What’s the biggest hurdle for any product on a shelf?

Getting noticed.

Retail shoppers are spoilt for choice. And with so many stores following a traditional layout of shelves and counters, it’s tough trying to get your most profitable products noticed.

So what’s the answer?

Amplify your products beyond the shelf with a bright and bold POS or POP display.

What’s the difference between POS and POP?

A Point of Sale display (POS) and a Point of Purchase display (POP) are both defined as in-store displays – almost always intended to promote a particular product, offer, or brand.
But where they differ is in their location.

A Point of Sale display (POS) is one that’s found right next to the tills or the sales desk.

A Point of Purchase display (POP) is one that’s found at the place where customers decide to make a purchase – out in the general shopping area.
If you think that’s confusing, you’re not alone. In reality, a ‘purchase’ really only happens at the till – which is exactly where a ‘sale’ happens.

So to make it easier, try to remember it like this:
A ‘sale’ is something that a seller does. And sellers are usually at the till.
A ‘purchase’ is something that a customer does. And customers can be found all throughout the store.

With that out of the way, we can start to look at some of the best ways to use both POS and POP displays to help boost your sales and get your products noticed.

1. Use the space your products don’t have

For the most part, the labels on your shelves and the packaging on your products are tiny. They’re full of small print and legal information – and there’s rarely any room for anything persuasive.

But when you use a printed POP display, you’ve got the space (and the attention) to really start selling.
You can use this extra space to:

• List the benefits for the customer (‘Clean dishes with half the liquid’)
• Boast about the product’s awards or certifications (‘Now 100% organic and gluten-free’
• Draw attention to a promotion or offer (‘2 for £5’)
• Or display a bright and bold photo showing how the product is used.

2. Rotate your POP displays and measure their success

Shelves are static. And so are your tills.
But a POP display (either as a free-standing cardboard unit or a poster or shelf-talker) can easily be moved around the store from day to day or week to week.
That means you can test out different positions, locations, and angles – and see which arrangements generate the most sales.
Does a free-standing unit get the most interest in the queue for the tills? By the entrance? In the shop window? Or in a prominent corner of your shop?

This flexibility gives you the chance to find the most successful layout for the displays in your store. And if you keep track of your sales with each variation, you’ll know when you’re onto a winner.

3. Capitalise on impulse buys

If you’ve ever been in a queue at Primark, you’ll know that impulse buys are a real thing.
Why else would a retail giant like Primark pack in so many small products along every spare inch of their queuing areas?
According to a consumer survey, 68% of impulse buys happen in person, in a store. That means that retail shoppers are in the perfect position to be heavily influenced by your POP and POS displays.
So if your store sells a range of small products with relatively low individual prices, just putting them in front of your customers with an attractive display could be enough to cause a significant boost in sales.

4. Give your displays some personality

At Print-Print, we love making sales displays with great design and visuals that pop.
But lots of businesses tend to overlook the most important part of any sales device:
The message.
The right choice of words can have as much influence as any bright and bold design. So when you’re planning your POP and POS displays, try and inject a little personality by:

• Using a fun and playful tone of voice (‘Hey you! Looking for a bargain?’
• Giving your products their own first-person voice (‘I’m in the Sale too!’)
• Or using evocative language (‘Fire up the BBQ and sizzle some summer steaks’)

5. Think in three dimensions

When customers walk through a conventional store, there are only really two ways they can look: to the back of the shop, or to the shelves at their side.
So if you want to attract attention, you need POP and POS displays that can break that linear viewpoint.
That could mean trying things like:

• Free-standing display units that can be strategically placed in your customers’ paths (and if you get a 360-degree unit that works from every angle, you’re getting even more attention out of the same floor space)
• Perpendicular shelf-talkers that stick out at a right angle to the shelf – so they’re always facing an approaching customer
• Giant printed floor stickers (think of IKEA’s floor arrows) – so you can point your customers in the right direction, or get promotional offers to your phone-obsessed visitors who are always looking down at their screens.

Ready to boost sales with a well-placed display?

We’ve been printing retail promotions for all sorts of businesses for years – so we know exactly what it takes to create a display that hooks your shoppers.
So if you’re ready to transform your store and start shifting your slow-moving products, check out our mounted poster displays or if you would like to discuss ideas for instrore displays please give us a call on 01952 850730 – we’re only too happy to help.

Dean Williams

Dean Williams is a design and marketing blogger working for Print-Print Limited, promoting business and building brands through quality print marketing. If you’re interested in small business promotion then please get in touch hello@print-print.co.uk