One Blog |March 1, 2011 | POS Tracking Software

A Collection of Thoughts about Marketing at-Retail

Mark Fullerton

The following “thoughts” were plucked from a wide variety of sources on the subjects of:

Marketing at-Retail
In-Store Promotion
Point-of-Sale (POS) Marketing

As well as books on the subjects of:

Retail Advertising and Promotion
Shopper Marketing
Beverage Marketing and Sales

Much, if not most, of the source materials for this posting comes from an organization called Point-of-Purchase Advertising International (POPAI): The Global Association for Marketing at-Retail. A bibliography follows the final thought, below.

Marketing at-Retail’s Influence on Purchase Decisions at the Point-Of-Sale

Strategically placed displays and retail signage promote what’s new, inform, educate and, most importantly, influence customers’ buying habits at the critical point-of-sale.
Most new products get lost at retail and are never considered, particularly those in frequently shopped categories such as beverages . . . where purchase decisions are habituated and not actively thought out at the shelf.
Measuring your retail signage is vital because you need to know which of your signs are performing well and which aren’t.
How do we get shoppers not to edit out messages that we spend millions to communicate at the store level – once they cross the threshold of retail? Dynamic content and an ever changing and engaging retail environment is the key.
The question is not an either/or, but holistically looking at how all the media can work together – from the shopper fact finding stage (internet research, couponing, television and print ads), to the delivery to the store aisle where any robust consumer decision tree will tell you a sale can be won or lost based on in-store stimuli [POS] and the hierarchies that are important to consumers.
Something happens when a consumer embarks on a trip to the store— they change from consumer to shopper.
As Dr. John (famous New Orleans Jazz and Funk Singer) once said, “I been in the right place, but it must'a been the wrong time.” There is no question Marketing at-Retail is the “right place.”
Consumers continue to opt-in for the most interactive of experiences — shopping. And, with 150 million consumers walking through a Wal-Mart every week, consumers are doing so in large numbers. However, until recently, it was the wrong time for shopper marketers. Given the mass reach, prominence and glamour of traditional advertising, Marketing at-Retail was relegated to a secondary service function within marketing organizations.
Things have changed. Almost every day marketing executives are reshaping their organizations to create a tighter focus on this key area — Marketing at-Retail.
They call it variously Shopper Marketing, Shopper Intimacy, Point-of-Purchase (POP), Point-of-Sale (POS) — and today, we call it Marketing at-Retail. For manufacturers, suppliers, distributors and retailers committed to getting results and maximizing ROI, the potential for actively engaging shoppers at retail is enormous.

Bibliography/Sources

www.popai.com
“Wine Marketing and Sales: Success Strategies for a Saturated Market” Liz Thach, Ph.D., Janeen Olsen Ph.D, and Paul Wagner
“Successful Wine Marketing” James Lapsley, Kirby Moulton
“Sales and Service for the Wine Professional” Brian K. Julyan
“Beer Blast: The Inside Story of the Brewing Industry's Bizarre Battles for Your Money” Philip Van Munching
“Shopper Intimacy: A Practical Guide to Leveraging Marketing Intelligence to Drive Retail Success” Rick DeHerder & Dick Blatt
“Advertising and the Mind of the Consumer” Max Sutherland
“Shopper Marketing: How to increase purchase decisions at the point-of-sale” Markus StÃ¤hlberg and Ville Maila