Retailers Must Read: Drake Morton
Merchandising and
Point-of-Purchase Selling
by
Robert Grede
Your store is a battleground. Every inch of floor, wall and counter space is contested savagely
by hundreds of manufacturers, wholesalers, and distributors. This is the final proving ground.
Will your customer buy your products? Or will she walk away?
As a retailer, it’s up to you. How effectively you display your wares may be the difference
between winning and losing the battle for your bottom line.
The Point-of-Purchase Advertising Institute claims that two-thirds of all buying decisions are
made right in the place of business. Even if that figure seems a little lofty, retailers should take
the use of in-store signs and displays very seriously.
Here are a few helpful tips on maximizing sales at your store.
SIGNS
Signs serve as silent sales people. They never complain about being overworked, and they don’t
get paid a commission either. They give product information, demonstrate features, reinforce
your advertising campaign, announce discounts, and actually generate sales all by themselves.
Use persuasive language on your signs. Studies show that key words draw customers: YOU,
EASY, SAVE, NEW, ANNOUNCING, GUARANTEED, FREE, NOW, SALE. Not terribly
innovative, but they work. A huge banner proclaiming SALE! or FREE GIFT! or SAVE 40%!
will convince some shoppers that they should buy from you right now.
Crucial to success: keep it simple. Use clear lettering, no fancy script. Short phrases. No
commas or periods. Exclamation points are good!
ADVERTISING TIE-INS
In-store signs and displays should tie in as directly as possible with your advertising, or your
customers may become confused. Your ads leave a subliminal impression on your customers.
Signs awaken the memory of those ads and help lead to a sale. If your signs and displays are
consistent with your overall creative strategy, your customers’ willingness to buy will increase.
One sure way to maintain consistency with your advertising is to blow up your ad into a fivefoot-
high poster, mount it and display it in your window. Display smaller versions throughout
your store. It’s a smart way to ensure that your interior signs and displays tie in with your
advertising. Simple, effective, and inexpensive. A winning combination.
CROSS MERCHANDISING
Gang like items together. Just as a grocer puts the peanut butter with the jellies, put like items
together. If a person comes in to buy an item and sees several unique accessories close by (with
a sign saying: “NEW! ON SALE! 30% OFF!”), you may pick up additional sales.
VERTICAL DISPLAYS, NOT HORIZONTAL
Too often, retailers will place a whole line of products horizontally (in rows) across a display
case hoping to impress shoppers with their variety of styles or sizes of one particular item.
Wrong, wrong, wrong! Always display vertically. Line up similar items top to bottom.
Shoppers’ eyes will typically scan shelves left to right at eye level and see your vast assortment
of items (all ganged together, of course, with similar types — see “Cross Merchandising,” above).
You increase your chances of snagging their eyes (and their wallets) tenfold.
ORGANIZE
What’s more dreary looking than a half-empty, dusty display? Or more wasteful than empty
shelves that could be featuring and selling your best items?
Keep it clean. Nothing is less appealing than dust and dirt on merchandise. It tells your
customers you don’t care about them.
Restock your shelves regularly. Bare shelves, empty item hooks, and vacant display cases spell
out-of-stock to your buyers. If they can’t find what they’re looking for right away, shoppers
assume it was on the empty hook, or the vacant shelf. And you lose a sale.
HOOK THEM ONE LAST TIME
Make the check-out counter the most attractive place in your store. After all, it’s your last
chance to sell. Put the handy necessities by the cash register. In a shoe store, it’s the shoelaces
and polish. At the grocery store, it’s the candy bars and the batteries.
In the battle for customers, you need all the ammunition you can muster. Follow these few
simple merchandising techniques and make your store a more pleasant place to shop, a more
pleasant place to work, and a more pleasant place to count your profits at the end of the month.
Retails Must Read: Drake Morton