Creating a Point-of-Purchase Display? Consider This…

At Ware-Pak, we believe it is our responsibility to help our clients sell more books. To assist us, we are asking some of the leading businesses in the industry to help us in this pursuit. Over time, I will be inviting a number of people I know and trust to write blog entries that will help publishers grow their business.

Today I would like to introduce Scott Jones, Owner of Packaging Design. Scott’s company is a privately held corrugate manufacturing company that specializes in packaging products and point-of-purchase displays. Scott is a business partner that I would highly recommend learning more about. For more information on his company, here is a link to his website: www.pack-design.com.

Recently at Ware-Pak, we have received several questions regarding point-of-purchase displays. Some publishers are increasing their sales with strategically placed displays inside of retail stores.

Here is Scott’s guest blog entry discussing the topic:

Ideas for Publishers to consider when creating a Point-of-Purchase Display:

When considering a Point-of-Purchase display, publishers need to think about the following 4 issues: budget, type of display and versatility needed, the retail environment it will go into and the graphics needed.

1. Budget: Designers of temporary displays can create an eye-catching display to fit any budget. Knowing and communicating this information to the designer BEFORE he or she begins will help ensure they create a display that uses the correct material, correct number of components and correct artwork. Knowing the budget will reduce the number of revisions or redesigns needed, or simply missing your objective all together.

2. Type of Display and Possible Uses: When decided which type of display you need, it is important for the publisher to consider where and how their product sells best. Will it go on a counter, is it best displayed on an end-cap, is your product large and needs to be placed in a pallet pack? Some of these questions will be answered by the quantity, weight, size, shape and type of product you are selling. Based on your needs, a designer can often create a display with enough versatility to be used in several ways.

Finally, a consideration that needs to be addressed is how you will ship the display. Will it be filled with product or will the product and display ship separately? Again this information should be relayed upfront to the designer.

3. Retail Environment: All retail stores have their own requirements for displays. Any reputable temporary display company will know these requirements and can create a display that will be accepted at the retail level.

4. Graphic Requirements: There are many options in creating an eye-catching point-of-purchase display – from color to moving parts. A design can incorporate flood-coated or solid ink covered pieces, it can be plain white, have full 4-color graphics, moving parts or even holographic headers. These questions correlate directly with the budget for the display. Each one of the options listed will add cost to the display, but are also critical to making the display stand out at the retail level.

Great display companies can provide 3-D renderings at the beginning of a project to show you some ideas for possible displays. By using these, both you and the designer can “tweak” an idea before any prototyping is done. This can save both time and money. Also, be sure the company can provide you with prototypes to obtain final approval from the retail store.

Always remember, this is a creative process and it may take longer than expected.