POS is one of the most popular marketing tools used by brands. When used appropriately, it can be a formidable means of optimising sales while reinforcing a brand’s image in the eyes of its customers.
To help you design an effective POS display, MPO offers a reminder of the 5 fundamentals.
Anticipate your POS project and define your objectives
As with any marketing operation, it is essential to determine the objectives and specifics of your POS project.
Is it to showcase my products? Promote a promotional operation or enhance my brand image?
All these questions need to be prepared in advance, because creating POS advertising involves several stages. As a general rule, it takes 4 to 5 months from design to prototyping and delivery.
So plan your project in advance by drawing up a detailed brief listing your various technical requirements, such as the type of POS envisaged, the budget, the colours and the materials.
Finally, as with any project, setting up POS often involves departments other than marketing.
At this stage, don’t hesitate to share your project internally and discuss it with the various departments involved, so that you can bring your project to a successful conclusion!
Visualise the POS in its environment
Whether the aim is to promote a new product or to increase visibility, designing POS means having to adapt to the sales area.
Not all retailers have the same specific characteristics or the same constraints. For example, a superstore will be better suited to a large display than a local shop. Similarly, a toy store in the middle of the Christmas period will no doubt ask you to adapt your POS to its theme.
To achieve the desired result, it’s also important to take into account the customer’s visual field. A POS that is too high will not be very visible, while a large POS for a small quantity of product will surely seem disproportionate.
In short, it’s vital to maintain a certain harmony with the sales area and the products.
Finally, remember to make it easy to assemble your POS so that you can deploy it properly and without incident at your distributor’s premises.
So plan your logistics and delivery well in advance!
Attract customer attention
POS’s main function is to encourage people to buy, so it needs to attract the consumer’s interest.
Remember that consumers are often surrounded by a large number of advertising messages all around them. So don’t be afraid to play with size, colour and shape to make your message stand out.
For added impact, you can also make the most of the finishes, with different varnish effects, embossing and hot stamping.
However, be sure to keep the finish in harmony with your sector and your brand image, as the result could quickly prove counter-productive. In the luxury sector, for example, sober colours are most often preferred.
Informing the customer
As well as arousing consumer interest, POS must also fulfil an informative function. The brand and nature of your products must be easily identifiable by the consumer.
To achieve this, you need to rely on elements that are reminiscent of your brand, such as the logo, the colours or an emblematic character.
Similarly, to encourage purchases, the benefits of your product should be clearly displayed using a message, a slogan or even a figure if your POS involves a price reduction.
Finally, each piece of information should be legible. So make sure you choose the right font size and don’t overload your POS.
A word of advice: keep it simple!
Consider POS as a means of interacting with customers
While an attractively designed POS can be effective, considering your POS as an opportunity to interact with customers is an even more effective strategy.
In addition to having a greater impact, this solution also enhances the customer experience at the point of sale, reinforcing its image.
So go for technology by integrating screens or QR codes into your POS materials.
However, consider other more traditional but equally effective methods, such as samples or animations.
In short, with a bit of upstream preparation and a few basic rules in place, it’s possible to design an effective POS, which is proving to be an indispensable tool at the point of sale.
Lastly, by combining it with new technologies such as QR codes, it is now possible to offer more dynamic POS, thereby reinventing the customer experience.