Marketing At-Retail - Return-on-Investment

In this post, we look at the tremendous strides that have been made to measure the impact of Point-of-Sale (POS) marketing and calculate its Return on Investment (ROI).  With the apparent, unstoppable fragmentation of “the market” to an increasing numbers of customer groups, the ability to make wise and measurable POS investments has never been more critical.

What Have We Learned?

Over the past five years, thanks to the efforts of several organizations and publications dedicated to the study of Marketing at-Retail, alcohol beverage suppliers, wholesalers and retailers are now beginning to understand the profound effects of POS advertising and promotion.

Organizations including Point-Of-Purchase Advertising International (POPAI); Digital Signage Magazine; Digital Signage Magazine; and Promo Magazine, among others, have produced studies indicating that marketing at-retail is now on-par with other media in influencing consumer buying.  

These organizations have recently measured a 1.6 to 1 ROI from POS marketing materials.  Of course, these organizations were also able to determine over a decade ago that 70% of consumers’ buying decisions are made at the Point-of-Sale.

What Can Be Done About It?

In order to determine the ROI of their POS spend, alcohol beverage distributors are investing in tools and training that can help them with post-promotion analysis and measurement.  They may use industry-specialized business intelligence software or consultants to recommend approaches for collecting and determining the effectiveness of their POS campaigns.

So that distributors, supplier and retailers can benefit from the information that is collected, evaluated, and shared, they must be able to specifically identify the opportunities and trends for both the POS spend and the ROI results.

As the retail customer’s buying behavior changes, Marketing At-Retail analysis, design and execution become more vital to wholesalers and their suppliers.  Also wholesalers and their retailers understand that POS marketing, now more than ever, plays a key role in grabbing the attention of consumers.

The need for POS data tracking and reporting has never been more important.