More Point-of-Sale Marketing Lessons Learned From Our Customers

Listening to the Market

OnTrak works with beverage distributors all across the United States and we attend and exhibit at beer, wine and spirits conferences several times per year. So we are often is a good position to listen to both customers, as well as prospects, about their wants and needs regarding point-of-sale (POS) marketing.

During the past four years we’ve learned what the most successful beverage brands do to keep their competitive edge — and we know what doesn’t work. We understand, for instance, that the 2008 recession has changed the way consumer packaged goods, including beverages, are marketed. 

What Works

Overall, signs and displays placed at the point-of-sale continue to dominate the POS landscape. Notably OnTrak’s customers are expanding their use of POS, both quantitatively and qualitatively. That’s because POS, unlike other forms of marketing, has repeatedly shown itself to be a driver of incremental sales. POS is also one of the best, if not the best form of marketing for persuading shoppers to become buyers.

Our customers tell us this persuasive aspect of POS is especially true when the product being promoted is new to the market. With their guidance, we’ve been saying that effective POS campaigns have proven to be critical to cutting through the retail clutter to drive impulse or unplanned sales. Industry studies have shown that without effective POS materials shoppers are less likely even to see — let alone try — new products.

What Doesn’t Work

I mentioned at the beginning of this blog, that we’ve learned what doesn’t work. Take a new product that is introduced to the market with expensive TV and print advertising but with precious little POS support. The predictable results are that the new product is rendered almost invisible right at the exact place and moment in time when a shopper is in the aisle ready to become a buyer.

A better approach would be to spend the lion’s share of the marketing budget not on traditional advertising such as TV or print but on advertising that would grab the attention of consumers when they are looking to become buyers. And that’s POS marketing!

Industry Perspective

After talking with our customers and reviewing the conclusions of point-of-sale marketing experts from POPAI and The Path to Purchase Institute, it is clear that if new product or incremental sales of existing products is the goal of marketing, the most effective and generally the most efficient campaigns are those initiated, tracked, managed and measured at the point-of-sale. According to research from these two organizations, the ability to drive retail sales really comes down to one thing: getting noticed. If your target customers can’t find your product, they will likely default to buying the product they notice; and that would be a product they have purchased before, or one that is noticed by virtue of effective POS materials.

One Last Point

The customers who receive the greatest return-on-investment from their POS initiatives are those who use our tools to determine the connection between product and customer sales vs. their POS spending. At OnTrak we understand the value to your business of at-retail signage and displays. We’ve helped numerous customers of all sizes get the most out of their POS investments. When you get your products noticed they stand a much better chance of being purchased. OnTrak’s POS track, measure and manage software tools are proven to help give our customers a competitive advantage.  For more information on how to maximize your POS ROI, contact us.

To learn more about OnTrak’s POS Marketing Tools, click this button: