Displays are another great way to increase your sales and leverage your consumer’s impulse behavior. To be successful, there are a number of different components that you must pay special attention to.
Guidelines for Building Display
- Keep the display off the floor: This prevents the bottom of packages from getting damaged. Use pallets or platforms.
- Make the display sturdy: Stack the packages safely and securely.
- Be sure the display is accessible: Never stack packages too high or to low for shoppers to reach easily. The average shopper is 5’5”. Keep handles turned outward and, if displaying more than one brand, don’t bury one under the other.
- Leave starter gaps on all displays: If a display looks too good, shoppers will be reluctant to buy off it. Once the display is built, remove a few packages from the top or stagger packages to make it appear as though it has been shopped.
- All packages should be faced: All labels on packages should face shoppers. This provides an attractive billboard effect.
- Make displays creative: Stacking packages attractively draws attention and enhances the image of the store.
- Merchandise the display: Displays should always be merchandised properly.
Best Location for Displays
Displays should be placed in high traffic areas. A recent study shows that:
- Displays in back of store showed 113% sales increase
- Displays in mid-aisle/perimeter showed 274% sales increase
- Displays in front of store showed 426% sales increase
Size and Duration
The right size for a display depends on the product volume the retailer can move. If the display is too big, product will move slowly and you may have rotation problems. Displays that are too small can run out of product and miss sales opportunities. How can you determine the best display size?
- Use past sales information from a similar display period
- Look at sales performance on a competitive display
- Multiply the normal weekly volume by 2.5 (average increase for display)
The duration of a display is most effective when kept to two or three weeks. After the third week, the display loses its attention getting value. Shoppers become used to seeing it and ignore it. If a display must be kept for longer than three weeks, keep it fresh with a redesign, new POS materials or change the location.
Cross Merchandising and Brand Teaming
Impulse purchases play a major role in increasing sales. Cross merchandising and brand teaming on displays can take advantage of these purchasing behaviors. Brand teaming pairs two or more brands together on one display, usually using a strong and a weaker selling brand. The stronger selling brand draws attention to the display where they will be encouraged to try the other brand. When brand teaming, never put more than three brands together, as it could lead to cluttered display and makes it more difficult to manage. Also be careful about brand teaming with different price points, as this can encourage shoppers to trade down.
