Visiting terminal outlets is routine for many marketing managers. In recent years, I've assisted some companies with market research, and regarding terminal outlet visits, many people indeed fall short. These seem like simple tasks, but in reality, they often either fail to identify problems, fail to see the essence of problems, or fail to understand the underlying logic of competitors' operations. Today, let's discuss this topic. At least three perspectives are needed when visiting outlets 1. Consumer Perspective "You can't see the true face of Mount Lu, because you're in the midst of it"—this is my general feeling about many brand marketing managers' market visits. For example, when visiting a supermarket, these people quickly walk to the shelf area of their product category, look at competitors and their own product, and then give frontline staff improvement suggestions. This is a typical distribution-thinking approach to market visits. It worked a decade ago, but now it's insufficient. After over 30 years of education, Chinese consumers have become more mature. With the reinforcement of information cocoons, they scrutinize brands with a critical eye. If manufacturers don't empathize and view outlets from the consumer's perspective, the conclusions drawn from visits will be greatly diminished. My suggestion: Before entering an outlet, marketing managers should not look at their own product or category first; instead, research an unfamiliar category. For example, if you're in the instant noodle business and aren't familiar with the oyster sauce category, start by looking at oyster sauce. Put yourself in the shoes of a consumer wanting to buy oyster sauce and trace your purchasing logic. The purchase process goes like this:

  • First, you walk to the supermarket entrance. Is there any advertising guiding you to buy the product? If the window sticker is an ad for a seasoning brand, does it plant a seed in your mind? Subconsciously, you might check that brand first.
  • Second, as you enter the store, are there promotional activities or sales guides reinforcing the brand? Subconsciously, you think this brand is decent.
  • Then, you walk to the seasoning shelf and notice some oyster sauces feature "0 additives," others highlight "high oyster juice content," and others boast "ultra-high cost-performance." How do you choose? If the brand that was planted in your mind earlier has an explosive tag on the shelf saying "0 additives, healthier," you'll buy it without hesitation. This is the consumer's purchasing logic: triple interception—outside the store, inside the store, and at the category shelf—ultimately leading to purchase. Once you grasp this, then look at your product, and you'll have different insights, and your improvement measures will be closer to consumer needs. 2. Frontline Staff Perspective When you give grassroots suggestions during market visits, it means you're no longer working at the grassroots level, perhaps having left long ago. The biggest gap is the inability to empathize, habitually using old experience to measure the new market. A common case: If you want salespeople to do something, set incentives on the outcome or process indicators. Grassroots thinking is simple: if things have priorities, then important and urgent matters are those with assessment indicators. At this point, don't expect salespeople to broaden their horizons and do things that "affect" income. Even if they rectify now, they won't sustain it, as no one wants to do thankless work. Therefore, adopt the frontline staff perspective. During outlet visits, translate key indicators into specific incentives, turning management into motivation, and guide the initiative of frontline operations. 3. Manager Perspective Most corporate managers do this well: identify problems and order rectification. The only reminder is: Are your rectification measures "replicable"? Leaders' guidance should have fewer "special cases" and more "general rules" to better improve the overall regional operation level. Summary: Without these three perspectives, don't visit the market, because your help could be disastrous. Visiting Terminal Outlets Both Macro and Micro 1. Macro View: See the Market from a Whole-Region Perspective What is macro? For example, look at product structure, channel structure, competitive landscape, etc., to assess whether the market is developing healthily. Take product structure as an example: In a market, you find that the brand's low-end products have high numerical distribution, weighted distribution, and facing distribution, but mid-to-high-end products are scarce. You judge that this market will soon have problems—typical old products entering decline, new products not yet in introduction. So, you suggest methods to adjust product structure, such as: 1. Market Trend Analysis: (Look at the industry, broaden horizons; being caught off guard is a big taboo) Track market trends to understand which products' demand is rising or falling, then adjust the product line to focus on products with clear growth trends. 2. Consumer Insights: Use consumer surveys and market research to understand preferences and buying behavior, adjusting product structure to meet target consumer needs. 3. Competitive Analysis: Analyze competitors' product portfolios to find differentiation opportunities or avoid direct competition. 4. Focus on Key Items: Allocate resources and energy to key high-margin products, increasing their sales share (gross margin is relative). 5. Launch New Products: Based on market trends and consumer needs, introduce new or innovative products. Agents should understand that only when new products are launched do manufacturers offer the highest channel margins. Though challenging, it's also the most profitable time. 6. Customer Segmentation and Positioning: Identify different customer groups, understand their differing needs, and adjust product structure accordingly. 7. Price Management and Promotions: Use flexible pricing and promotional strategies to attract consumers and boost sales while optimizing the profitability of the product structure. Similarly, for channel structure, pay attention to modern trade, traditional trade, and special channels. Understand the competitive situation: are you at an advantage, in a stalemate, or at a disadvantage? Provide macro operational strategies for the market. 2. Micro View: Start with Basic Outlet Information What basic outlet information? Competitors' in-store share, number of facings, SKU count, display conditions, merchandising, age management, etc. Growth opportunities lie in these details. 1. First, look at competitors' in-store share: FMCG has entered an era of stock. For a single outlet, category capacity is limited. To grow, you must squeeze competitors' sales, and they won't give up easily. Studying in-store share helps you find the "soft persimmon" in the same category. Squeeze it, and your sales will grow. 2. Then, look at the number of facings: From a competitive perspective, this reflects team execution and market atmosphere. The number of facings determines the product's status in the store. To increase sales, first enhance your status. How to expand facings and whether the opportunity is big can be counted. 3. Then, look at SKU count: Compare from a competitive angle to assess the product structure of products on sale. SKU count is an important indicator for vertical growth in outlets. Compared with competitors, your SKU count determines your growth opportunities. Finally, display conditions, merchandising, age management, etc., are not detailed here. Through these micro performances, we can find opportunities to increase outlet sales. These are replicable and most helpful to grassroots work. What Should You Record When Visiting Outlets? This documentation work is crucial. Reports from visitors are important references for decision-makers. They should capture the main contradictions of the market, objectively reflect what was seen and heard, and provide valuable reference opinions. My suggestions are as follows: 1. Write a factual record of visits by category and channel, objectively reflecting the true market conditions, with photos as evidence for each fact. For example, a fruit milk beverage company's visit record to a university campus channel in a certain city:
  1. Campus outlets commonly have special displays like cut-box displays; there are dealers specializing in campus channels. 2. Tetra Pak packaging accounts for over 40% of the beverage shelf, with fruit milk (milk beverages) at 40%. 3. Outlets have many ice chests, with high overall purity; there are display opportunities on the 4th and 5th layers from the top. 4. Campus outlet types: one main campus supermarket with a large sales area, requiring good relationships, credit terms, and high development requirements; other outlets are inside cafeterias, small, individually owned, with fewer credit terms and lower development requirements. Attach a photo after each point. 2. Target Dealer Visit Record Include the following aspects:

