The Ultimate Guide to POS

At Shopfitting Warehouse, we believe that great display doesn’t have to be difficult to find and as part of this ethos we want your displays to not only look amazing but make you stand out from the crowd, promoting your offers and brand to its very best potential, creating the kind of success you expect from your business.

The Ultimate Guide to Point of Sale, will be exploring its origins, best use of particular products in certain environments, features and benefits and so much more.

Also if you have any questions to ask about this particular project, please get in touch, we’d love to hear from you and we will do our utmost to answer them.

Why every retailer needs to make it a priority in their business

Imagine a retail store without signage and without point of sale, the customer experience would be at best confusing and at worst frustrating enough to exit the store. The right point of sale will, without the customer being aware, guide the customer through their retail journey, right from the point of walking up to the store, right through to making their purchase and exiting the store.

High margins of profit in retail can be difficult to obtain, it is important to ensure every opportunity is made to get the customer to understand the product offering, the lines most suited to their needs and to entice them to spend more than they intended when they entered the store.

Mankind has been using point of sale (POS) since the first trading and bartering began, using basic fixtures to display their wares in an appealing way. In medieval times the first use of recognisable symbols of a trade were used, a pawnbrokers three golden spheres and a barbers red and white stripes. This early POS allowed a consumer to instantly identify the services being offered.

In the late 18th century, retailers started to become more sophisticated in their approach to POS. A tailor in Charring Cross, London was the first retailer recorded to put plate glass windows at the front of his store and create a window display to encourage passers-by to enter his store. The first department store opened in Pall Mall in 1796, which required a wide range of merchandise to be displayed and communicated in an effective manner to aid the customer through the multiple choices now on offer.

FW Woolworth launched his first self-serve stores in the early 19th century and began to use promotional messages in his POS to drive sales. Clarks Shoes developed POS to differentiate their brand when they secured displays inside independent retail outlets, they now have a collection of over 18,000 pieces of POS history that date back over 100 years.
The 1920’s saw a boom in retailing and more POS became necessary for brands to survive in the highly competitive environment. In the 1950’s large supermarkets were opened and POS as we know it today was developed to guide the shoppers through the merchandise.

The latest statistics indicate that consumers are relying on POS to influence their purchasing more than ever before, with over 80% of decisions of what to buy being made once inside the store.

Retailers today can communicate successfully and easily with the vast range of tools and equipment that have been created and researched to engage customers. As the customer approaches the store in a retail park or on the high street, it is important to catch their attention and remind them of why to visit. Flags, pavement signs, A-boards and building banners can be used to demonstrate the latest promotions and brand messages. Window displays can be critical, especially for businesses such as estate agents and travel companies to show the customer what is on offer before they enter.

Once the consumer is inside the store, they must immediately get an impression of the brand and values and see POS that shows them where to find what they are looking for. As they browse the store, the pricing and offers need to be clear and effective, as they make their purchases and exit the store the POS should reassure and justify their decisions.
The objective of POS is to increase sales and profit for a business and to create brand loyalty to secure future purchases, time and money spent on the right POS will show a good return on investment.

Getting the Most Effective Balance and Colour

When considering putting Point of Sale (POS) into a retail environment, it is important to consider two vital factors. The first to consider is whether the POS is necessary and will it add value. This will ensure there is a good balance and reduce clutter. The second factor to consider is the colour of the POS itself, whether it is relevant to the message it is trying to deliver and whether it sits comfortably its surroundings.

When deliberating a new piece of POS the 4 C’s are a good guideline for making sure the POS is going to achieve its objective of increasing sales.

• Command attention
• Connect with the consumer
• Convey the information
• Close the Sale

60% of a shopper’s purchasing decisions are actually made by POS so it is important to be effective with the choices that are made. Chris Peach, Research Director at Marketing Sciences says “The only firm and fast rule is that your POS has to be disruptive”.

The most successful POS is placed at shelf height, ceiling banners and floor stickers need to be positioned with a little more care for maximum impact. Using the right equipment that is clean, tidy and in good condition is essential, worn fixtures are very off-putting to the customer.

To accomplish the best results POS should be clear and simple, an average shopper only spends seconds looking at it, so the message should not be complicated to understand.

Once the right balance of POS has been reached, the colours used in the POS are the next key ingredient. Colours can make an emotional connection with the customer that will affect their purchasing decision. It may also be representative to the company’s brand colours so will be used for consistency and to build the brand ethic further in-store.

