Product display is not just about stacking items on shelves or decorating sales points. In this article, A Dong provides effective design and implementation tips for GT, MT channels, or retail chains that want to significantly increase sales through display techniques.

What are the characteristics of product display in MT and GT channels?

Displaying goods, products at grocery stores, stalls in the market,… the points belonging to the GT channel will have different displays in supermarkets, convenience stores. Understanding how the product display characteristics differ between the GT and MT channels will help chain businesses make the most reasonable and wise budget allocation decisions.

Displaying products through GT channel

GT channel (General Trade) is a traditional sales channel including convenience stores, pharmacies, stalls in the market, distributors…. This channel has characteristics such as:

• The retail points of the GT channel are small in scale, with simple management, importing multiple items from multiple suppliers at once, and mainly serving the needs of people living in the area. Therefore, the display at the retail points requires compact, lightweight, easy to assemble and move Point of Sale Materials (POSM).
• 90% of the buyers of this channel have a “grab and go” style, meaning they always have a predetermined product in mind and only stop for a short period of time to pick up the item and pay. In fact, very few people enter the store, so the space outside the store is the only prime location to display products, and the time to attract consumers is also very short.
• GT is the channel that accounts for 80% of revenue, so it’s naturally a “delicious piece” that any business would want to have a share of. In order to have a good display position and for the store owners to take the effort to introduce the brand’s products to customers, distribution companies always have to have programs to take care of the store owners. However, businesses need a display monitoring department to monitor the level of commitment to implementing the store owners’ programs.

Display products at MT channel points

MT channel (Modern Trade) is a modern sales channel including hypermarkets, supermarkets, convenience stores (CVS), minimarts, store chains,… This channel has the following characteristics:

• The shopping space is spacious, with products classified by clear regions, and the shelves must comply with standards, so the shopping space is more convenient and professional than regular grocery stores.
• Shopping time is long for one shopping trip, so the MT channel is a place with a high level of interaction between consumers and brands.
• The quantity of goods purchased in each shopping trip is large.
• According to research, 2/3 of the items that consumers have purchased are usually not included in the initial plan. This is completely opposite to the shopping habits of the GT channel. Therefore, although it only contributes 20% to the total revenue, the MT channel is still the market that businesses aim for.

Suggested strategies for attracting customers in displaying goods on the GT and MT channels

Displaying goods on the GT channel

• Display location: Based on characteristics and consumer habits, there are 2 locations that can be utilized for display, which are outside the store or concentrated display around the area where the seller sits or the cashier counter. Among them, displaying outside the store is still a prime location to promote the image of the product.
• Investing in the focal point of sales: Promotions and freebies for end consumers have little effect on the GT channel. Buyers already have a predetermined product in mind and are not very interested in other items, whether there are promotions or not. If in case of out of stock, 2/3 of consumers will follow the recommendation of the seller to buy alternative products instead of wandering around the store to choose, so the role of the seller is like a “coordinator” of shopping activities, build a good relationship with the seller then consider that you have gained an advantage.
• Long-term or short-term budget allocation for display: In reality, 80% of sales will come from 20% of the selling points in the distribution system, this is the 80/20 rule that applies to almost all industries. A good product display person is someone who knows how to identify the 20% key stores to allocate long-term display budget. Short-term displays will be evenly allocated to all remaining stores, and the lower the ranking, the less investment.

In the article above, A Dong has suggested effective strategies for the GT channel. To learn more about the strategy for displaying goods on the MT channel, click here.