Point of Sale signage (POS) is an extremely useful tool for making the most out of a shopping experience: both for you and your customer. Let us show you how.
Your out-of-house advertising and brilliant-looking fascia sign have tempted the customer through the door, and they are ready to purchase a product. As they approach your till, what can you do to make the experience a memorable and interesting one, or even to encourage them to purchase additional items or promotions. In this article, we’re exploring the benefits of using point of sale signage to your advantage.
What is point of sale signage?
Point of sale signage (also known as POS signage) is so much more than how you designate an area where transactions will take place. In a nutshell, it serves two basic functions: to allow you to upsell items for last-minute purchases, and to communicate with your customers.
The latter can include directional information, convey the latest offers or products, or can be less didactic by simply adding to the cohesiveness of your shop’s imagery and branding. A recent development in all manner of retail signage, not just POS, are signs that include assets to encourage customers to interact directly with a brand online, with hashtags, photo opportunity imagery or even QR codes to scan for discounts.
When it comes to conveying information to your customers waiting to pay, Pos signage offers you a unique opportunity in that you have a passive audience with roaming eyes, eager to latch on to any distraction as they wait. POS displays are designed to stop your buyer in their tracks so it’s a great opportunity to be brave and creative, and make unique signs and imagery that grab the eye. Think of it as the last image your customer will see before leaving the store – you want it to be something memorable. What is it that you want to say to them?
Boosts sales
Ignore the opportunity for last-minute sales at your peril! Recent studies show that even the simplest of point of sale displays can increase sales by up to 27%.
Yet a large majority of shops simply place food or snack items near the till, and by doing so are missing out on a chance to massively increase their sales.
The most successful marketing trick for POS signage is to think of solutions to customers’ problems. For example, Ikea places toolkits (and accompanying signage) next to their tills as a large percentage of their customers are buying flat-pack furniture. You can also place signage to draw attention to sale items or special offers next to where the queue will be standing; numerous studies have shown that not only do people love a bargain, but spotting one can create a rush of positive emotion.
Helps customers navigate and locate items
It is important to remember that not all members of the public like asking for help, so make sure your signage does the communicating for you. There’s nothing more annoying than not being able to locate an item in a store, and wayfinding signs can be a great way to display brand imagery; as long as it is still easy to read, otherwise it negates its original purpose.
There will already be labelling signs around the store, for it to be a Point of sale sign, it should include signs directing customers where to pay, and signage around the till area. It helps to try and make these as fun and eye-catching as possible: if people are in a queue and there are interesting things to look at or interact with (such as sale displays) they are less likely to get frustrated with waiting.
Plus people are more swayed by how you make them feel when buying items, they are buying a lifestyle promise as much as a physical item, so if they are having fun, they are more likely to complete the transaction.
Define a space
If you share a space with other brands, point of sale signage can help define your area as well as help customers locate your specific products. It could also be the deciding factor that makes them choose your items over your competitors. If you’re short on space, don’t just think of the walls for signs, floor graphics can be a fantastic way to differentiate your space and display important information, such as where to queue for the till.
Promote brand awareness
Regardless of what your sign reads or conveys it is also a vector to continue the brand imagery and messaging of your company. Yet this can be so much more than a set of colours and logos. How you word your signage can play an important role in how your company is perceived by the public: a good example is Innocent Smoothies, and their use of laid-back wording and cheesy humour to sell their products.
How your signs will look will be largely dictated by your industry,the current tone of your brand, and your graphic style guide, but there is definitely scope for adding a sense of play and personality into your POS signage, especially as they tend to be…
Easy to update
Point of sale signage tends to be more temporary in nature than main signage, meaning it can be easier to update. This is chiefly down to the materials that it consists of: plastics, cardboard or wood that can be taken apart, or vinyl prints that can be easily taken down or peeled off.
Of course, there are permanent POS signs as well, the logo or company name above a till for example. Yet even those that would at first glance be considered permanent – such as a menu board or the cover around a till area – can, in fact, be updated or replaced a lot easier than a large metal fascia sign, and are more likely to change with the seasons.
POS comes in many forms
Point of sale signs can take many forms and each sector will have its own unique and presiding qualities and standards; from wide format prints to decorate and differentiate a till area, to displays that sit on the till, or signage directing the customer towards the payment area. If it is a sign that will be seen on the route to paying for items, then it is a point of sale sign.
Whatever your particular needs and space requirements, there’s a variety of options to choose from, from the form they will take, to the material they will be made of, to how customised you wish them to be: they can be generic or can be made to fully conform to your own brand style.
It truly is up to the shop how they use signage and displays to make the most of their point of sale opportunities and areas, but the most common types of signs include freestanding displays, countertop displays, wayfinding signs, window graphics for glass till areas, wall graphics, menu boards and large permanent signs such as those displaying the company name: these tend to be a smaller, simpler version of the larger sign that hangs above a shop’s entrance.
Closing thoughts
Whatever kind of POS signage you decide to go for, remember the old adage of ‘less is more’. The human mind cannot focus on too many things at once – no matter how much we think we can – and cluttering your space with an excess of signs (even if they are useful and of value to the public) will have the opposite of the desired effect and people simply won’t pay attention to them.
Instead, think about your end goal: is it to increase sales, and if so, of what? Or is it to create a cohesive look to your space by increasing the amount of visual brand assets in the store? The end goal greatly impacts what kind of signage you choose to display. Be selective about what products or offers you would like to promote and always try to see things as a customer rather than a business owner, it is, after all, them who will be reading the signs.
Medash Signs have been creating Point of Sale signage from our 10,000 sq. ft. warehouse in Kent for decades. Contact us today to get started on creating the right point of sale signage for your business.