---
title: "Navigating the Era of Shrinking Volume: Outlets Remain the Lifeline for Manufacturers and Distributors"
description: "This article discusses the importance of classifying retail outlets by brand communication levels to optimize brand influence, monitor communication effects, analyze regional market characteristics, improve resource efficiency, and strengthen competitive advantage. It provides a practical case and methods for categorizing outlets into ABCD levels based on multiple criteria such as sales, brand communication, profit, and competitive suppression, emphasizing that outlets remain the foundation for manufacturers and distributors in the era of shrinking volume."
author: "高级研究员 海游"
publisher: "New Distribution"
email: "zhaobo258@gmail.com"
telephone: "+8615854817671"
published: "2024-06-23"
language: "en"
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# Navigating the Era of Shrinking Volume: Outlets Remain the Lifeline for Manufacturers and Distributors

> This article discusses the importance of classifying retail outlets by brand communication levels to optimize brand influence, monitor communication effects, analyze regional market characteristics, improve resource efficiency, and strengthen competitive advantage. It provides a practical case and methods for categorizing outlets into ABCD levels based on multiple criteria such as sales, brand communication, profit, and competitive suppression, emphasizing that outlets remain the foundation for manufacturers and distributors in the era of shrinking volume.

**1. Brand Influence Assessment: By classifying brand communication levels, the contribution of different outlets to brand influence can be evaluated.** This helps companies understand regional differences in brand awareness and influence, thereby optimizing brand communication strategies.

**2. Communication Effect Monitoring: Different levels of outlets may exhibit different characteristics in brand communication effects, such as audience coverage, communication speed, and depth of influence. Through classification, companies can more precisely monitor and evaluate the effects of brand communication activities, adjusting and optimizing strategies in a timely manner.**

**3. Regional Market Characteristic Analysis: The classification of brand communication levels helps companies analyze differences in consumer sensitivity and acceptance of brands across regions.** This is crucial for customizing localized marketing and brand promotion strategies.

**4. Resource Investment Efficiency Improvement: Based on data analysis of brand communication levels, companies can allocate brand promotion resources more targeted, avoiding waste, and improving communication efficiency and cost-effectiveness.**

**5. Competitive Advantage Enhancement: Understanding the brand communication power of various regions and outlets helps companies formulate targeted competitive strategies, strengthening the brand's competitive advantage and position in the market.**

The value of classifying brand communication in FMCG outlets lies in optimizing brand communication effect monitoring, strengthening regional market analysis, improving resource investment efficiency, and enhancing competitive advantage, thereby achieving more effective brand promotion and marketing strategies. So how exactly should it be done? Let me share a practical case of a certain brand.

**First, determine product display standards:**
1. Display shelves: 1 meter * 5 layers
2. Multi-point displays: stacks, end caps, pillar wraps, cut cases
3. Display facings: main push products not less than 30%
4. Display position: in the direction of foot traffic, main aisle, first sunny side of the category area

**Second, product SKU standards for store entry:**

**Third, brand element display standards:**

Finally, there are behind-the-scenes tasks such as material selection, how to verify and reimburse, expense planning and investment, and who will execute.

**How Manufacturers and Distributors Optimize Outlet Classification**

We have discussed a lot above, all about the single value of outlets. Only when outlets are comprehensively evaluated and classified into levels according to competition or market development needs can they be easily managed and optimized. Generally, outlets are divided into four levels: A, B, C, and D. What standards should be used to divide them into these four levels? There are roughly the following methods:

> **1. Sales Output: This type of store is classified based on monthly or quarterly sales.**
> **2. Brand Communication: This type of store focuses on establishing brand image and doing offline brand communication.**
> **3. Profit Output: This type of store is used to generate profit.**
> **4. Competitive Suppression: This type of store mainly focuses on suppressing competitors.**

A single classification, no matter which standard is used, cannot give a reasonable positioning to terminal outlets. To solve this problem, it is recommended to break down and combine these four standards, and then classify levels based on scores. Case: A certain distributor ranked all outlets, with the single measure value ranking being the score. The higher the total score, the lower the comprehensive ranking of the outlet. Based on the four standards, we find our core outlets. An outlet does not only serve one purpose; it just has different emphases. You can also increase the coefficient of different measure values according to different needs. For example, if a distributor values the sales and profit value of outlets more, they can increase the proportion coefficient of sales and profit evaluation. For instance, the coefficients for sales output, brand communication, profit output, and competitive suppression are: 40%, 20%, 30%, and 10% (the total equals 1), then the outlet score is multiplied by the corresponding coefficient. This seems troublesome for outlet data processing, but with digital tools, it becomes very simple and can automatically match and output results.

**Final Thoughts**

The competition of FMCG brands in offline channels, from a certain perspective, is a contest of controllable terminals. The more controllable terminals a manufacturer or distributor has, the wider the product distribution, and theoretically, the higher the sell-through. The premise of this controllability is the classified operation of outlet value. As the old saying goes, navigating the era of shrinking volume, outlets remain the lifeline for manufacturers and distributors.

**From August 20 to 22, 2024, the '2024 6th China FMCG Conference' with the theme 'Navigating the Era of Shrinking Volume', along with the '3rd China FMCG Hard Discount Conference' and the '3rd China FMCG Distributor Conference', will be grandly held in Shanghai.**

**At this conference, we will continue to implement 'professional methodologies' and 'case growth theories', bringing together all roles in the FMCG industry chain, top guest lineups, leading retail platforms, and national first-line excellent distributors, interpreting the truth of industry changes from multiple dimensions, deeply linking upstream and downstream of the industry chain, and efficiently docking cooperation opportunities! Keynote speeches, roundtable dialogues, report interpretations, closed-door salons, and networking dinners, with rich formats, come to this conference and refuse to be a 'frog at the bottom of a well'!**

**🔺Scan code for ticket consultation🔺**

**Recommended Reading**


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