NAMA Marketing & Merchandising Strategies 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Which planogram principle ensures the most profitable products are placed at eye level in a vending machine?
- FIFO rotation
- Eye-level prime placement (Correct answer)
- Vertical blocking
- Category adjacency
Correct answer: Eye-level prime placement
Eye-level prime placement positions high-margin items where customers naturally look first, maximizing visibility and purchase likelihood.
Question 2: A vending operator notices that a new energy drink sells out in 2 days but a legacy soda sits for 2 weeks. What merchandising action is MOST appropriate?
- Increase the soda price
- Allocate more slots to the energy drink and reduce soda facings (Correct answer)
- Reorder both products equally
- Move the soda to eye level
Correct answer: Allocate more slots to the energy drink and reduce soda facings
Reallocating slots to high-velocity items and reducing slow movers improves revenue per machine and reduces stockouts on top sellers.
Question 3: What does 'impulse purchase placement' mean in vending merchandising?
- Placing items customers specifically seek out near the keypad
- Locating snack and candy items prominently to trigger unplanned buying (Correct answer)
- Stocking only planned-purchase items like medicine
- Rotating stock by expiration date
Correct answer: Locating snack and candy items prominently to trigger unplanned buying
Impulse placement positions tempting, low-consideration items like candy or chips where they attract spontaneous purchases.
Question 4: A micro-market operator wants to increase average transaction value. Which strategy is MOST effective?
- Removing all premium-priced items
- Creating bundled combo deals displayed at point of sale (Correct answer)
- Stocking only single-serve items
- Reducing the number of product categories
Correct answer: Creating bundled combo deals displayed at point of sale
Combo deals and bundling encourage customers to purchase multiple items, directly increasing average transaction value.
Question 5: Which metric BEST measures the effectiveness of a product's shelf positioning in a vending machine?
- Gross margin per unit
- Sell-through rate by slot position (Correct answer)
- Total units ordered per month
- Supplier rebate amount
Correct answer: Sell-through rate by slot position
Sell-through rate by slot position shows whether a product's location is driving sales relative to its inventory allocation.
Question 6: What is the primary marketing purpose of seasonal product rotation in vending machines?
- To comply with FDA seasonal labeling requirements
- To align product offerings with consumer demand patterns and drive repeat visits (Correct answer)
- To reduce supplier contract obligations
- To balance machine weight distribution
Correct answer: To align product offerings with consumer demand patterns and drive repeat visits
Seasonal rotation keeps the product mix fresh and relevant, encouraging customers to check machines regularly for new offerings.
Question 7: A vending operator places a 'NEW' label on a newly stocked item. This tactic primarily leverages which marketing principle?
- Price anchoring
- Novelty-driven curiosity and trial purchase behavior (Correct answer)
- Loss aversion
- Social proof
Correct answer: Novelty-driven curiosity and trial purchase behavior
Novelty labels like 'NEW' stimulate curiosity and trial purchasing by signaling that something different is available.
NAMA Marketing & Merchandising Strategies 2
Which planogram principle ensures the most profitable products are placed at eye level in a vending machine?