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Elements For Point of Purchase And Examples To Prove It
DotActiv TeamSep 23, 2016 9:52:53 AM4 min read

5 Elements Essential For Point of Purchase And Examples To Prove It

When customers enter your store, many of them are staring down at their phones or shopping lists, and those who don't, have a glazed look in their eyes, daydreaming of their plans for the weekend. Mothers struggle to control their toddlers, and the single business men and women dart straight for the TV dinners. How is your store supposed to compete with all those distractions?

Many retailers use point of purchase (POP) displays as a marketing tactic to elicit a real response from customers. In our previous post, 10 things you need to know about the point of purchase, we established that your store’s POP should be designed to capture the attention of potential buyers, and stand at the point of sale where customers perform the actual transaction.

Now, we’ll look at the five essential elements you need to create a successful point of purchase display.

1. Your POP should have a purpose

You need to clearly define the role of your POP advertising and how it will introduce and promote your product. Point of purchase displays usually have four main functions to fulfil:

  • Build traffic: Attract more people to your POP display.
  • Create awareness: Introduce the product or service to prospective buyers.
  • Create an impression: Inform customers of the benefits, associating your displayed product with a positive end-result.
  • Increase sales: Stimulate impulse purchases by supporting a consumer’s impulsivity

Walmart uses television ads to display helpful product information, targeted to consumers at the point of purchase. According to mediaweek.com, shoppers watch an average of seven minutes of Walmart TV for every store visit.

2. Understand your customers

To determine which POP displays will appeal to your consumer, you first need to understand them. Answer the following questions:

  • What is your target customer demographic?
  • What motivates them to enter your shop, what needs drive them?
  • What does your target customer value?
  • What is their lifestyle and how might your product improve it?

You POP advertisement should connect with consumers when they’re in the shopping mindset by triggering their association of the product with what they need and what they value. Fostering connections with customers using POP is difficult, but not impossible. For example, Energizer puts pictures of its pink bunny on packages, reminding consumers of its boundless energy and innovation, reinforcing their favourable attitude toward the product.

There is also the opportunity of going the mystery shopping route to gauge how customers are experiencing your products.

3. Your display should look great and make sense

As a retailer, you must ensure that consumers have top-of-mind awareness of your brands, so that they are quickly recognised and considered. The point of purchase influences these types of decisions. Customers will be drawn to your POP when displayed in a prominent fashion using attractive packaging and on-package coupons or premium offers.

Keep these rules in mind when creating your POP display. Attractive: Keep it simple, but grab the consumer’s attention with vibrant colours and clear imagery. Functional: Your display shape needs to be both structurally sound and eye-catching. The customer shouldn’t be worried about it crashing down when they try and place items in their cart. Useful: Paco Underhill, the author of The Science of Shopping, discovered that customers like:

  • Touching the product
  • Mirrors, but not too many
  • Discovering bargains
  • Talking to employees
  • Clear price tags

Hershey’s “Pure Chocolate, Pure Hershey’s” point of purchase display is both eye-catching, with its contrasting brown and bright yellow colours, and functional.

4. Investigate your space

Use space efficiently. The actual location of your point of purchase display should complement your overall store design, and not limit customer mobility. Before you place a display in your store, make sure to check its measurements,  material, and weight. POP’s can take many forms, from cardboard displays to video screens and life-size stands. Make sure your point of purchase display takes your store’s floor plan and shelf plan into consideration.More examples of POP displays:

  • Dump bins strategically placed to elicit curiosity. We’ve all seen those bins stacked high with DVD’s and books.
  • In-store banner displays. Using graphics and messaging to inspire last minute shopping decisions.
  • A store within a store. The most elaborate form of POP is a vendor shop.
  • Interactive displays, like those providing free samples.
  • Shelf edging placed directly next to the checkout stand.

5. Messaging is important

If you don’t want your well-thought-out communication message to be ignored, it needs to be personally relevant, meaningful and of value to the customer. Make sure your message:

  • Starts with a captivating headline
  • Is meaningful
  • Is specific
  • Is clear and simple
  • Ends with a call to action

An example of a persuasive message might be suggesting multiple purchases, “Buy 3 and only pay for 2”. Another example of impactful messages, especially effective on female consumers, are clearance messages about extra free products.

Conclusion

According to thelast4feet.com, 75% of purchasing decisions are made within the last 4 feet (1.2 metres). If you are not currently utilising your point of purchase as a major marketing tactic, then you’re missing out. Customers are already in the buying mode, credit card in hand.

Take advantage of this opportunity. If you would like to attract and persuade customers with your POP strategy, make use of our integrated category management software.

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DotActiv Team

The DotActiv team comprises category management experts lending their retail experience and knowledge to create well-researched and in-depth articles.

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