Product Knowledge and Visual Merchandising
This domain tests whether you can turn product features into customer benefits, read a label correctly, and apply visual merchandising rules that guide attention and lift sales.
Product knowledge
- FAB: Feature (what the product is), Advantage (what it does), Benefit (what it means for this customer).
- USP: the one thing that makes the product different from rivals.
- A label should carry name, net quantity, MRP inclusive of taxes, month and year of manufacture, best-before or use-by date, country of origin, and for food the FSSAI licence number. Regulated goods need BIS or hallmark; textiles need care instructions.
- Know the difference between warranty and guarantee, and between genuine and counterfeit stock.
Visual merchandising
- Window display: one clear theme, readable in three seconds, sight line roughly 60–180 cm.
- Composition tools: pyramid arrangement, rule of thirds, colour blocking, repetition, symmetry or deliberate asymmetry, one focal point.
- Shop floor: hot zone at eye level, cross-merchandising of adjacent categories, POP signage, lighting, digital screens.
- AIDA: a display should Attract attention, hold Interest, create Desire, prompt Action.
Worked example
A customer wants a gift under ₹500. Weak answer: 'This flask is double-walled stainless steel.' Strong answer: 'Feature - double-walled stainless steel; Advantage - keeps liquid hot for about eight hours; Benefit - your tea stays hot until your afternoon class and it will not leak inside your bag.' Then link to price and gift wrapping. The benefit, not the feature, closes the sale.
Traps that cost marks
- Reciting features and calling them benefits.
- Charging above MRP; MRP is the ceiling, not a mandatory price.
- Treating 'best before' as the same as 'expiry date' - they are different declarations.
- Overcrowded windows and displays placed above or below the customer's natural sight line.