Point of Sale Marketing

Purchase Merchandising Displays

All point of sale displays are not created equal. We take a look at some of the more common types of point of purchase merchandising displays and offer suggestions about how your store can use them to maximize point of sale revenues.

Point of sale displays are the backbone of most retailers' point of sale strategies.

Manufacturers usually provide a variety of point of purchase display options to help retailers maintain a fresh and attractive front end purchasing experience for their customers.

The responsibility for choosing the right point of sale display ultimately falls on retailers themselves.

If you don't understand the strengths and weaknesses of various display options, it's easy to mismatch your point of sale marketing materials with your store and your strategy. In some cases, it's even possible to drive customers away by locating too many displays near the checkout station. By understanding your point of sale display options better, you'll inevitably make wiser decisions regarding point of sale marketing.

Point of Sale Display Options

Manufacturers typically offer three kinds of display options: (1) Permanent displays, (2) signage, and (3) temporary displays.

• PERMANENT DISPLAYS – Permanent displays cover a broad swath of point of sale marketing alternatives including floor dumps and glass cases. Research has shown that high quality permanent displays are the most popular display option for retailers.
• SIGNAGE – Shelf and wall signage is a cost-effective way for manufacturers to market point of sale merchandise. After permanent displays, it's also an extremely popular marketing display tool for retailers.
• TEMPORARY DISPLAYS – Retailers use plenty of temporary displays to market point of sale products. But temporary displays tend to age quickly and clutter up checkout aisles. That's probably why they are less popular overall with retailers.

Point of Sale Display Suggestions

Whether you are a retailer or a manufacturer, your point of sale marketing strategy is critical to your success. As you walk through the various point of purchase marketing options, keep these considerations in mind:

• The more unique a point of sale display, the more likely it is that retailers will feature it in their point of sale space. Effective point of sale displays are attractive and informative, and often entertain customers while they stand in line to make their purchases.
• Successful point of sale displays feature cooperative arrangements between manufacturers and retailers. While manufacturers should have conversations with retailers to learn about the kinds of displays that meet their needs, retailers need to be prepared to intelligently discuss their point of sale strategies with manufacturer reps.
• In the world of point of sale marketing, cost does not necessarily translate into better results. Sometimes the most effective point of sale marketing displays are the ones that leverage creativity rather than high-priced manufacturing processes.

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