In today’s blog post, I’ll start off by explaining the difference between POP and POS. I’ll introduce you to the role of POP materials for marketing and describe the four most significant options.
At the end of this blog post, I'll write about the major trends and how to choose the right type of POP material for your brand.
POP stands for Point of Purchase and POS for Point of Sales. The main difference between these two lies in their focus, purpose and position within the customer journey.
POP marketing are marketing tactics companies apply to prepare visitors for making buying decisions. This relates to all channels: within the on trade, the off trade and at events. If POP marketing is done well, POS marketing will run, not by itself, but much smoother than if POP marketing is done poorly. This means POS marketing results are directly linked to the quality of POP marketing.
Point of Purchase materials are vital for marketing and sales. Because they directly impact consumer behavior at the location where they are likely to make purchasing decisions. Here are eight ways how POP materials contribute to business success.
Brand Visibility
Items such as displays, banners, or wobblers help draw attention to the product. These then stand out among a multitude of products that are being offered, thus enabling brands to get noticed.
Influence Impulse
POP marketing unlocks additional sales because some people will be willing to buy products they haven’t even considered before entering the store.
Promotions and Offers
POP materials can communicate discounts, limited time offers, or new product launches. This way shoppers become aware of deals and take advantage of promotions.
Educate Consumers
Another area where POP materials help is the education of consumers. They present how to use an item and what it is for. By doing so POP materials help customers make easier decisions.
Increase Product Visibility
POP materials are often used in high traffic store areas, like aisle ends or checkout counters. This maximizes exposure to a high number of shoppers and leads to more purchases.
Trigger Cross-Selling
In retail stores one can often find complementary products together, e.g. beer and chips. This encourages customers to buy more.
Enhance the Experience
For many people, shopping is fun. Innovative POP materials can enhance this, e.g. interactive elements, or beautiful visuals.
Cost-efficacy
Compared to some other marketing options, POP materials are a cost-effective option. Particularly because they focus on shoppers when they are willing to buy. POP materials can be easily made to align with changing trends or theme-based campaigns. This makes them a very flexible marketing option.
There exists a broad range of Point of Purchase material options. These can cater to different needs: gain visibility, offer education, or facilitate impulse purchases.
Product displays are visual arrangements of merchandise in retail or other selling environments, e.g. in bars or at events. Its purpose is to attract customers, present products, and increase sales.
Aspects like design, layout, lighting, and branding play a significant role in how products are being displayed.
One can classify displays in different categories.
All displays should be visually pleasing, thus contributing to a retail environment’s beauty. It is important to avoid clutter. A display’s placement is key for achieving good visibility. They can be rotated often in order to assure shopper interest.
Product samples play a significant role in elevating the impact of Point of Purchase materials. They encourage customer engagement, build trust and increase sales. There is something about the sensory input that samples add.
Being able to taste, smell and touch the product. It reduces uncertainty about what exactly is being offered. There occurs an emotional connection which can lead to immediate purchases.
Samples alongside POP displays add an interactive element to the presentation. It helps the product stand out from competitors by giving customers a reason to stop, engage, and remember the brand. Samples therefore encourage customers to explore other products from the same brand. If samples are provided by an employee, it creates the opportunity of receiving direct feedback. This provides input for the process of further developing the product.
Signage and banners serve the purpose of gaining attention, communicating key messages, and guiding shoppers towards making a buying decision. In a retail environment, they are often the first things customers notice. They are strategically placed at entrances, checkout counters, or other high-traffic areas.
Signage and banners reinforce a brand’s identity by featuring logos, colors, slogans and images. This helps customers recognise an already familiar brand and develop trust.
They can often form a connection to other promotional content that customers might already have seen, e.g. social media, ads, or email. The messaging is often linked to presenting product benefits, current promotions and new products. In a very concise manner.
An important part of signage and banners is the Call-To-Action message, e.g. “Shop Now”, “Limited Offer, or “Find Out More”. Signage and banners offer high visibility at a relatively low cost. For a one time investment they can repeatedly impact customer behavior whenever they are entering the store.
Product replicas play a special role in Point of Purchase Marketing. Particularly the realistic, oversized ones. By showcasing a product’s shape and features, they grab a lot of attention.
Replicas can be designed to emphasize unique aspects of a product that may not be immediately visible when the product is presented with its packaging. For example, the interior of a household appliance could highlight the quality materials that are inside of it. Or the replica of a food product could highlight its ingredients.
Replica can evoke nostalgia, humor or curiosity. People might make a picture of themselves in front of an oversized replica and share it on social media. This boosts brand awareness beyond physical retail. A special case when replicas are useful is when a product is too delicate or impractical, due to size, to be displayed in its original version, e.g. vehicles or industrial goods.
Sometimes large replicas are inflatables which, because of their uniqueness, draw people into the POP area.
Retail environments continuously evolve to adapt to changing consumer behavior and new technology. Point Of Purchase Marketing is no different. The following are the important POP marketing trends you need to be aware of.
By now you’ve noticed that POP marketing increasingly uses interactive displays, e.g. touchscreens and QR codes to show interactive content. Augmented reality, in short AR, allows customers to see products in their own environment or explore features via in-store AR setups. Smart POP displays incorporate Internet of Things, in short IoT, which enables them to collect data and track customer engagement.
The POP material design needs to reflect a clean and sustainable approach towards reducing production costs. Brands actively seek materials that are recycled, biodegradable, or reusable. POP material might even include messaging about environmentally focused initiatives.
Progress in data analytics enables POP materials to adapt to preferences of local groups of people or even individuals. Retailers and suppliers can customize POP materials to align around regional trends, cultures or holidays. POP displays can recommend products based on customer data, e.g. from scanning a loyalty card and analyzing prior purchases.
Brands are focused on creating a memorable in-store experience. To put on a show. Through POP displays via which customers can engage with products, e.g. live demonstrations, sampling, or virtual reality (VR) offers. A valuable element in this can be gamified content, e.g. digital contests or spinning wheels. These foster an emotional connection between the brand and the shopper.
The goal of omnichannel integration is to create a seamless experience and adapt to customer preferences. POP displays nowadays invite shoppers to engage with digital content, e.g. QR codes for discounts and additional product information, or it is common to order a product online but pick it up in the physical store. Another common occurrence is to find hashtags or selfie opportunities that facilitate social media sharing, extending a brand’s reach.
With so many POP material options out there, it can be challenging to make a choice. The most important criteria are your brand, product, target audience, retail surroundings, scope, goals and budget. Here is an easy and proven process you can follow.
What is the broader marketing plan and how can you make POP marketing integrate well into it?
What are your primary goals for investing into POP material? For example, do you want to increase impulse buys, maximize visibility or showcase high-end items? Are you running a short- or long-term campaign?
What will be the scope of your investment? How many stores or outlets do you plan to cover?
If your response is to drive impulse buys you could e.g. focus on counter displays and shelf talkers. If it is to maximize visibility, you’ll want to prioritize e.g. floor and end-cap displays. Clarity about your goals will help you choose the right POP materials.
Age, gender, income level, lifestyle preferences. You know this already. How does your audience prefer to shop? What kind of visuals and copy do they prefer?
Consider what the individual outlets look like. How much space they offer. What type of POP material your partner does and does not allow. What POP material already exists there. Chances are you have already grouped the individual outlets into certain categories, e.g. supermarkets and specialty stores. Use this information to adapt your POP material.
What elements of your product will impact POP marketing? How big is the product? What’s its weight? Does it need refrigeration and therefore electricity? Will you want to use digital screens to showcase it? Does it need to be tested?
Know your budget and be realistic about what you can and what you cannot do with it. Your goal is to balance costs to get the highest Return on Investment possible. For high-traffic promotions, invest in large, eye-catching displays. For smaller ones or limited budgets, start off with cost-effective options like shelf talkers or signage. Don’t forget to consider not only the costs of buying POP material but its delivery, installation and maintenance.
Now bring all of the above five aspects together. By choosing the most appropriate POP material. Speak to several suppliers and listen to their feedback. They will often have valuable input about how to gain more value for the same amount of money. For example, slightly adapting a product’s design might lower its tooling or even the bulk production cost. It happens all the time with our projects. Pay special attention to visual appeal, durability, practicality and sustainability.
You put a lot of effort into sourcing and deploying your POP material. You’ll want to receive feedback and learn from it. Evaluate your results. Continuously. Use metrics like sales, foot traffic or customer engagement to evaluate the effectiveness of your efforts. Feed the data back into the next cycle when you source new POP material. Progress only comes from learning what works and what doesn’t.
POP marketing is essential for achieving retail success. There exists a broad range of product options which can easily become confusing. By aligning your POP material choice with your goals, target audience, retail environment, and budget, you can create an effective, eye-catching campaign that maximizes brand exposure and increases sales.
Ivica Baraba - Sales & Marketing management
"In PES I get to work on many custom branded merchandise projects. I’ve been doing this since 2004. It intrigues me to delve into brand worlds and determine what products can help a client achieve their business goals. It is an exceptionally creative and dynamic industry to be a part of.”
