Often, shopping can be an overwhelming experience. There is a barrage of different signage and branding telling you to buy this product, use that service or enter a competition to win a holiday. Consequently, getting customers to notice, interact with and eventually purchase your product is quite a feat but it's achievable.
Point of sale, point of purchase (POP), in-store sales, whatever you’d like to refer to it as, is a great opportunity to cut through the noise and grab a customer's attention.
What is point of sale signage?
Point of sale, or point of purchase, is the physical space where customers engage with a brand in-store. It is marketing materials that exist separately from the stores shelving, effectively inserting the brand into the shopping journey. This could be an activation or promotional material.
Point of sale signage can separate a brand from its competitors by placing it in the customer's line of sight, as well as boost brand awareness and equity.
With point of sale signage, there are numerous possibilities to choose from that can be adapted to the type of brand and the target market.
1. Make sure your brand is recognisable
It should go without saying but ensuring that customers recognise your brand and understand what you are selling is number one.
This means that your branding should be consistent i.e. your brand colours and brand personality should be represented on all point of sale signage. If you’re a playful, fun-loving affordable beverage brand, don’t create point of sale signage that is structured and serious. Customers will be confused.
Additionally, if you are doing a brand revamp and are completely changing your brand image, say so. Customers don’t have time to stop and figure out who you are and what you’re selling. If you don’t state that the brand has taken on a new look, customers might confuse your brand with a competitor, or worse, a completely different product offering.
2. Incorporate POP signage into a display
Having a separate display to showcase your products can help your brand stand out from the rest. Imagine you are in the beauty aisle, looking at the various nail polishes on display, for instance. All the brands are displayed next to each other on the same shelf but next to that shelf is a separate display with a particular brand’s polishes presented on it with bold signage above telling customers about the brand. If you don’t already have a particular brand and nail polish shade in mind, your attention would probably be drawn to this display because it stands out.
Image Source: Etsy Pinterest
3. Understand your target audience
Every campaign or strategy needs to be tailored to the brand’s target audience - this means finding out who and where your target market is and meeting them there. In the case of point of sale signage, knowing your target audience also means knowing where to place the signage or display. If your brand sells children’s toys, it would be a waste of time and resources to place the display or signage in the toiletry aisle, for instance.
Once you’ve decided where the best location is to display your point of sale signage, it’s also important to design it so that the concept is tailored to your audience as well - the more creative, the better! For example, a sunglass brand could encourage customers to take a selfie with a pair of sunnies that they like and share it on social media with a hashtag, and a winner could be chosen to win those sunglasses. This is an example of using point of sale signage that ties in with the brand and the target audience to create a cross-channel marketing campaign.
Image Source: Illisimone Pinterest
4. Be bold and make a statement
No matter what you’re selling, don’t be afraid to be bold and make a statement with your point of sale signage. Remember, you want your brand to stand out from the rest!
Be creative. If you’re selling a product made from fruit that prides itself on being made with only natural ingredients, why not design a display in the shape of a tree, with the product displayed at the end of each branch of the tree - this would communicate what your brand is and what it stands for in a unique, creative way. It’s important to immerse customers in the brand story.
Don’t be shy to incorporate store shelving into your point of sale display or signage, that’s what it’s there for. You could design signage that would stick out from the shelves next to your product and offer coupons or discounts, for example.
Lighting can also make your brand stand out so make sure your signage or display is positioned in the right area, or alternatively, including your own lighting in your display.
5. Use different materials
When thinking of point of sale signage, don’t just think cardboard and paper. With the advancement of digital printing technology, almost any substrate can be printed on these days, including glass, plastic, material, wood and different kinds of metal.
As mentioned above, it’s important to tailor your point of sale signage to your audience. If your brand is high-end and the target market includes customers who can afford luxury items, printing your branding on wood or leather could make a statement. However, if you are offering a high-tech product or service that provides customers with an innovative solution to their problems, aluminium signage could help to communicate this. And finally, an eco-friendly brand would do well to stay away from synthetic materials, such as plastic in their signage.
Key Takeaways
Point of sale signage offers brands an opportunity to stand out from the competition and really make a statement.
There are numerous opportunities to represent your brand in a creative and innovative way using point of sale signage that you wouldn’t get with other kinds of marketing.
By utilising in-store shelving and lighting to your advantage, and designing bold signage on various different materials, you can make customers take notice.
We can print all of your point of sale signage quickly, and easily. Take a look at our online print shop right here.
