Photos courtesy Vista System International
By Danny Schneider
Point-of-purchase (POP) or point-of-sale (POS) signage is, by definition, posted in places where shoppers make decisions about goods and services offered for sale, such as supermarket aisles, or where their transactions occur, such as cashier counters. In these locations, displays can be used to advertise regular items or special promotions.
While consumers are already well-accustomed to seeing POP displays on a daily basis, they may not realize how much the medium has grown in recent years. Stores have even been redesigned to allow for as many displays as possible, with retailers aligning them in a well-thought-out fashion to help motivate shoppers to buy more during their visit.
In turn, signmakers, display specialists and graphic designers have focused their efforts on preparing POP displays that make shoppers feel good about new products they may not have planned to buy before arriving at the store. They and their retail clients need to consider such factors as material selection, fabrication methods, colour selection, marketing campaign strategies, locations and expected lifespan, among others.
Store-wide systems
When shoppers happen to see POP signs in a store, they are either looking for a particular destination within that environment—i.e. a department, section or specific product shelf—or attempting to follow a specific route through the store—e.g. when winding through grocery aisles.
POP signage targets consumers in locations where they make key decisions.
Wayfinding signage should inspire trust, helping them feel confident and at ease in the retail environment, knowing they can reach their destination without a problem. These signs need to be conspicuous to help users complete their tasks. They also need to be clear, easily recognizable and consistent in style and messaging.
It is not just wayfinding signage, however, that needs to be adequate. More and more signs are being introduced to assert the presence of promoted brand names, which in turn compete with others, to attract customers’ attention. These too need to be conspicuous, contrasting with the surrounding environment and representing their individual brands at shopper’s eye level.
Both types of displays need to be simple, flexible and adaptable, but also sturdy enough to withstand ‘shopper abuse’ in a busy store. To some degree, they fill a gap between modular systems and custom-designed one-offs, as they must be compatible with store fixtures while also supporting specific branding for both the store and its products.
A well-designed system can incorporate both types of signs with a consistent look and feel for the entire retail facility, enabling marketers to promote a brand either with a single display or in multiple locations. Above all, it needs to be modular to allow graphics to be changed or moved easily and cost-effectively, particularly given the fluidity of today’s retail industry.
