 10–15 cases, and a store with daily revenue of 3,000–4,000 yuan can sell through in 1–3 days. But sales reps visit only once every 7 days, so our products sell out quickly, and the store owner may not restock in time for various reasons, or competitors' products take the cooler space, losing many sales opportunities. This requires our reps to not only refill shelves and coolers but also lift some stock to the floor in front of the shelves. That way, when the shelf sells out, the owner can easily restock. If you're a bit 'clever,' you can also place a few cases in front of competitors' shelves. Then, when their shelves sell out, our products get a chance to be displayed. Additionally, the highest-traffic area in a small store is usually the checkout counter. In mom-and-pop stores, the counter is typically a cigarette display case, and many companies compete to place display stacks there. But not every store requires a fee to get this prime spot. Generally, store owners don't mind if you place a couple of bottles of water in front of the cigarette case. That way, customers buying cigarettes or checking out have water at hand and can grab a bottle if they're thirsty. Similar examples abound. The core of 'lift' is flexibility—seemingly casual but actually intentional.
Cut: 'Cut' refers to cutting open boxes. There are many ways to cut beverage boxes, and the author's account has many articles and standards on box cutting. We won't delve deep here, but note that it's not just about standard cuts. When we place our beverages in various spots in the store, we must break the box or film to let consumers know they're for individual sale, not just for display. Below is a PPT from Master Kong's internal training on box cutting, which basically fully explains the key points of the action.
Spare Tools Selection and Use of Utility Knife Comparison of Utility Knife Usage Methods Steps and Methods of Box Cutting Key Points of 'Cut-Box Display'
- First, find a place with the best visual effect—where consumers see it first upon entering, like facing the door.
- Store aisles are also valuable; even a few boxes by the aisle can attract attention.
- Cleverly use 'borrowing'—for example, near or opposite the checkout, or near the refrigerated cabinet in summer where consumers linger. Place products there to 'borrow the momentum' and boost visibility.
- Display the main specifications of leading brands, with the front of the packaging facing consumers. Height should be neither too high nor too low, making it easy to grab.
- Preserve useful information and design on the box exterior as much as possible. Reuse already-cut boxes to save time and effort, and use discarded cartons as templates.
- After completing the display, deliberately remove a few items—this leaves gaps for customers to take and shows the product is selling well.
- If the store owner doesn't allow cutting, find a reason to persuade them, such as 'it looks better and sells more' or 'I'll bring some freebies next time to tie on.'
JDB Demonstration First Form: Simple Second Form: Convenient Third Form: Stable Fourth Form: Three-Dimensional Staggered Is Best Fifth Form: Respect—Maximize Product Display Sixth Form: Transparent Layer Protection Principle Seventh Form: Cut Accurately, Firmly, and Quickly Eighth Form: Stack Calculation Ninth Form: Clear Pricing
Stick: As salespeople, every marketer is familiar with posting posters. When it comes to professionalism, many might say, 'It's just sticking a poster—how much skill can it involve? I can do it perfectly with my eyes closed in minutes. What professionalism is there? It's just the most basic skill for new salespeople; how can it compare to other professional marketing skills?' Basic principles for posting posters: Inside over outside, high over low. The most posted spots in mom-and-pop stores are usually at the entrance at about head height. But these spots have a problem: not only do you see them, but all manufacturers see them. This means the wall near the store entrance gets dozens of posters daily—some lasting days, others just minutes—before being covered or torn down by other brands. This increases our workload, devalues our work, and wastes the manufacturer's material costs. A poster costs anywhere from 0.5–0.6 yuan to 1–1.5 yuan to produce. If a sales rep has dozens covered each day, that's tens of yuan wasted. So, when posting, note that the best spots aren't necessarily the most posted ones; rather, spots slightly higher or lower are more likely to last. Of course, if conditions allow, always post indoors.
Eight Principles for Posting Posters:
In mature markets, focus on coverage density; in semi-mature (or less mature) markets, focus on coverage effect. Prefer left over right; don't avoid key areas. The mighty dragon must suppress the local snake. Avoid just 'posting' without 'speaking.' If you can't afford to mess with it, don't. Carry a rag with you; learn from beggars, not dandies.
Points to note during posting: Check the wall before posting: First, note the wall material. If dusty, wipe it with the back of the poster, then stick. Smooth slowly while sticking: First, peel a corner of the poster, then open a small slit along the top, stick it horizontally to the wall, and from the back, pull the adhesive paper with your right hand while using your left hand to smooth the poster flat against the wall. Wipe after sticking: After sticking, the poster isn't firmly attached. Use a ball of adhesive paper to wipe firmly over the poster. If the wall is very dusty, use tape to secure the four corners.