The most obvious colour to use in POS is red, but only if the message is one that is promotional and time limited. Red demands urgency and attention in the customers mind and it encourages action. Red is used extensively in the retail market to convey ‘Sale’ and ‘% off’ messages. Brands like Currys, Matalan and Argos use it in their logos to suggest the good offers and pricing that have come to be associated with the colour.

Monochrome used in POS is not an ideal choice, colour is over 40 times more effective than black and white. Black, however, used with another metallic colour such as gold or silver is perceived to be luxurious. Brands like Chanel, Harrods and Versace often use these colour combinations.

Blue is a colour that suggests trust and security. Blue is also considered to be soothing and promote calm. In the UK, it is used by retail brands such as Boots, CO-OP, Barclays and Mothercare to encourage consumers’ confidence in their products.

Yellow is known to stimulate the appetite, it is also a bright and energetic colour which quickly highlights a product or offer. Food retailers such as McDonalds and Subway use this colour to good effect and the new mobile network EE use the colour to gain stand-out in a competitive market.

Green promotes calm, freshness and health which is why it is used by supermarket brands Morrison’s, Asda, Waitrose and M&S. In darker shades, it indorses affluence and is used in the luxury sector by Harrods and Rolex.

Orange combines the energy of yellow with the power of red to create a very impactful colour in the retail environment. The colour suggest vitality, fun and excitement. In the UK, it is used extensively by EasyJet, Orange mobile, B&Q and Sainsbury’s, all very successful brands in today’s marketplace.

Using the right balance and colour of POS, presented in the right way will cue the customer into taking the required action to make a purchase.

How to get Seasonal Promotions to work

One of the most effective ways to use point of sale (POS) is during seasonal campaigns. POS is a vehicle for making a product stand out from the rest of the merchandise in-store, it lends itself perfectly to a seasonal promotion.

This can begin outside the store with pavement signage, banners and A-frames enticing the customer to enter the store and see the selection of seasonal merchandise available. Window displays are perfect for seasonal displays and allow the retailer to get imaginative with their seasonal displays. Christmas windows have become a tourist attraction in cities like London and New York where they have now become works of art.

The most important part of an in-store seasonal display is to put it in the right location and make sure the display is dominant and appropriate. During the Easter and May Bank Holiday periods, the major DIY chains will have a ‘lay flat’ display. This is a large space where they can stack up the garden furniture and lawn mowers and give the customer a large choice at exactly the period the customer is ready to buy. At Back-to-School periods every major supermarket will have the school uniforms and stationery, right at the front of the store, to remind customers to stock up.
When making the decision to locate a seasonal display, the following should be considered:
• How does the customer travel around the store, what are the most popular routes and areas that will maximise sales?
• Identify hot-spots between departments, aisles and displays where customers pass most frequently.
• Locate the display area where the customer can spend ‘dwell time’ to make their purchasing decisions.

It is the retailer’s responsibility to ensure that the consumer does not miss the opportunity to purchase a product for a seasonal event and remind them it is coming up soon. Mother’s Day, Father’s Day and Valentine’s Day are great examples of this, the one day event can easily be forgotten unless the display is prominent and eye-catching. The customer will be grateful and then loyal if the retailer gives them the reminder to be generous to their families and friends with gifts and cards.

The final opportunity to sell seasonal products is at the check-out or transaction desk, make use of clip-strips and specialised fixtures around the area to encourage those last-minute purchases, these add-on sales will increase the average transaction value of the customer’s total spend.

Finally, the critical factor about seasonal displays are they are time sensitive. This means they need to be executed early enough to get a hard start on the sales, but not so early that the customer feels harassed. Harrods Department Store in London install their Christmas department as early as August, but they know their customers well, they have infrequent visitors and tourists who like to make their purchases at that time of year, the department has good sales right up until December 25th. Once the event or season is over the display should be removed swiftly and any remaining merchandise stored or placed into a ‘clearance’ area. Nothing looks more unprofessional than Easter banners still hanging up 3 days after Easter Sunday.

