Bold proposition: You want to make more sales
Nowhere is this easier than at the point of sale: There where your customers are already spending, they are potentially happy to spend even more.
At least that’s the case if you design your point of sale correctly.
We show you how.
Step 1: What Does POS Marketing Mean?
Firstly, you should know what the acronym POS promotion means.
Definition: POS stands for point of sale. So the place where you physically sell your products to customers. Accordingly, POS marketing includes all measures that increase sales at this point.
Nowadays, the statement has two meanings:
- Offline: The POS is your retail outlet. From the store window to the shelves to the checkout.
- Online: The POS is your online store. From the product pages to the shopping cart to the checkout.
A mix is also possible: For example, your customers can pay with their PayPal account (online) at the checkout (offline).
Important is the difference to the point of purchase. Because while the POS shows your point of view (that of the seller), the POP refers to the buyer’s point of view. So it’s the same place from two different perspectives that you both have to think about.
Why is the point of sale important?
You want to make more sales, right?
This makes POS marketing important. Because when you optimize point of sale, three things happen:
- Your customers are more likely to buy: If you present your products cleverly, they are more likely to make a decision to purchase.
- Your customers buy more: Those who buy a product are happy to take other deals with them – provided you go about it in a clever way.
- Your customers would rather buy: When shopping at your store ‘wows’, you turn customers into fans. They love to come back, whether offline or online.
In a nutshell: POS marketing is sales promotion!
Measures, Examples, and Ideas
How do you succeed increasing sales at the point of sale? There are various tools available for doing this. Let’s take a walk through the physical in-store shopping process:
The store window lures us into the store even before we enter it. The way in which the window is designed is important and should galvanize interest.
We enter the store. Thanks to clever routing we know immediately where to go. It steers us towards the attractive deals – and in an order designed to put as many products as possible in our cart.
Various advertising media also draw our attention to best-selling articles. Displays, posters, and material like flyers, but also announcements over the PA.
The shelves themselves makes sure the products are presented in such as way that makes them irresistible. For all the senses: the light, the smell, even the music – everything is just perfect.
The price tags also draw our attention to deals such as “2 for 1” or a “-30% discount”. So we feel good when we go to the checkout.
Speaking of checkout: While standing in line to pay, we quickly pick up a few odds and ends on impulse, such as chewing gum or hair bands.
We pay at the self-checkout using Apple Pay. Here we round up the 47.38 to an even 48 euro. The difference goes to the store’s donation fund.
We finally leave the store with the feeling that we will be back … and quickly follow the company’s Instagram account when a QR code on the door reminds us.
Now you know what POS measures are. The next step is to design your own strategy.
Step 2: Analyze Your Target Group
What advertising options should you have in your online or offline store?
That depends a lot on your target audience. You need to answer the following questions in relation:
- Who is currently going into your store? Would you like to address a different target group?
- What intention does your target group have when they enter your store? Does they want to browse, are they looking specifically for a certain product?
- What do the figures say: How much money do customers spend in your store and on which products?
- Why do customers go to you and not to the competition?
- How many of your first-time visitors return?
Tip: Look at the purchasing process from the buyer’s point of view. Walk through your store with your POP glasses on and observe how you would behave.
Guidelines for your optimal strategy are then derived from this analysis.
Step 3: Develop Your Sales Promotion Strategy and Concept
You should design measures that improve the shopping experience of your target group based on your analysis – and by doing so, increase your sales. For example, go through the questions from Step #2 applying each of the illustrative measures from Step #1.
The findings for your strategy will then look something like this:
- Does your target audience visit your store mainly to buy an expensive product (like a camera)? Then offer relatively low-priced add-ons/extras at the checkout (like how-to books).
- You almost only ever have regular customers and hardly any new customers? Then attract potential new customers by redesigning your store window.
- Do your customers spend relatively smalls amounts of money with you each time they make a purchase? Then offer volume discounts to fill their shopping cart.
Step 4: Get Your Campaign Running
Your strategy is set? Now it’s time to bring your measures to life.
The low-budget variant means: do it yourself, remodel your store and get your actions running. This costs little and provides a great learning effect – because mistakes are guaranteed. If you go for this option, be sure to measure your activity. The aim: To make a few more sales with each test.
Alternatively, there are lots of service companies out there that will help you further. When it comes to remodeling your online store, these tend to be web designers and e-commerce agencies. Shopfitters and interior designers will help you in the offline world. Make sure they not only understand design, but above all POS marketing.
What a coincidence: GALA can also take care of the sales promotion in your store. Our interior design studio analyzes your target group and uses this to create a lucrative concept for your store.
