What is POP?

Point of Purchase (POP) is a contact point that is both physical and strategic, as retailers and marketers want to influence customer decisions and encourage extra purchases. 

POP is an important tool in retail and marketing, referring to the time and place where a customer makes a retail transaction. POP Unlike the point of sale, which is the accurate or exact location where payment is made, be it a checkout counter or an online cart-POP also includes surrounding areas where promotional activities strategically are placed to catch the eye of a customer.

Objectives of POP

The primary objectives of POP include an increase in the retailing experience, thereby making impulse buying more frequent and maximizing sales. 

Products can be placed at high-visibility points like check counters, aisles, or end caps and influence the customer to make impulsive purchases. 

Cross-selling, up-selling, and advertising seasonal or discounted products are also prime objectives for POP and target customers who would buy anything. 

For brands, it is an opportunity to make themselves stand out from the crowd by creating creative displays and attractive designs, such as creative shelving, dump bins, and standalone displays.

Brands use POP displays as part of an in-store marketing strategy to make products more visible and to attract more customers. 

Positioning of POP

Generally, they are positioned in the most visited sections of the store outside the regular shelf arrangement, ranging from floor-standing units to clip strips or even signage next to checkout areas.

POP displays often come in bright colours and attract graphics, with certain versions featuring interactive elements. 

POP marketers communicate products to the retailers that a customer would not even think of buying without an advertisement, thereby increasing the number of items purchased than planned.

POP is also present in both physical and virtual environments. In the physical environment, POP entails all physical contact points within the store, which range from shelves to the actual point-of-purchase counters. 

In the virtual space that pertains to e-commerce, the POP consists of the virtual contact point in the shopping cart or checkout page where the customer has related items offered or discounts as she is getting ready to make a purchase online. 

Online retailers employ cross-selling tactics and promotional codes in the digital POP to encourage shoppers to add more merchandise to their virtual shopping cart.

The market for POP displays is growing; the developments are done on design, technology, and customer engagement. More brands are now in the fight to get people’s attention. 

Digital elements, lighting, and customized messaging are added into it to enhance the complexity of POP displays. 

This aspect of POP displays in the market is estimated to grow at a CAGR of 8.4% from 2023 to 2031.

Types of point of purchase

1. Countertop Displays

Small screens arranged at check-out counters or service counters with handy items, such as snacks, small accessories or sample products: they are meant to attract the customer’s attention during the transaction.

Example: Small, colourful boxes containing individually wrapped chocolates at the checkout counter encourage last-minute indulgent buys.

2. Floor Displays

These are bigger stands, generally stationed on the store floor. Their primary use is to display new items or seasonal products. Some of the common stand setups placed on the floor include cardboard stands, racks, and multi-level stands that support a number of products at one time. 

Example: Coca-Cola Stackable Display: Large, stackable holiday icon-shaped containers, such as a Christmas tree or a Valentine’s heart, filled with Coca-Cola products. 

Located in high-traffic center areas, attracting holiday shoppers.

3. Endcap Displays

Generally placed at the end of aisles, the endcap shop display can be used to show high-margin items as it is also great for sales inventory and stimulates impulse buys from those passing through.

Example: Lay’s Chips Variety Packs: The seasonal flavors or new products go on endcaps with bright branding and “Try Me!” signs, encouraging sampling.

4. Dump Bins 

Big boxes of loosely packed merchandise, often offering something discounted. They put those high-traffic areas so that people will sift and dig in the hopes that an impulsive purchase is made.

Example: Target places a row of dump bins in the entry area to sell fun, low-priced items that will promote impulse buys. These types of items are best during holidays.

5. Interactive Displays

The feature includes digital screens, QR codes, or other interactive elements that allow customers to engage with the product or learn additional information. 

Interactive displays may also include demos, videos, or virtual try-ons, very commonly used for tech or cosmetic products.

Example: Apple iPhone Display usually maintains a demo station filled with the latest models of iPhones so customers can play with them, learn their features, and try them out before buying.

6. Window Displays

These are made to catch the attention of customers outside the shop. Commonly, they have seasonal sales, most selling items, or appealing displays that catch one’s attention to attract people to come inside the store.

Example: Nike Seasonal Gear Display: Mannequins present in the windows of the store are often dressed with latest seasonal outfits such as running clothes for winter which brings in customers to its stores who are into outdoor and fitness related activities.

7. Shelf Talkers

Small sign- or tag-sized advertisement fixed to a store shelf that notifies the consumer of that particular product through details of price, special features, and discounts. 

These are meant to provide more information and even attract more shopper’s attention on the aisle.

Example: Hydration Tags for Gatorade like “Hydrate Like a Pro” in the beverage aisle serve as reminders to customers of benefits, encouraging impulse buys.

8. Digital Displays

Screens or projectors with rotating promotions, advertisements, or product information; these can be placed throughout the store and prove very effective for products that are a little more intricate and require more information.

Example: Samsung TV Demo Kiosks uses digital displays in showcasing the latest TV models of high-definition demo loops of the product’s colour and sound quality.