Editor's Note: The continuous decline in offline foot traffic is an indisputable fact. However, this does not mean that offline channels are no longer important or that attention and investment should be reduced. Compared to embracing the endless stream of new retail formats, holding the baseline of offline channels is more critical in the current volatile market environment. How to hold it? Only through meticulous cultivation and professional management to increase volume and efficiency. To this end, New Distribution, in collaboration with Mr. Cao Yang, former General Manager of Channel Management for Key Account Groups at Coca-Cola China, has launched the "Key Account (KA) Management Practice" series, aiming to provide frontline channel managers with a complete methodology for managing offline key accounts in a "chaotic market." This series comprises about 20 issues in total; this is the fourteenth issue, as follows. Merchandisers play an important but often overlooked role in modern trade channels. Why do merchandisers exist? We know that hypermarkets and supermarkets originated abroad, but what you may not know is that in foreign countries, merchandisers are employed by the supermarkets themselves and are store employees. Many years ago, I met a French store manager at Carrefour who had spent his entire career there, starting as a merchandiser and later being sent to China as a store manager. Due to high labor costs in Europe and the US, great effort has been put into merchandiser management, with many professional operating procedures developed to improve their efficiency. In China, merchandisers are dispatched by manufacturers, a Chinese characteristic introduced when supermarkets entered the country, as a measure for supermarkets to reduce their own operating costs. Because companies bear the cost of merchandisers, they have always been conflicted: Is it necessary to invest in building a merchandiser team? Those opposed argue:

  • With declining traffic in modern trade channels, there is no need for merchandisers;
  • Labor is expensive, and even if hired, no visible results are seen;
  • If sales and revenue can support hiring one person, then hire;
  • Even if already hired, they don't seem to have a significant effect. Those in favor argue:
  • Accelerating turnover is the foundation of store sales, and merchandisers are one way to accelerate turnover. Although foot traffic is declining, physical stores still account for over 80% of a company's sales; there are still stores with good sales that can support merchandiser costs, provided management is professional and scientific;
  • There are many professional methods for utilizing merchandisers effectively; their role is not just "merchandising." Their job content needs adjustment and greater specialization. This article focuses on three aspects:
  1. Why is a merchandiser team needed?
  2. Daily management of the merchandiser team
  3. How to effectively utilize the merchandiser team?

Why Build a Merchandiser Team?

1. Source of Store Business Growth Let's review the PITA theory: offline store business equals the sum of purchase population, purchase frequency, and purchase unit price. Increasing business means getting more people into the store (online and offline), getting more people to buy, getting consumers to buy multiple times, and getting consumers to buy more each time. Accelerating product turnover in the store is key! 2. Refined Management for Business Growth To enhance store business, more refined work is needed! The purpose of these efforts is to accelerate product turnover in stores. Merchandisers are a crucial part of accelerating turnover, and there is a set of effective professional methods. 3. Adapting to Market Changes Requires Timely Adjustment of Merchandiser Management Although offline store traffic is decreasing, hypermarket channel sales are declining while convenience store sales are increasing. Modern trade remains one of the main offline store forces, and offline stores still have room for growth. The key to merchandiser management is how to adjust, such as screening stores, ranking sales, adjusting visit times and frequencies, changing from resident store visits to route visits, and shifting focus from hypermarkets to include supermarkets and convenience stores. There is overlap between the roles of merchandisers and promoters; high-sales stores can have separate merchandisers and promoters, while many medium-sales stores can have merchandisers double as promoters, combining the two roles.

Daily Management of Merchandisers

Merchandiser management is absolutely not just placing products on shelves or floor displays; it involves a complete set of management methods including determining the number of merchandisers, planning visit routes, in-store work processes, training and coaching, etc. 1. Professional Visit Configuration 1) Determine the list of stores to visit and allocate merchandisers based on store count: Based on the store area and business volume of hypermarkets, supermarkets, and convenience stores, determine in-store working hours and visit frequency. 2) Arrange visit routes based on the number of merchandisers and stores, the business scale of each store, and the distance between stores, aiming to maximize daily work efficiency, generate more sales, and reasonably cover merchandiser labor costs. 2. 8-Step Store Visit Process The 8-step visit process is a professional method. Based on factors influencing consumer behavior, product promotion and display requirements, and merchandising workflows, a set of professional, standardized, and simplified steps has been formed. Step 1: Work Preparation: Includes proper attire, understanding execution standards, preparing visual merchandising tools, promotional items, etc., and reviewing issues and solutions from the last visit. Step 2: Check-in on Arrival: Check in via the company management APP as required. This is a mandatory requirement, using advanced technology to ensure merchandisers are on duty. Step 3: In-Store Inspection: Check the actual store conditions against company standards, including pricing and display, as well as competitor information. Also check company product quantity, age, and out-of-stock situations. Step 4: Warehouse Inventory Check: After inspecting the front store, enter the warehouse, record inventory information and out-of-stock situations, organize products according to FIFO and category principles, make replenishment records, and cooperate with store inventory counts. Step 5: Replenishment Execution: Execute replenishment and promotions according to company display and promotion standards, including shelf, floor display, and promotion execution.