How to get a customer to make an impulse purchase

To have a successful retail business, it is essential to make sure that customers are given an opportunity to make impulse purchases. In a bricks-and-mortar retail outlet, alternatively to online stores, approximately 40% of customers will make a purchase they weren’t planning on. On average one third of consumers will make a significant impulse buy every week, spending an average of £20. This makes impulse purchases critical to increasing the average transaction value and increasing profits.

Point of Sale (POS) is the easiest and most effective way to ensure that customers are aware of the products that are on offer that they have not yet considered. UK supermarket chains are the experts at this, think of all the offers and displays that are strategically placed around the average Tesco, Asda and Sainsbury’s, they are there to ensure the customer places extra items into their trolley and increase the average transaction value of their selection of goods. Ikea are also masters at this, as the customer stands in the long queues to check out with their purchases, they file past dump bins of carefully selected, easy to pick up products. The customers buy items they never even knew they needed but now want.

Getting the product noticed is the key to improving the sales of impulse purchases, this can be done with eye-catching signage in the right stand-out colours, with yellow and red being the best. The use of smart, clean fixturing and the right POS equipment can help secure the sale. Snap frames, clip strips, swing tickets and shelf edge ticketing are ideal for this kind of targeted display.

Customers shop with their eyes, so the impulse displays need to be as appealing as possible, the customer needs to understand what the product is, what the proposition is, so they can make a fast decision as they make their way through the store. An offer with a time deadline is a great idea, daily deals or weekly deals will incentivise the customer to buy something that may not be there in the future.

The location of the product is key to the customer seeing it during their customer journey through the store. Placing an impulse purchase next to bestsellers is one effective technique and the checkout zone is a proven ideal position. It is important to understand the hotspots in-store, where consumers most frequently visit, so the maximum of footfall will pass by the displays. Complimentary positions work for products that are useful together, such as hairbrushes next to the shampoos, batteries near the appliances and cream next to the strawberries.

Finally, three things that encourage a customer to purchase impulsively are

1. Urgency – Giving the customer a reason to purchase today, the power of urgency is one of the most successful tools in encouraging purchasing behaviour.

2. Good value – The price and the offer needs to be irresistible so the customer doesn’t need to hesitate to put the item into their basket. Use effective POS to ensure the customer understands the offer clearly and simply.

3. Excitement or novelty – If the item is new or different, the consumer is more likely to want to try it out and justify the extra spend to themselves

These attributes appeal to the consumer when they are in a retail environment and are proven to encourage additional purchasing. Those retailers that concentrate on increasing the consumer spend instore are more profitable, it is cheaper to spend money in-store selling to the consumers that are already there, rather than spending money on external marketing trying to get them to visit your store.

How POS can Improve the Customer Journey

An awful lot is said these days about ‘Customer Experience’ and the modern way in which retail needs to be sensitive to needs of their customers, to guide, respect and react to their journey. It may sound like a new approach and a changing High Street phenomenon, but really it’s just the buzzword, the attitude is as old as the hilt. Good manners, helpfulness, quality and competitively priced goods, product knowledge are just part of the game. To really be ahead of the competition your store needs to have the all-encompassing ‘experience’ factor. Engagement is what sets the winners aside and will keep customers on the journey with you, rather than being distracted of- course to another store.

Create an in-store ambiance that is true to your brand and captivating to your audience. By bringing out your personality, whether fun or informative, fresh or formal, you can establish the framework that your customers can rely on and feel relaxed with.Whatever information style you use, your communications need to be clear. Great signage does a lot to enhance this. Make it simple, consistent and impactful. Use Snap Frames, Poster Cases and Cable Displays for showcasing your message. By applying branded photography, graphics, text and icons your visual communications will successfully show off your special deal. Set frames and displays at a comfortable eye-level for maximum viewing reach. For simple and effective Sale information, use Hanging Banners for directional signage, homing your customers to a great offer.

Perhaps try to interact with your customer more fully, for example, encouraging a ‘try before you buy’ or ‘an in-store survey’. By offering regular promotions so that customers become aware of opportunity purchases, such as ‘two for one’, percentage discounts or ‘recommend a friend’. These promotions not only help with rallying an urgent demand for specific products, it can help with your stock flow too. Equally customers get to know that you have new offerings, so more reason to keep popping in to your store. Provide them with the knowledge that subsequent new products will follow thereafter, once these ‘special offers’ are gone.

