Point of sale with POW!

By Jennifer Slaney, Double Impact Displays

Point of sale displays are the lifeblood of supermarkets, petrol, and convenience stores, but for those not in the know, it can be easy to fall into the same old traps. Here are seven tips from POPAI member, Double Impact Displays to ensure your point of purchase marketing sing instore.

1.       Window displays need depth

The two most common flaws of embarrassing window displays are poor depth and fit.

Window displays must glorify a product and champion its key selling features, filling the windows valuable retail real estate.

Nothing belittles a product more than parking it unceremoniously into an oversize retail window without the support of bold messaging on a well executed Point of Sale display.

Even the most amazing product will sit ‘stark naked and blushing’ in an inadequate window display. Consumers will continually pass by, critiquing the information (or lack thereof) presented in the precious few seconds they offer up their attention.     

2.       Be creative or be forgotten

Retail marketing is no longer the Five Ps of Price, Product, Promotion, Place, People. (If only it were that simple!)

Nowadays, brands invest huge money in marking the retail space with their presence, but it’s not always the biggest and best that win.

Creative retail activations think smarter not harder, and the most effective have practical designs that can be rolled out on a nationwide basis, not just as a specialised one-off.

3.       Vinyl still rules

A retail favourite is vinyl decals, which have seen extensive application in the past 12 months. Being low-cost and with versatile application, window, wall and floor vinyl is a fantastic value media to ensure consumers have your brand front of mind when it matters.

Why invest in expensive of manufacturing, shipping and assembly of your own bespoke fixtures? Vinyl is increasing being activated instore. Easily add your brand colours and themes to product shelves by skinning existing store fixtures such as cabinets, tables, Gondolas, shelves.

4.       Quality products require quality displays

If you have a premium product, ‘boxes on the shelf’ alone won’t move stock off the shelves.

If your product has a pricepoint over a few hundred dollars, you simply must allow customers to experience a demo product integrated into quality display.

This comes with some key considerations when it comes to design:

•         Cost, cost, cost!

•         Lighting and depth

•         Display life cycle and materials

•         Rebrand, refresh, reusability

•         Brand call out and key messaging.

Quality displays are not always expensive or permanent. It is possible to use the latest POS materials (recyclable Yupo paper and structural fibreboards), and also integrate some old favorites (like false foliage) for a little theatre at retail.

5.       POS good, clean store, bad

It’s been a crazy couple of years for department stores. Target chased Kmart, with major changes in senior management and a flurry of innovative format changes to their concept stores.

Woolworths-owned Big W is rumored as being for sale and global fashion brands Uniqlo, Zara and H&M have taken more than $600 million in sales from discount department stores.

Most amazing, however, is Australian retail stalwart Myer’s and move away from its decades old Clean Store policy.

Clean Store dictates very little POS – no floor decals, hanging posters, vinyl skinning etc, which was seen to clutter stores and detracted from Myer’s appeal as a ‘Premium’ retailer.

The Clean Store strategy is often used by jewellery stores and the like to reinforce the premium nature of the product customers purchase, however, Myer’s almost clinical instore environment (white marble tiles and glass cabinets) started to alienate shoppers, particularly those who started to realise they didn’t pay a retail premium by shopping online.

Last year, CMO and head of merchandising Daniel Bracken led the chargeback to consumer relevance, in commissioning more than a dozen Myer transformation stores. Brands were invited to splash their colours in the stores through Point of Sale, such as applying vinyl to walls and floors, hanging banners, and BYO branded fixtures such as powered demo  and interactive display tables.

“You’ll see a major shift in brands coming into Myer,” Bracken said, although he added Myer’s private label brands still will retain a place in the brand mix moving forward. “We’ll give space to the 40 to 50 most wanted brands…ultimately, it’s about the brand experience that customer has inside Myer”.

6.       Has your POS gone MIA?

One of the most disturbing trends we’ve seen over the last 12 months is the disappearance of brand’s semi-permanent and permanent POS displays less than a year after being installed.

When a product first launches, a brand can outlay significant marketing funds to manufacture an eye catching, innovative, and often powered display with all the (lights) bells and whistles.

But 6 to 12 months on, stores can change their layouts, run out of stock and even have displays broken or discarded.

In our more than 7000 visits to stores last year, we reported back to brands their display  attrition rate - this being the total number they first deployed and the total number still on display month later.

Even with the most diligent team of sales reps, maintenance on these displays is overlooked and displays can be neglected.

Most brands don’t have the of luxury of nationwide sales reps at their disposal. However, there are some things to consider when reviewing the current condition of your displays:

•         Are they still active in store?

•         Is the POS damaged, are the displays functioning and powered up?

•         Are all demo models on display and functioning?

•         Take multiple photos store, giving clients live view to their activation

These questions can provide head office sales and marketing teams the visibility they need to get the best out of displays, months and years after they are released.

7.       The only thing online has to fear is online itself

There’s no doubt smartphones have revolutionised the way we live (and will continue to do so in the future). More and more modes of commerce are finding a digital means of matching consumer needs to resources.

Many of us began taking up the online shopping experience and we revelled in the savings that such a low overhead system could deliver.

Collectively, we entertained the thought of online replacing traditional retail forever –“One day, could I really do my grocery shopping online and have it delivered that afternoon?”

There’s no doubt many retailers have been squeezed, and have even folded as a result of their online competitors, but now in 2017 we see some amazing adaptations by forward thinking Australian retailers that have built in an online experience for their existing customer base.

One example of this is cosmetic brand Jurlique replacing cash registers with roaming tablet Point of Sale devices, with sales assistants acting as personal consultants’rather than checkout chicks.

The launch of Amazon in Australia and online purchases of consumer electronics and apparel are said to be in the firing line. Various commentators have cautioned this will see ongoing pressure on Australian retailers as more and more customers head online. It is arguably the existing online retailers that have the most to fear from a more effective on line experience.

Jennifer Slaney is Managing Director at Double Impact Displays. For more information, visit www.doubleimpactdisplays.com.au or contact Jennifer at Jennifer.Slaney@doubleimpact.com.au