Point of Purchase Displays

SEPTEMBER 25, 2019| SpeedPro Premier

POINT OF PURCHASE DISPLAYS

When a customer walks through your store, around your trade show display or into your restaurant, you have multiple chances to convince them to buy. Signs and displays can be what gets people into your business in the first place, but once they’re inside, what can you do to convince them to cross the finish line?

Point of purchase marketing is one way to turn people who might be curious about your company or who might be “just browsing” into paying customers. Point of purchase (POP) marketing can take multiple forms. It can involve giving people a sample of a product to try (in fact, in-store product sampling has a direct connection to an increase in sales.) It can also involve product demonstrations that show people how a product works.

In some cases, POP marketing can involve a special event. For example, way back in the 1980s, Ford hosted “wine and cheese parties” at its showrooms to appeal to female car buyers. The carmaker recognized that women’s choices made up 40 percent of all new car purchases and wanted to claim some of that market.

Point of purchase displays are yet another form of POP marketing. They can be used along with other marketing tactics — such as product demos or samples — or they can be the sole focus of your marketing efforts.

WHAT ARE POINT OF PURCHASE DISPLAYS?

Point of purchase displays can take a variety of forms. Usually, the displays are next to the items they’re promoting. They can be near the checkout counter, but they don’t have to be.

One example of a point of purchase display is a small sign placed near a new product in a store, calling a shopper’s attention to that product. For example, if a grocery store gets a new type of cereal in stock, it can place a little sign on the shelf in front of the new product. The sign can be next to where the pricing information for the product is usually located. It gets people’s attention and can provide more details about the new item.

Another example of a point of purchase display is a mobile, hung from the ceiling inside a store or at a trade show or convention. Mobiles call attention to a new product and can also help people find their way to your company’s trade show or expo booth or navigate their way over to the aisle that has the product in question.

Similarly, a point of purchase display can include a stand-alone stand that has the product’s name on it and separates the product from the rest of the items for sale. For example, a retailer can place a stand in the middle of the aisle so that the new item is set apart from the rest and more likely to grab attention.

In some cases, a point of purchase display might be located near the cash register or checkout area of the store. If your business has a lot of inexpensive or small items that it wants to sell, you can create a display highlighting the items. While people are waiting in line, they’re likely to look at the products and, in the best case scenario, make a snap decision to buy one or two.

The most effective point of purchase displays often have a few features in common. For example, a sign is often part of a POP display. The sign can be as detailed or simplistic as possible — it might contain the name of the product and what it is. In some cases, POP signs go a step further and seek to explain to customers exactly why they need a particular product. The display can also help the customer decided which item in a product line is the best option for them.

Some of the other components that you might include or see used in point of purchase displays are:

• Sectional fabric wall panels: Some point of purchase displays are quite large. If you’re looking to cover a wall in a booth at a trade show or have a wall in your store that’s free, sectional fabric wall panels can make sense. They easily join together to configure professional POP displays along aisles or around corners.
• Wall displays: Wall displays are ideal for portable point of purchase displays. For example, if you’re showing your products at an expo or setting up a pop-up store, wall displays can come together quickly and provide an ideal location for showing off your products.
• Printed fabric panels: You can hang printed fabric panels from the wall to create a large backdrop for the rest of your display.
• Attachable shelving: If you have products that you want to incorporate into your point of purchase display, shelving that you can adjust as needed is a must.
• Tablet stands or kiosks: The point of purchase can also include the point of sale location, such as the checkout counter. A table stand or kiosk is ideal for that last step in the purchase funnel.
• Window clings and contour cut vinyl cutouts: Depending on your location, your display can feature elements on the window or glass of your store or restaurant.
• Easel-back standups: A life-size cutout can be an eye-catching component in a point of purchase display. The cutout can be of the spokesperson for the brand or a larger-than-life figure of the product itself.

Restaurants and other businesses in the hospitality industry, such as pubs, cafes, hotels and kiosks (known collectively as HORECA) have a few more options when it comes to using point of purchase displays. In many cases, a company will pay a restaurant or similar business to have its branded displays featured in the point of purchase area. If you’ve ever seen a pint glass with a beer brand printed on it or enjoyed a meal under a branded umbrella on a restaurant’s patio, you’ve seen HORECA point of purchase displays in action.

POINT OF PURCHASE VS. POINT OF SALE

The terms “point of purchase” and “point of sale” are sometimes used interchangeably. Although the two terms do have some things in common — namely, the point at which a person makes a purchase — there are some critical differences.

Perhaps the most crucial difference between the two is location. “Point of sale” is often used to refer to the exact spot where a customer hands their cash or credit card over to the employee and the sale is pretty much complete. Online, the point of sale area can be the shopping cart and checkout section. In a brick and mortar location, the point of sale is usually the cash register or checkout line.

Meanwhile, the point of purchase can be throughout a brick and mortar location. It’s where someone decides to buy something, whether it’s a new dress, a different type of coffee, the special on offer at a restaurant or a subscription to a cleaning service. The point of purchase can be located near the point of sale, but it can also be placed the whole way across the store or in the dining area of a restaurant.

