5 Tips to Correctly Administer Your Point-of-Sale Marketing

The point-of-sale (POS) marketing is not an isolated niche in digital marketing, even though it is often treated this way by rookie marketers. It boils down a point-of-sale display, point-of-sale advertisement, and point-of-purchase or POP.

How to excel in POS marketing? Let’s find out here.

The point of sale terminals can be found in retail outlets. Ease at generating custom receipts, sales note and line items is the most cursory feature online shops expect from POS terminals. POS can be online as well as offline. In fact, the popularity of POS platforms especially the POS from Shopify have been steadily growing, similar to social platforms. Here you choose a Shopify theme and build an amazing online store based on your inventory.

Online or offline, for better results, retailers need.

Stellar POS Display

The checkout counter experience is plain old boring. By making it attractive, retailers can increase the odds of a sale. POS displays are found near the counter. That’s where customer’s attention falls when they are near the counter.

How to make POS display attractive?

Use visually stimulating signage and stat figures. Display boards

Studies show that POS display can lead to the point of purchase (POP). The POPAI 2014 mass merchant study revealed more than 80% of purchase decisions are in-store. There’s an easy trick to make the display appealing, and that trick is to install colorful and handsome display shelves. There’s a psychology behind it. When customers see neatly organized and attractive shelves, they feel the products inside of those shelves are high-quality. This feeling prompts them to buy.

Involving Customers

No matter how attractive the display looks, if customers don’t get involved, putting it on would be futile.

There are several ways merchants involve customers at the counter. Upselling is one such way. At the counter, customers are often asked to buy additional items. There are two caveats, though:

• Only customers who make large purchases should be insisted on buying extra merchandise. Those who buy in bulk are happy customers. They won’t mind buying extra stuff. Upselling strategy makers back this retail logic. As a strategy, it’s time-tested. Walgreens applied it and increased their sale.
• Impulse purchases are rarely big. So don’t expect customers to buy too many products when they are at the checkout counter. They mostly buy small items at the end of the shopping spree, which doesn't add too much bulk.

Some PoS systems come with flipping rigs, which display an iPad screen and let clients sign for a purchase, eliminating the need for a client-side terminal.

PoS software solutions ease the process of customer involvement over the online space. Such solutions are aimed at removing obstacles that create a barrier between customers and the overall retail experience. The goal is to deliver the same experience irrespective of the device being used.

Strategic Item Placing

A lot depends on where you are placing your items. Studies show strategic item placing leads to big sales gains. The retail outlet has two segments; high-traffic areas and low-traffic areas. Best items are to be placed in high-traffic areas.

The image below shows calculated item placing and its effect on a customer:

How to identify the high-traffic areas? High-traffic areas are where the majority of sales take place. Normally, products that fall in the mean price range i.e. not too expensive and not too affordable are the best-selling ones.

To capture customer’s attention, keep the high-traffic area near the front door. This makes sure customers notice the best-selling items as soon as they enter the store. On the flip side, this strategy could create a crowd at the front door. Hence, you need to analyze the inside of your store and decide which part of it should be the high-traffic area and what kinds of items should be placed there.

Excel in PoS Advertising

PoS advertising is easy because it’s a niche-based advertising. POS ads supplement POS display. Here's a quick look at how in-store print and electronic ads can drive sales:

Identifying the right media is essential in cracking POS advertising. Most sought after media elements include but not limited to:

• Hanging scrolls
• Flags and floor stickers
• Arches
• Wobblers
• Leaflet buckets

These media types increase the visibility of best-selling items, making the possibilities of PoS sales realistic. POS advertising can be virtual as well. Interactive terminals are a great way to promote retail products at the checkout counter.

Getting coverage by mainstream media can be a boon. Even small retail outlets can get media coverage if any of the two conditions are met:

• They have some out-of-the-box product in their store, not available in most other stores.
• They offer exciting incentives for their customers, which competing retailers are not offering.

Hence, put all your efforts into developing new product lineups or offer attractive giveaways to customers. Explore POP signages from other retailers for fresh ideas. Customers prefer new ideas.

Use New Technologies

POS marketing has historically been low-key. The cost of a 30-second TV commercial is $200 to $1,500. The cost best POS display installation is 1/10 of this cost. Hence, using cutting edge POS technologies can give retailers an edge.

New technologies include WiFi POS solution. Restaurants are among its biggest beneficiaries. People spend a significant amount of time there. Allowing them to access the web can add to their satisfaction. WiFi POS solutions make payment processing super fast and easy.

State of the art POS systems come with integration and consolidation options because their developers understand the needs of retail merchants and that of customers. POS systems developed by them have embedded mobility POS (delivery receiving, stock transaction, inventory confirmation), customer search, discounts, etc.

Because terminal based solutions require hardware installation, developers are moving to software-based POS solutions. Retailers can purchase standalone POS software solutions or hire IT firms for development. New POS technologies are required not only for marketing but to be in compliance with the recent EMV liability shift.

Summing up

POS marketing is, by and large, an uncharted territory. True, some brands outperform other brands, but they rarely demonstrate the factors that led to their success. Hence, be creative, think of new ideas, add a bit of customization for implementation. The tips discussed here can give retailers an edge in doing that.