From confectionary stands to garden centre retail, point-of-purchase displays (POP) are arguably the most powerful tools influencing impulse buyer decisions. To truly benefit from merchandise displays - whether you’re trying to shift low-sellers, or promote a seasonal campaign, or create everyday inspiring retail spaces - it’s crucial that point-of-purchase displays bring maximum sales potential. To do that, visual merchandisers and marketing managers need to consider everything from brand image to shopper psychology. With that in mind, we’ve rounded up the best sales tactics to incite that ‘gotta-have-it’ attitude in target consumers.
Five marketing hacks to maximise your point-of-purchase displays
1. Work seasonality to your advantage
Research by Statista in 2016 found that almost one quarter of people who bought Valentine’s Day gifts did so on impulse. Tailoring point-of-purchase displays to specific times of the year truly maximises your return-on-investment potential. Holidays, celebrations and special occasions are already implanted in target customers’ minds - you just need to make your product relevant to them. Research what competitors are doing well and establish a solid goal. Do you want to appeal to a new audience, or maybe sell that last year’s Christmas stock of 1,000 wallets? There’s no point creating seasonal point-of-purchase displays if you don’t have a measurable objective to work towards.
2. Consider the psychology of colour
Never underestimate the impact the colours used in point-of-purchase displays can have on buyer behaviour. Our brains are hyper-visual and different colours evoke different emotional responses, influencing the way we perceive a product. Greens are calming, which can be seen in this easy-on-the-eye display we crafted for Gardman Garden Products:
Gardening is a stress-relieving hobby and the pale green gives customers reassurance these products will provide that. It’s easy on the eye and the natural wooden feel works organically with the brand image. Blue is another soothing colour in advertising psychology, while yellow is popular for food and confectionary point-of-purchase displays since it’s known to arouse an appetite. Black oozes the sophistication needed for luxury point-of-purchase displays, while red screams action and immediacy - just what you need for impulse sales.
3. Make them look with clever placements
From the physical placement of your actual point-of-purchase displays to the grouping within them, accessibility and aesthetics are crucial considerations for selling more products. Place your POP stand at the end of an aisle and you’ll instantly increase visibility - 37% of respondents to a Path To Purchase Institute survey on point-of-purchase displays said this was the most effective store zone for driving sales. Also, pay attention to how your products are grouped and positioned. Items should compliment each other and tell a story. For example, if you want to appeal to a beauty-conscious customer, place other key pieces of makeup next to your lipstick stand. The rule of three works well here - grouping an odd number of products will throw off an customer’s brain due to imbalance. Once you have their gaze the marketing messages can get to work.
4. Go bold or go home
Your customer should be able to read and digest your point-of-purchase displays from afar. Reams of small, hard-to-read text will not command attention: as with any marketing, your message and call-to-action needs to be clear and concise. Use benefits-driven language, showing consumers exactly what the product features can do for them with simple language.
5. Flexibility is key
Point-of-purchase displays need super-smart planning to succeed - there’s no one-size-fits-all approach and that’s one philosophy we work with at Admiral Display. Many displays need to fit around multiple products displayed through changing seasons. If the range changes, can the display change with them? We believe that an effective display will be able to cope with changes in both retail product type and prominence variation in order to maximise the return-on-investment in the stand. Read about our expert approach to point-of-purchase displays and get in touch to see how we can create a truly unique POP solution for your brand.