Display, and the counter unit
Updated
In a category bought on impulse from a counter, the thing that holds the tubes is closer to being the product than the tube is.
The unit is the product
A retailer is not buying 24 lip balms. They are buying a thing that sits by the till, holds itself up, faces the customer and does not need thinking about.
Sell them the second thing and the first is included. Sell them the first and you are asking them to solve a merchandising problem for a product worth a few dollars.
What a good one does
Stands up when full and when nearly empty, which is where most fail.
Presents tubes upright and facing, not lying flat where only the cap shows.
Carries the brand at eye level, above the tubes rather than behind them.
Holds a sensible reorder quantity, so "it's empty" and "order another case" are the same thought.
And is small. Counter space is the scarcest thing in any shop and the commonest reason a display is refused.
Making one
Printed and die-cut card is the standard and the cheapest at quantity, with the same minimum-order problem as labels.
A wooden or acrylic unit reads as more permanent and suits a higher price point, and it is worth considering that a reusable unit plus refill cases is a better proposition for both sides than a disposable one.
Prototype in card by hand before ordering anything. A display that is a centimeter too deep for a counter is a whole order wasted.
What it earns you
Facing and position, which is the whole game at a till. A product in a branded unit keeps its place; loose stock migrates into a basket with everybody else's.
It is also, at a market, the difference between a table that looks like a business and one that looks like a hobby, and that judgment is made before anyone picks anything up.