  1. Products & brands handled; 2. Business scale & annual sales; 3. Number of service outlets and terminal reputation; 4. Business model: dealer, distributor, or hybrid; 5. Current status: whether business is hitting bottlenecks or unable to integrate brand resources, seeking new models;

  2. Local business salaries: What is the minimum monthly income for frontline sales and supervisors? Normal? Competitive? 3. Overall Market Visit Summary Demonstrate with a beverage market research report for a first-tier city, including but not limited to:

  1. Brand concept: Strong brand concept in outlets; only 1-2 brands of similar products enter stores. 2. Outlet layout: Dense in certain areas, fewer on main roads, high density in urban villages, around campuses, and communities; overall CVS outlets account for about 30%, with significant room for manual operation. 3. Beverage core: Almost no opportunity to invest in ice chests; if dealers lack ice chest resources, they basically give up on beverages.

  2. For first-tier cities, space is precious; warehouse costs are 40 yuan/sq m (rent, utilities, property, warehousing). This requires products to have high turnover + high margins or achieve economies of scale. Dealer calculation: 1% is capital cost; doing our business requires 100 sq m of warehouse, costing 4,000 yuan per month. Selling 100,000 yuan of products is needed to break even (100,000 * 4%). The first three months are stressful. Dealers profit when products turn over 1-2 times a month, reducing capital and warehousing costs. 4. Summary Thoughts on Product Implementation This section includes model & dealer operation suggestions, product selection suggestions, consumer communication suggestions, etc., summarizing the market strategies derived from research. Final Thoughts Everyone knows the importance of market research, but in practice, it often starts strong and ends weak. Few companies have standard market research materials or related training processes, and even if they do, they aren't implemented at every level like performance indicators. As the old saying goes: Without investigation, you have no right to speak; without the right to speak, you can't talk about management rights. So, I urge senior executives to visit the market more often, see for yourselves, and I believe it will be more beneficial for your future decision-making.