Everything you didn’t know about the design of in-store displays

Although they’re a POS classic, displays are still a hot topic in in-store advertising. While their basic function is to stock and promote products, they can make a true difference in attracting attention and increasing conversion. When utilized well, in-store displays can boost product visibility by more than 20%; on the other hand, suboptimal displays can squander 25% of their potential.

Smurfit Kappa has developed design guidelines for effective displays based on research with 50,000 shoppers, with 50 specialized designers from all over Europe, while EyeSee has tested more than 400 POS materials with over 60,000 shoppers in 15+ countries worldwide. Our main takeaway is that there is no one-size-fits-all recipe but that the look of the display should reflect the purpose it’s made for.

How to know your display is effective

Below you can see two distinctive displays, both effective in regard to their role. The image A represents a display intended for a 2-for-1 promotion – it plainly communicates the urgency to buy now and is able to hold large volumes of product. The display on the image B is created for introducing a new product, so it clearly conveys product benefits and encourages trial, without having to hold a lot of SKUs.

The role of a display can be linked to a particular phase in the product lifecycle:

• New product → to attract the shopper and create awareness about the new product;
• Promotion → to sell extra products in a short time frame;
• Impulse → to boost sales to shoppers who had no purchase intent;
• Brand equity → to improve brand loyalty and reinforce the brand in shoppers’ minds.

To understand the shoppers’ decision-making process in each of these phases, EyeSee analyzes the three steps of the path to purchase – attraction, engagement and conversion. These translate to seeing the display, liking it and buying the product, which was measured using a combination of conscious and subconscious methods.

Online eye tracking tells us where the consumers are looking at, what the general gaze pattern is, and which elements are seen first. Surveys gives an insight into their opinions and preferences, while virtual shopping puts customers in a real-life shopping environment and provides insights on sales, category growth and market share. Facial coding can offer a glimpse into consumers’ emotions, while reaction time measurement determines the connection between a brand and a certain attribute.

This research approach sheds the light on:

1. Stopping power – the number of shoppers who noticed the display;
2. Share of quantity – the number of shoppers who buy the product;
3. Likability – evaluation of likeability on a 5-point scale;
4. Brand perception – evaluation of brand perception on a 5-point scale.

Understanding the impact of design

Companies often make the mistake to overlook the structure of the display and only focus on the graphics. In fact, these features should synergistically contribute to the effectiveness of this marketing tool. Having that in mind, achieving the highest visibility is not the key issue, because the very nature of displays is to be more visible than regular aisles. Making the most of that visibility is what matters. Even for retailers adhering to the “clean store policy”, companies should still use the opportunity to optimize the variables open to them.

All parameters – size, structure and graphics – can be tested separately to determine their individual impact. For the most objective results, it is recommended to exclude branding, as some consumers will opt for their favorite brand regardless of the display.

Essentially, the path to purchase is always the same, so the executions should be fine-tuned to the phase of the product cycle. Here is a short overview of the design guidelines for each stage:

Interested in learning more? Have a look at our webinar on-demand on the Path to Purchase Institute website.

Image courtesy: Smurfit Kappa

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