Additionally, timely 'reposting' is important. 'Reposting' means checking previously posted posters and making supplementary or restorative re-posts. Specifically, the strategies for 'reposting' include: 1. Know competitors' reposting schedules. Competitors aren't easy when posting posters. It's crucial to grasp the timing and patterns of their reposting. After communicating with outlets and thorough understanding, market staff should develop a time-following strategy—i.e., repost immediately after competitors leave. If you blindly set a fixed X-day interval for follow-up reposting, competitors may spot the gap and exploit it. 2. Cover as much as possible; don't tear down. Try to cover competitors' posters with our own rather than tearing theirs down. Tearing creates an untidy look, affecting our poster's effect. On the other hand, competitors may not see us as rivals when reposting; they might only post in non-relevant areas, which doesn't affect our poster's display.
Price Tags and Explosion Tags: I usually require my team's sales reps to ensure all cut boxes have explosion tags, and all shelves without price tags are considered invalid displays. The information on price tags and explosion tags is a key factor in consumer perception, especially for new products or consumers who have never bought our products. Their perception starts with price. Without a price tag, you lose many sales opportunities. Most companies have standard usage methods for price tags and explosion tags, so I won't elaborate here.
Move: Research International (RI) once conducted a market survey: only 68% of product purchases are planned; the remaining 32% are impulsive. 75% of consumers decide which brand to buy only after arriving at the store. Therefore, display (especially primary display) is crucial to product sales. If you can win more display space in the store, it means winning more sales. Studies show: moving a product from the bottom shelf to the golden position increases sales by 78%! Moving from the bottom to the middle increases sales by 34%! Moving from the middle to the golden position increases sales by 63%! Product position in the terminal store greatly affects sales. The primary display position is always the golden display spot, with sales opportunities typically three times that of secondary positions. That's why major manufacturers spend a lot of money to get their products into good positions. But not all display positions require money. Bribing store staff with small gifts or cleaning shelves to change positions are also good ways to improve shelf placement.
Arrange: If customers can't see a product's display, the brand may lose 48% of sales. Good display brings a good image to the company, good sales to distributors, good profits to the store, and good commissions to employees. Preferred display height: the visual height level with consumers' eye line, typically 1.4–1.7 meters from the ground, often called the golden visual height.
Visible and Easy to Find The primary condition for display is that customers and staff can easily see, find, and reach the product. So, ensure every displayed item meets this basic requirement. As shown in the figure.
Within Arm's Reach Similar to the above, display height should be within easy reach of staff or customers. As shown.
Front Facing Outward, Not Upside Down Products should face the customer with the front showing. This not only facilitates customer attention but also reflects the store's basic management level. As shown.
Price Tag Corresponds to Product Price tags and products should correspond one-to-one to avoid customers perceiving price traps, which reduces trust, and to facilitate direct purchase. As shown.
Stand Up Rather Than Lie Down Products that can stand should be displayed upright. This increases the visible area, boosts attention, and avoids damage from long-term lying. As shown.
Low Left, High Right, Price Grouping Generally, products should be arranged according to customer traffic flow, with low-, medium-, and high-priced items in sequence. Especially, placing low-priced items at the entrance direction helps build a low-price image.
Golden Position for Key Items On the same shelf, different positions yield different sales due to different viewing angles. Generally, items at eye level sell best, while those requiring customers to look up or squat down sell less. As shown.
Don't Cover Brand Products Brand products are key to store traffic. Based on their sales characteristics, determine whether they are key, auxiliary, or other items and adjust positions accordingly. But don't deliberately block or hide them. As shown.
Related Display for Better Service Plan display layout based on customer flow and target customer habits. Typically, place seasonal and promotional items near the entrance (to increase entry rate), set up promotional categories at flow connection points (to extend customer paths), and create related product zones inside the store based on different target customer needs. As shown.
First In, First Out to Minimize Expiry To avoid expiry losses, display items according to the first-in, first-out principle.
Fixed Positions, No Neglect To maximize display effect and solidify product management, if conditions allow, stores should gradually implement fixed shelf positions to strengthen management. As shown.
Feature Products at End Caps Besides basic display positions, for special items like seasonal, promotional, or new products, increase end cap or cart displays as much as possible, within product management guidelines, to create a better store marketing atmosphere.
Stuff: Studies show: if we place our cooler in a store and ensure effective freezing, sales in that store typically increase to 8 times the pre-cooler level! This shows the importance of filling the cooler. Stuffing our beverages into our own coolers and competitors' coolers is the simplest, most direct, and effective way to boost sales. How to stuff? Four-character principle: 'find every gap.' When entering a store and checking the cooler, casually place a few bottles of our product. Through policies like collecting box tops from coolers for rewards, or freezing incentive policies, we can effectively stuff products into coolers, fill shelves, and stuff out big sales.
Finally, let's end with a quote from Teacher Li Ke's WeChat Moments: Li Ke: In the FMCG industry, there is never a tactic that competitors can't learn. The core of all awesome FMCG companies is always execution. One core decision that never changes is distribution rate. The level of execution determines the height of the company. -END-