In some instances, the point of purchase is located at multiple points across a business. For example, a restaurant might have a signboard advertising its specials as people enter the waiting area. Once people are seated, they might see the specials and a description of them listed on a chalkboard or sign on the wall. A table tent might also call people’s attention to what’s on special, gently convincing them to order.

It’s also possible for the point of purchase and point of sale to overlap. An establishment that’s famous for its cookies or another easy-to-transport food item might have some of those items packaged up and for sale at the register where people will pay their tab. The restaurant is encouraging the sale of its cookies by compelling people to come up to the register to pay. If it has a display advertising the cookies, it’ll make it even more likely for people to make a snap purchasing decision as they settle the bill.

WHERE YOU CAN USE POINT OF PURCHASE DISPLAYS

Still not sure where you can use point of purchase displays? Here are a few ideas, broken down by different industries:

• Retailers: Retail stores can have point of purchase displays located throughout their establishment. The displays can highlight new products or help a retailer move items that might be slow to sell otherwise.
• Auto dealers: A car dealer can have a point of purchase display set up in the middle of a showroom. The display can describe any current sales or special offers, such as limited time financing. It can also describe the vehicles available from the automaker and explain what makes each one different.
• Banks: A bank can set up a point of purchase display to explain the benefit of taking out a mortgage or another type of loan. It can also use displays to detail the perks of its checking or savings accounts to people.
• Construction companies: A construction company can use a point of purchase display in a model home to highlight the benefits of buying one of the properties it’s building. At an expo or convention, such as a home show, it can use displays to attract people to its booth and to provide more information to potentially interested buyers.
• Community events: Organizers of community events can also use point of purchase displays to encourage participation. For example, displays directing people to a photo booth or dunking booth at a community fair can convince people that they want to get their picture taken or spend a few dollars for the chance to dunk someone in a pool of water.
• Sporting events: There are a few areas where a point of purchase display can be effective during a sporting event. For example, the concession vendors can use displays to attract people who are looking for a snack to nibble on. The merchandise vendors can use displays, such as a life-size team mascot, to get people to stop and browse and ideally buy a t-shirt or two.
• Restaurants: Restaurants can use point of purchase displays to upsell diners or get customers interested in buying products from certain brands, such as a particular winemaker, brewery or soda company.

THE BENEFITS OF POINT OF PURCHASE DISPLAYS

Imagine you’re wandering the aisles of your local grocery store. You’ve been there so many times you’ve lost count, and you usually buy the same things. But today, as you walk down the soup aisle, a colorful sign catches your eye. It’s placed under an arrangement of soup cans that you’ve never seen before. You’re intrigued, so instead of quickly grabbing your go-to soup brand, you take a closer look.

The sign details what’s different about the new soup and what its benefits are. It’s not much more expensive than your usual soup, so you decide to give it a try.

Breaking people out of their “same old, same old” routines is just one of the benefits of point of purchase displays. Another benefit is that the display can help you move products that haven’t been selling. To go back to the soup example, it could be that the soup isn’t exactly a “new offering,” but something the grocery store has had difficulty selling, perhaps because shoppers are likely to buy what they’re already familiar with.

POP displays don’t just direct people’s attention to a product. They can also educate consumers. Depending on the size of the display, it can include lots of details or even a FAQs list explaining what makes the new product worth someone’s time and money.

Another benefit of point of purchase displays is that they appeal to people’s impulse-buying nature. People might shop with a list, but it’s often more fun to make a surprise purchase or two — so much that people spend more than $5,000 on impulse purchases each year. If there’s an eye-catching display showing off something that’s a novelty to a shopper, they might just buy it.

Point of purchase displays are also pretty flexible. You can choose a small tabletop display to highlight specials at a restaurant or go big and select a display that covers the walls and windows of your establishment to announce a new product line or the launch of a new and exciting service. You can fully customize the size and complexity of your POP display to match your particular needs.

MAKE THE MOST OF YOUR POINT OF PURCHASE DISPLAY

The POP display options available from SpeedPro can be accented with attachable, adjustable LEDs, spots or other light options.

For a stronger presence, customize one of our truss displays, which are versatile exhibit structures held together by sleek and sturdy metal frames. No assembly tools are required, and setup is quick and simple. Complete your POP display with attention-grabbing graphics on backlit pop-ups (lighting optional) and a custom display counter available in several shapes and sizes. No matter what you’re displaying for purchase, SpeedPro can help you give it the kind of attention that leads to sales.

SPEEDPRO: YOUR PARTNER PRINTERS

POP displays are about more than making a quick profit. Your point of purchase is the face you show to prospective clients, interested investors and intrigued visitors. You need it done right the first time so that it looks right every time. When you partner with SpeedPro, you can trust that we’ll ask you the important questions and suggest the best choices so that your POP display will last as long as you need. Our mission at SpeedPro is to bring your ideas to life.

In addition to POP displays, we also create trade show displays as well as vehicle wraps, event graphics, window graphics and more. We’ll work with you to bring your ideas to life and produce attention-grabbing graphics that meet your needs. To learn more, contact us today.