In a previous article, we explored how the point of sale is a very favourable in-store location for increasing sales volumes and increasing brand visibility. A majority of customers make impulse purchasing decisions, particularly when they have to wait in line before paying for their products. Any brand in retail spaces needs to understand the best ways to leverage this valuable real estate for maximum gains.
POS displays are an essential tool for successful retail execution. They provide exposure for your customers and are relatively inexpensive marketing channels with a very high return on investment. In this article, we will explore five types of POS display that are highly effective drivers of sales and brand awareness, and what makes them so useful in their most ideal use cases.
1. Counter displays
The counter space at the till in any retail store is precious real estate for driving sales. This space is typically ideal for small items such as candy and other small convenience items. Such products are usually easy to make impulse purchases on since they satisfy an immediate desire either for novelty or convenience, and have a low cost.
Brands that have larget products on the shelves in-store can benefit from selling single-unit packages of their products, such as coffee brands who sell sachets of coffee at the check out counter. Customers are continuously exposed to the brand whenever they visit that particular retail outlet, which significantly increases brand awareness and brand recognition.
The small size of the units also allows customers to try the product with relatively low risk on their part. They may be hesitant to pick up a month’s supply of a product they may discover they dislike, but a single serving is much easier to try. Placing these single-unit packages at the check out counter thus gives brands the significant advantages of product sampling but with none of the associated cost.
Cleverly worded signage can augment the counter display by communicating the brand’s personality, the value the product offers, and the need it satisfies in the customer’s life. This signage reinforces brand awareness while also drawing attention to the product and increasing sales.
2. Freestanding floor displays
Freestanding displays are a great way to draw attention to a particular product in a creative way. These display units are usually made of cardboard, making them very cost-effective. The use of cardboard in their production also means they can be designed to look like the product, cut in fascinating shapes and be built to accommodate a large number of products.
One of the critical advantages of freestanding floor displays is that they can be placed in parts of the store that have large volumes of foot traffic without taking up any shelf space. Their striking design makes them easy to spot from any part of the store with a line of sight, making them an excellent vehicle for driving brand awareness.
Freestanding displays are particularly ideal for launching a new product, a new addition to the product lineup or introducing customers to any changes to the product such as packaging design change or a rebrand. They are relatively cheap to produce and have a very high return on investment both tangibly through sales, and intangibly through brand awareness and brand recognition.
3. Dump bins
Dump bins are large, freestanding display units, typically made of wire mesh, in which products are placed in a disorderly manner or dumped, as the name suggests. Dump bins are handy for displaying products on sale. They are ordinarily used for small, low-cost items such as snacks, but can be used to effectively promote any products that are large enough not to fall through the mesh.
Dump bins take up a large amount of floor space, making them very useful for drawing customer attention since they are impossible not to see. In the event of a sale, they can hold large quantities of merchandise and have signage that communicates the discount or promotion on offer.
Some dump bins are fitted with wheels and can be moved around the store. These wheels make the dump bin a very effective method of generating a heat map of the store so brands can determine the parts of the store where their products can be placed to create the largest volume of sales.
Dump bins are a very effective way of convincing customers to make impulse purchases. Customers may enter the store with a specific list of items to buy, but the dump bin presents products that are either on sale or very low cost, so customers are then drawn in by that extra value. Their size also makes them very hard to miss, and by extension, this enhances the visibility and attractiveness of the products they contain. However, it is vital to ensure that the dump bins do not impede free movement in the store or otherwise hamper the shopping experience.
4. Gondola Displays
Gondola displays are larger free-standing units that can have anywhere from 1 to four sides. Like freestanding displays, they can also have a very versatile and intriguing design. Unlike freestanding displays, however, they are meant to be semi-permanent to permanent fixtures of the store and thus have a much more sturdy and robust build quality. Their attractive designs draw in customers and entice them to make purchases they may not have been planning to.
The most significant advantage offered by this display type is the versatility in how products can be displayed. They can be fitted with shelves, pegboards, clip strips, hanging bars and LED lights for a variety of display permutations that can accommodate multiple product types comfortably. Further to that, these customisations are highly flexible and require no expert to install. Any shop attendant or merchandiser can change the configuration of the gondola’s fixtures, remove attachments or add more as needed, with minimal effort.
The versatility of gondola displays makes them ideal for creating a fixed location in the store where a brand can highlight its products. Brands with different product types in various sizes can use a variety of arrangement configurations to create a visually appealing product array. Enhancing the gondola with signage and lighting breaks the monotony of endless shop shelves and piques the customer’s curiosity.
5. End Caps
End caps are shelving units placed at the ends of aisles. Their location draws a lot of attention as customers walk past them on their way to other parts of the store. They offer a significant amount of visibility without taking up too much space and can house any kind of products, from the very small to larger items like appliances. End caps are usually meant to be long-term display units and are built to be sturdy. Unlike gondola displays, end caps typically do not have easily reconfigurable shelves.
End caps are functional both for marketing and sales purposes. Their positioning gives them the ideal positioning for visibility in a retail outlet and helps to draw customers in. The primary effect they have due to this visibility is an increase in brand visibility, making them function similarly to a billboard but within the store. The products in an endcap are arranged attractively and can influence customers who were just casually browsing to buy the product. Combined with the permanent positioning of the display unit, customers can develop behavioural patterns in which they instinctively pick up the product from that end cap every time they walk into that particular store, giving the brand a reliable and loyal consumer.
Conclusion
The use of POS displays is a vital part of any retail execution strategy. They are valuable for generating sales through impulse buying, and for increasing brand awareness. They are generally inexpensive but have a high return on investment in the form of increased sales volumes and advertising space in a high traffic location. The five POS display types we have highlighted in this article are among the most effective types one can use for retail execution.
If you are planning to launch a retail execution campaign and need an expert to help you realise your vision, please do not hesitate to contact us today. We would be happy to talk to you about helping grow your sales with point of sale displays.