Whichever offer you do decide to promote, make the information clear and concise. Outside signage can help drive footfall inside, so use a relevant Pavement Sign Board or Window Display Frame to advertise your campaign. Once you’ve grabbed their attention, be attentive to those promotional items in-store, make them easy to identify, find, view, and marked as stated in your advertising.

Make a focal point with your promotions so customers can see themselves using the product, creating a need to buy. Decide on a new collection or exciting product range that you can apply a thoughtful visual merchandising directive to. By focusing on a fuller promotion and range there is a better opportunity to up-sell. Mannequins provide this perfectly with new fashion collections allowing easy understanding in a human context. Alongside there is the chance to present matching accessories, footwear or perhaps even perfumes. More recently, window and in-store displays, include child or animal mannequins or any other appropriate props. Another super chance to sky-rocket your sales from one dynamic display.

If you have a product range that is fairly technical or requires further information or a simple step-by-step guide, print some handy leaflets to provide customers with everything they need to know to use this product effectively. If you don’t have the luxury of personal service for this job, by means of an extra member of staff, place a Leaflet Holder or Dispenser or two nearby instead. Customers can pick up at their leisure. Just one last but key point for giving your customers the full in-house experience, ask if they need any further assistance once they have had time to digest all information. The friendly face, a smile and acknowledgment at the right time goes along to sealing a deal.

Outdoor signage and displaying teasing promotions

Whatever the season, it’s vital to make use of outdoor signage to maximise sales and profits. Consumers are out and about, whether walking and driving, the choice of outdoor signage is imperative when teasing potentials to step inside to see what is on offer.
There are a number of quality options of POS equipment to help you do this: –

Pavement Swing Signs are perfect for getting the consumers attention and can feature a brightly coloured poster or graphics with the latest promotions. They are designed with heavy weighted bases so are useful in the wind or drafty areas. The posters are easy to change so the offers on show can be changed every few days to keep the message fresh, particularly useful for those consumers that pass-by regularly. Options are also available with permanent graphics attached for regular messages such as opening hours and all year-round propositions.

Chalkboards create a more traditional feel but with good copywriting skills they can be very versatile and impactful. They are also easier to update daily if necessary making this type of display and changeability very cost-effective. Many businesses use them to make their customers smile every day with a funny quote, this is great for building good customer relationships. Chalkboards work very well for independent and family businesses to give a human, approachable feel to the POS messaging. However, their most popular usage tends to be in a catering environment where the menu changes every day and the ‘specials’ can be quickly altered according to stock levels. They are also a fashionable choice for highlighting upcoming events for entertainment and catering establishments. If the chalkboard location is likely to be exposed to the weather, invest in some hardy outdoor chalk pens that can withstand the rain and wind.

A-Frames are so called as when folded out they represent the shape of an ‘A’. They have been a retail favourite for years as they work very effectively. They are popular as outdoor signage as they can be folded up and stored easily inside at the end of a trading day. Their double-sided display is sloped to an angle, so ideal for passing footfall to easily read and digest the information on show. For this reason, they work well in shopping centres and high street locations where there are high volumes of pedestrian traffic.

Flagsare a fantastic way to catch attention of passing motor traffic, they easily highlight a business and offers to be spotted from a distance. Flags have movement so are useful for showing the customer the location of the store in a congested environment, almost like waving them in the right direction.

Snatching footfall can make all the difference to a retail business’ revenue. With the use of outside signage it provides a simple way to potentially increase this opportunity. By grabbing their attention with well-chosen promotions and messaging, there’s a chance to make full use of the passing traffic and snag a sale from your competitors.

POS for Pop-Up shops and Event Stands

There is an ever-growing trend in the UK for pop-up shops, outdoor and indoor themed events and lifestyle exhibitions. This trend has been driven by a number of things; A tougher economy and subsequent increases in ordinary retails rent. A surge in the number of entrepreneurs starting their own business, while consumers demanding new and different concepts to experience in their leisure time.

Temporary retail solutions such as these are an effective way to raise the profile of a business in a local area and give them a chance to test an idea or geographical area. The objective of these short-term retail outlets is to showcase a company in a low-cost format to gain as many sales, PR and marketing opportunities as possible in a short period of time.
To make these retail outlets work to their maximum effect it is important to invest in the right Point of Sale (POS) equipment:

Outdoor signage is key to signpost the customer to the pop-up unit. Large Banners are the perfect solution for ensuring the concept is spotted from a distance and can be rolled up and stored for use in the future. A-Boards and Chalkboards will draw consumers in as they walk up to the outlet and have the flexibility of changing the messages as often as is necessary, so different prices and promotions can be tested. Printed promotional Flags are an excellent way to create stand-out in a busy retail environment with eye-catching movement.

