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The fierce competition in the beverage industry has extended the battle to the last meter of shelf display. To increase sales, attract attention, and boost purchase volume, beverage companies are pulling out all the stops to secure the best terminal displays. Recently, I visited some representative channels to explore the various promotional display methods this year.

"Buddy Pack" Multi-Pack

Beverages are among the high-frequency consumer goods in FMCG, with substantial daily consumption and purchase volumes. As varieties and flavors increase, consumers have more choices. With this trend, multi-pack bundling (e.g., two bottles connected at the cap) is increasingly adopted by beverage companies. This method is typically used for large-capacity beverages, creating "buddy packs" or "sister packs." These can be same-brand same-product, same-brand different-flavor, or even cross-brand combinations, though cross-brand pairings are common to meet diverse consumer needs and flavor complementarity. A typical example is Coca-Cola's Sprite and Coca-Cola bundle, or Coca-Cola and Minute Maid bundles, often seen in hypermarkets during summer. Following suit, brands like Dahu and Huiyuan have applied this to large-capacity juice drinks. This year, Pepsi's new Tropicana Twister is also bundled with Pepsi-Cola.

Products promoted with multi-packs typically have high purchase volume and frequency, and the bundling offers consumers a discount. For large-capacity beverages, multi-packs not only facilitate carrying but also help amortize the costs of the connectors and discounts. By effectively increasing the per-purchase quantity, and given that consumers regularly buy beverages, offering a discount with multi-packs significantly boosts appeal and consumption.

Bundle with Gifts

Gift-with-purchase is another common promotional method, widely used across FMCG sectors. Gifts are usually attractive and practical items, and their selection is flexible, varying with promotional positioning. There is a clear hierarchy between the gift and the main product. Depending on product characteristics, gifts may be from different categories for convenience, or two brands may collaborate for joint promotions to leverage complementary strengths. Sometimes new product samples are used as gifts to gauge consumer reaction. More commonly, identical or similar products are bundled directly, such as buy-one-get-one, buy-two-get-one, or buy-a-case-get-some.

For example, this year Uni-President's Apple Duo uses bath balls as gifts, considering summer bathing needs, though pairing beverages with toiletries is somewhat unconventional and mismatched. Kirin's Afternoon Tea uses Glico's Pocky as a promotional gift, a complementary collaboration between two Japanese companies, offering consumers value while using a peak-season product to boost off-season sales. More common is buy-one-get-one on the same product, as seen with Prince Milk Tea and Xuefeili Herbal Tea.

However, buy-one-get-one on identical items is a double-edged sword. If the bundling is crude or packaging is poor, consumers may perceive the product as slow-moving or near expiry, harming sales. Therefore, companies must carefully design buy-one-get-one promotions, as the method, quantity, packaging, and product choice directly impact effectiveness.

"Necklace" Marketing

Adding a hang tag to beverage bottles, which we vividly call a "necklace," is increasingly used on small-format packaging, especially for new products. This trend is particularly popular this year. Necklace marketing serves several purposes: first, to highlight a new product's concept or feature, such as Yuanye's tag stating "100% brewed from tea leaves" or Nongfu Spring's tag indicating pH 7.3, weakly alkaline water; second, to promote campaigns, like Tianwo Tea House's Mayday concert or Afternoon Tea's digital camera giveaway; third, to more effectively establish identity, as Mizone does for its new packaging; fourth, to promote brand image, like Pepsi's Tropicana Twister featuring Louis Koo, or Master Kong's Cool Wheat Tea with Yang Lan's image to attract attention.

Adding necklaces is currently a hotspot in terminal displays, mainly because it's low-cost and yields direct, visible results. Beyond product placement, companies are vying for more shelf space and attention. A necklace, combined with advertising, effectively triggers purchase associations at the point of sale. For new launches, a necklace reinforces unique features and differentiation. The rise of necklace marketing reflects that beverage competition has reached hand-to-hand combat at the terminal, with brands using the product itself as an advertising medium.

It should be noted that necklaces vary in length and tags in size; manufacturers should tailor them to avoid compromising display aesthetics and product visibility.

Nth Item Discount

The "Nth item at N% off" is an evolution of bundling. For example, the first item costs 15 yuan, the second at 20% off (12 yuan), and the third at 50% off (7.5 yuan). In practice, buying two items gives only a 10% total discount, and three items a 24% discount—not particularly high, especially since many stores only discount the second item. Yet this method works well at the terminal because buyers are often drawn by the lowest discount, which can be misleading. Additionally, this approach has at least four benefits: first, it boosts sales volume, especially for low-margin products; second, it avoids the labor of repackaging or unpackaging required for bundles or multi-packs; third, it offers flexible product selection, allowing for offensive or defensive strategies—the first item earns profit, the second doesn't, and through low-cost trials, you can identify price-sensitive products; fourth, it's particularly effective in areas with multiple competing supermarkets, forcing rivals to keep up.

Combined Display

Box or case packaging is common in beverage distribution, but except for dairy and dairy-based drinks, few beverages are displayed directly in cases on shelves. Now, some brands are improving case displays for shelf use. These combined displays differ from simple case stacking; they feature attractive exterior designs that act like mini billboards.

This method was first used in beer and is now being adopted by some functional or premium beverage brands. By combining individual product displays with combined case displays, they maximize shelf space, complementing vertical and horizontal displays to deepen consumer impressions. This approach also promotes to both small- and large-package buyers simultaneously, killing two birds with one stone.

End Caps and Counters

End caps are the most common promotional display in retail for beverages. An effective end cap can immediately catch the consumer's eye. Currently, end cap displays are diverse, with placement varying by situation, and different designs and locations yield vastly different results. Some have elevated end cap design to an art form, saying "a good end cap speaks for itself."

Beverage end caps typically take the form of shelf end displays, aisle pallets, or dedicated promotional platforms at store entrances. Each type has specific strengths. Shelf end displays are for promotional items within a category, like a juice brand's end cap in the beverage aisle. Aisle pallets feature products with distinctive characteristics or price advantages. Store entrance platforms usually showcase the store's promotional theme or hero products. Because end caps are so common, problems abound. For instance, it's not uncommon to see Product B stacked on Product A's pallet. Some displays are messy or not replenished promptly, looking incomplete and harming aesthetics.

Meanwhile, some premium beverage brands are setting up dedicated counters in stores. Unlike end caps, these are fixed locations with larger display areas, but they come at higher costs, so they're typically used for high-end products like Rijiaman or K-ke.

Undeniably, the battle for the last meter at the terminal is intensifying in the beverage industry. Brands are innovating within limited space and time, maximizing their efforts. Shelves are finite, but products are infinite. Turning limited shelf space into a golden resource has companies racking their brains. However, I must remind everyone: while spending heavily to secure shelf space, cherish this hard-won territory. Unfortunately, issues like dented bottles, peeling labels, crooked necks, and leaks still occur, even among major brands and star products.

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