fmcg.fyi

countering the confusion of consumer packaged goods

facing

An individual “slot” on a shelf that a retailer can fill with products.

For example, the yoghurt fixture in a given supermarket might have 30 facings: 30 different slots on the shelf that it can fill with products.

That doesn’t mean 30 individual types of product, because individual products might have more than one facing. And it doesn’t mean 30 individual packs, because typically facings extend backwards deep onto the shelf, so there are many times as many packs as there are facings.

Facings are a good rule-of-thumb measure for market share: if a brand has 30% of the facings in a particular retailer, it’s likely that it has roughly 30% of the sales within the category.

Category: Retail
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