If the pop-up has a window or entrance area, Cable Displays are a quick and affordable way to communicate the range and offer without the need to invest in large amounts of stock. Photographs of products and promotions can be slotted easily into the A4 pockets.

Brochure and Leaflet Holders can be used to display the company catalogues and offers so the consumer can understand the full range of product and services that are on offer by the company.

The pop-up, although temporary, needs to have a professional feel to ensure the company and proposition is showcased according to the brand values that would be found in a permanent solution. This can be achieved using exhibition stands with printed graphics ensuring the outlet doesn’t feel empty and incomplete. Exhibition counters can be used to make the transactions and interactions with the consumer happen in an environment they feel familiar and comfortable with.

If the pop-up is a retail concept with product to sell, the outlet needs to have fixtures to store and display stock. These need to be flexible, portable and easy to assemble so they can be moved and dismantled and stored for future use. Grid Mesh Free-Standing Shelving is ideal for this as it doesn’t require professional shop fitting skills and is a low-cost solution.

If the location is outdoor, the British weather is notoriously unreliable therefore considerations need to be made on how to protect staff, stock and display equipment. Promotional Event Tents are perfect for this and tent weights will ensure everything doesn’t blow away if the weather is windy.

Both Big Brands and one-person companies are turning to pop-ups to take advantage of the trend. All companies should consider how they could take advantage of the opportunity available and embrace the consumer interest in this kind of retailing. With the right equipment and location this approach could step change the profitability and customer base of a company. The reason it is so successful is the ease of set-up is irresistible to those with the vision to try it.

The Use of Tablets for Signage Versus Traditional Holders

The use of technology in retail signage has now become essential as consumers embrace the digital world into everyday life. There is still a need for a balance of traditional signage and digital signage in-store so the consumer is not overloaded with images, to point of distraction, from their original purpose.

Traditional signage works very well for simple strong messages: –

Powerful colours with bold messages such as a ‘Sale’ or ‘New’ campaigns, in traditional poster and sign holders, will work well and catch the customers attention to a promotional area or product.
• Highlighting a price is an ideal way to use traditional sign holders in front of a display of special offer products.
• Directional signage need to static so traditional holders are perfect for pointing the customer towards facilities, transaction desks and special display areas.
• Information that can be included on one page, which will take the consumer time to read, such as a menu or technical information about a product, work well in a static display holder.

The use of Tablets in display units, in the retail environment, allow businesses to communicate messages that require more interaction or involve more complex information: –

Tablets can be used to give the customer an element of self service to speed up their customer experience. This works well in an environment where there is a wait for products such as fast food restaurants and stores with a large range of product that is not displayed in store.
• A tablet display unit can be used to extend the range of products a retailer offers so the consumer is given a wider choice to choose from that can be ordered for collection or delivery.
• If a product has features and benefits that are not easily communicated by the packaging and display, a tablet display can be used to play videos and show further product information. The product can be demonstrated so the customer can see how the product performs when in use. This method is used extensively for cleaning and beauty products, gadgets and technology.
• A tablet display unit can be used to give the customer full access to the company website so they can find any information they may need to complete the transaction.
• Where a product has extensive information that the customer will want to read about such as cars in a showroom or holidays in a travel agent, an interactive catalogue of information can be demonstrated.
• If a retailer has invested in TV and online advertising these display units can be used to run their adverts in-store to maximise on their return.
• Tablet displays are useful in an environment where offers and prices change quickly, the POS can be updated quickly and cheaply without the costs and time constraints of printing.

Now tablet technology has become very affordable, the option to use this kind of display in-store is a cost-effective option for retailers. The purpose-built display units allow the consumer to see and use the screen at the right height and angle. The units also ensure the cables are hidden from sight and the tablet is secure from theft and in vulnerable areas can even be bolted to the floor.
It is important that this use of technology is carefully thought through in-store and is placed and positioned where it will be most effective and useful. Traditional POS and signage can still be used to communicate successfully with the consumer. This will provide a customer experience that will improve sales and loyalty and ultimately increase profits.