5 tips for effective POP installation

The tale is a familiar one: a great creative idea for an in-store campaign and a compelling message that will engage and resonate with shoppers, but one that ultimately fails to achieve the results that you’d hope for. Such is the problem for many brands, and retailers too, for that matter.

When was the last time you objectively looked at how your campaigns are actually appearing in-store? Are they being implemented as you’d intended? Could hidden installation issues be having a negative impact on what could otherwise have been a hugely successful campaign?

Here at CJ Retail Solutions, we specialise in all aspects of Point of Purchase (POP) installation. Here are our five top tips on how to make POP campaign installation more effective:

1. Make installation integral to design.

Installation specialists may not be creative designers. But we certainly know a thing or two about how to design a POP display. We’re not talking visual aesthetics – more form the function. All too often the focus can be on creating something that looks stunning to the eye, at the expense of considering how it’s going to be put together. Or whether it’s up to the job it is intended to perform. By involving installation specialists during the early stages of POP display development, you’ll end up with a finished solution that could potentially be more fit-for-purpose and easier to assemble – saving time, and money – but also more cost effective to ship.

2. Get to know your stores better.

There are so many examples of POP displays within category and across retailers that have been crudely cut down to size to fit the space available on-shelf, are obscured by pillars or, in the case of some digital displays, not fully activated because there isn’t an electrical supply nearby.

As a marketer, your brand has to be represented across increasingly diverse retailer property portfolios. By embracing technology and investing in detailed store audits ahead of campaign rollouts, you can ensure that both the type and quantity of POP display material being delivered into store matches individual store dynamics – from large out-of-town stores and national high street chains to smaller c-store formats and independents, helping to reduce unnecessary overspend and waste.

3. Let people know what’s happening.

So many times, installation projects fall short because the key people involved simply do not know what they are expected to do, or buy-in to why their role is important to pending activity. From creative agencies and manufacturers, head office, store managers and retail teams – ensure that everyone understands the complexities of the installation, its objectives, and the required timings. Ongoing communication is an essential part of achieving POP installation success too.

Discussions shouldn’t stop when the POP installation plan has been agreed. Effective channels of communication with the store and head office during the duration of the installation project is vital – ranging from securing letters of authorisation and pre-appointment calls to stores prior to on-site visits and quality control checks being carried out, through to even establishing a 24-hour helpline to respond to any queries along the way. And remember, success isn’t just about installation.

It’s about effective POP implementation. That means working closely with third-party suppliers as well as retailers to ensure that availability of product on the shelf and POP installation go hand-in-hand. Lack of stock is a key driver of poor display compliance. It’s why some brands are turning to a turnkey POP solution, where product and POP collateral is housed in secure warehousing before being delivered into stores at the same time. After all, if shoppers can’t find the product, they won’t buy it – no matter how compelling the creative and message displayed at the point-of-purchase.

4. Get a clear picture of progress.

There is a wide range of tools available to retail marketers these days, such as real-time reporting, visual evidence and digitally recorded store management sign-off signatures which make tracking the progress of a POP installation from the comfort of the head office easier than you might think. That way, you can see for yourself that planned in-store activity is working properly, and not poorly installed or languishing in the back of a store. And once an installation’s complete, don’t forget to review. Find out what worked, what didn’t, and why.

5. Give your installation sustainability.

Some displays are difficult to disassemble after a campaign has ended. As a result, not everything that could be recycled can be recycled. There is a drive towards getting installation specialists more closely involved in the POP development process to produce more environmentally credible ‘cradle to grave’ solutions. And we’re all in favour of that.

There are other things that marketers could do to help through – such as encouraging POP manufacturers to include more detailed labeling of the parts used within displays to enable people like us to recycle them more effectively once we’ve collected them from stores. Or how about considering ways to achieve greater syndication amongst brand teams to ensure that there is better co-ordination when it comes to the installation and disposal of POP campaigns across multiple brands, reducing the number of store visits and ensuring that disposal of material is managed in a consistent manner?

At CJ Retail Solutions we’ve been helping companies maximise the potential of POP displays for over 20 years – including some of the world’s most famous and respected brands. From simple cardboard stands to bespoke display units, whether temporary or permanent, our award-winning skills and expertise consistently deliver.

Find out how your brand could benefit from POP implementation with CJ Retail Solutions – call 0800 009 4189, email enquiries@localhost, or take a look at some previous projects.