  • Shelves: Keep products clean, follow shelf display and pricing standards, and execute consumer promotions on shelves.
  • Floor Displays/End Caps: Keep products clean, follow floor display and end cap display and pricing standards, and execute consumer promotions on floor displays.
  • Sales Aids: Including warmers and freezers, keep them clean and powered on, keep products clean, and follow equipment display and pricing standards. Step 6: Reporting and Feedback: Provide feedback on store information as required, including inventory and age, new products, competitor information, etc. Record store product turnover data, which is important for classifying stores. Submit key store information to the company via forms or APP. This step is often overlooked or poorly executed in many KA teams. Why is it done poorly? Look at how much monthly expense is used to address long-age products; one reason for long-age products is that they are not discovered in time, and the longer they sit, the worse it gets. Feedback is a very important task for merchandisers; this information can form summary tables for long-age products, inventory, competitor information, etc. Step 7: Guided Selling and Promotion: When customers have questions or needs, introduce product and promotion information, answer questions, and help customers carry positive products. Step 8: Communication and Farewell: Communicate with the customer, provide feedback, suggest orders, say goodbye, and inform them of the next visit time. 3. The Difference Between Ordinary and Professional Merchandisers Lies in the 8 Steps From a professional KA perspective, being on time, replenishing, and sending photos are the minimum requirements—just passing. From a company management perspective, completing all standard actions can be considered qualified, or even if not explicitly stated, the company has not set higher requirements! This discrepancy should attract management attention! If we divide merchandiser work into ordinary and professional levels, you will find the differences:
  1. Ordinary level: General KA teams manage merchandisers by focusing on the following:
  • Arrive on time and complete required actions, such as check-in, taking photos, and uploading photos;
  • Replenish and execute visual merchandising at display positions;
  • Rectify problem stores;
  • Assist sales representatives with temporary tasks, essentially running errands for them—tasks originally done by sales reps are delegated to merchandisers. Sales reps judge merchandisers mainly on points 3 and 4. Merchandisers at this level mainly complete parts of steps 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6.
  1. Professional level: In addition to the above, they focus on inventory and long-age products, help clear inventory, and assist sales reps with orders. They record store product turnover and feed back store information. If used well, merchandisers can help secure orders and master store turnover data. Some clients can obtain daily POS data, but most clients rely on merchandisers to compile turnover data. Merchandisers at this level complete all 8 steps, with key differences in steps 6 and 8. 4. Training and Coaching for Merchandisers Since merchandising is an experience-based operational job, the application of methods and accumulation of experience are important. Additionally, with constant turnover of merchandisers, the training and coaching capabilities of KA teams are crucial. Training mainly covers company discipline and the 8-step visit process, targeting the whole team, while coaching targets individuals, imparting operational methods and experience on the route and in stores. The two complement each other.
  2. Onboarding Training: Includes job responsibilities, specific work requirements, work discipline, salary standards, etc.
  3. Daily On-the-Job Coaching: Current company display guidelines, basic tasks such as age management, report form requirements; store rules and regulations, annual agreements, and temporary display content, success images.
  4. Training on execution standards for major holidays and weekend activities, as well as promotional language training.

How to Effectively Utilize the Merchandiser Team?

To use the merchandiser team well, we need to start from three aspects: adapting to changes in modern trade, changing work content, and focusing on merchandiser career paths. 1. Adapt to Channel Changes: The number of hypermarkets is decreasing, and their sales share is also declining. Although convenience stores have lower per-store output than hypermarkets, their number is increasing.

  1. Hypermarket foot traffic is declining more than supermarkets and convenience stores, so reduce visit time and frequency for hypermarket merchandisers. Select high-sales stores in the hypermarket channel for service, and adjust or even withdraw merchandisers from low-sales stores.
  2. It is necessary to screen hypermarkets; high-sales stores still need merchandisers, especially during major festivals like Spring Festival and Mid-Autumn Festival when hypermarket traffic remains significant. Change resident hypermarket merchandisers to regional visiting merchandisers, expanding visits to supermarkets and convenience stores. In summary, continuously optimize based on sales share and staffing analysis. 2. Change Work Content as Needed Add content beyond basic merchandising, focusing on store turnover. Implement refined management, focusing on understanding the turnover data of each store within a customer system. This was not necessary in the past when traffic was high and sales were good, but now stores need to be classified based on actual turnover, and merchandisers are useful here. 3. Career Path for Merchandisers This is an aspect often overlooked by many KA departments. Establishing a good career path for merchandisers can broaden their development opportunities. In reality, KA teams often feel there are few professional and effective merchandisers, while turnover is high, and merchandisers often settle for their position. Therefore, providing positions like merchandiser supervisor and opportunities for promotion to sales representative can better stabilize the team and make everyone feel there is room for growth. The article mentioned a French Carrefour merchandiser who eventually became a store manager in China—a great example.

Final Thoughts:

Merchandisers are a crucial part of accelerating turnover in offline stores, and they need to adapt to changes in modern trade to be truly effective.

  1. Adjust store types, numbers, and visit routes and frequencies accordingly.
  2. In the new situation, adjust and improve the work content of merchandisers. If you have related questions, you can scan the QR code to add our WeChat business account, note "KA" to join the group, and we can discuss, help each other, and improve together! __About the Author: Cao Yang, expert in key account and modern trade management, has worked in world-renowned Fortune 500 companies from frontline to headquarters, serving as Regional Manager, Key Account Manager, Group Key Account Director, and National Key Account Channel General Manager. He localizes world-class marketing experience and explores industry transformation paths. Recommended Reading