Adjacent Page: The POP for Crocs pop-up shop at Old Spitalfields Market matches the fresh and colourful store design.


Left: The walk-in wardrobe for Sharps Bedrooms offers customers an opportunity to engage with the products on show through digital marketing and, for the first time, video is also being used to enhance the experience.


Below: Sector Design’s Patrick Bell believes that the POP for smaller, high value products need to be approachable for customers, but secure to put the retailer’s mind at rest.


The Point of Purchase area of any store is essential to encouraging customers to take conscious notice of specific products. One of the best aspects of POP designs is that they offer the retailer the opportunity to sit products in an eye­catching setting, and adding positive information about products or promotions only serves to create even more interest.


POP is a fundamental aspect of retailing, as Sue Benson, Managing Director of The Market Creative explains; “POP in its traditional form, such as banners and bins, has enabled retailers to help shoppers make buying decisions by highlighting the features and benefits of products, proving particularly beneficial when helping navigate more complex offerings.” Traditional use of POP still has its place, but Benson believes that today’s shopper is looking for a more extensive experience. “The proliferation of mobile devices is


providing even greater opportunities for retailers to engage and inform shoppers at crucial points in their journey through a store”. Benson believes that brands need to invest in media­rich POP to capitalise on this trend, providing customers with a link from POP to online information, such as independent reviews and videos that show the product in action. This takes the idea of informative POP to a whole new level, inviting customers to assess a product with an additional layer of engagement in­store. “Other tactics include offering a ‘price


match’ to those found online or integrating POP with social media, providing a way for people to share their experiences and extend your marketing reach. QR codes play a core role in facilitating media­rich POP, not forgetting other real­world digital interfaces such as augmented reality,” Benson concludes.


www.a1retailmagazine.com The Market Creative has helped create


an integrated campaign for Sharps Bedrooms, involving a walk­in wardrobe, with digital marketing being used to enhance the in­store experience and, for the first time, Sharps will be using video to engage customers at point of purchase. The industry is currently looking at the


way in which it goes about creating POP, as Tim Ellis, New Business Manager at Momentum Instore explains; “Challenging economic times force businesses to challenge the norm and take a good look at how they operate. This often leads to creative thinking and innovation, and this is what we have seen over the last 12 months in the in­store environment”. There are a number of ways to tackle this issue, and retailers are looking at different methods of doing so. Ensuring that POP is effective is more important than ever, which is why retailers are doing more research to ensure an appropriate return on investment. “More retailers and brands now


understand the importance of providing a seamless experience for customers, from a TV advert right through to the supermarket shelf,” says Ellis. “This is one of the main developments in POP we have seen over the last 12 months, and one that will have a long term, positive impact on


how campaigns are planned and the return on investment they provide”. As the role of the shopping environment


changes, so do does the use of POP. Patrick Bell, Director at Sector Design believes that as the physical retail store in some sectors takes on more of a showroom feel, engagement with customers may need to change to suit the setting, particularly with high value purchases. “Ironically, the small, lightweight and mobile nature of devices such as mobile phones, tablets and laptops that are key to their appeal also make them easy to steal when displayed live in­store – so security becomes a key part of the challenge to enable brands and retailers to leverage this trend”. Sector Design has heavily invested in this issue, designing and patenting Prosect™, an award­winning product that was originally designed as a loss prevention solution for mobile phones. It has now been adapted for mobile computing and is under consideration for the computer games industry, with further plans in development. The advantage of Prosect™ is that it


provides physical security for products, whist allowing the customer to fully test the product with little interference. This


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