Having created numerous retail point-of-sale (POS) displays for club and big box stores in 2015 (and for the last 50 years), we’ve run across a few floor display trends that consumer packaged goods companies (CPGs) need to know. These trends involve cosmetics,
footwear, pets, toys, hardware, eyewear, electronics, and more. This is part 1 of a 2-part series.
Floor Displays Are Out
Big retailers are moving away from floor displays. They want clean floors so that customers have to go through each aisle and peruse the shelves instead of just taking products off of displays and walking by the aisle. As customers ourselves, we’ve done this at Costco and it seems to harken back to retail of old where there’s an element of discovery to shopping.
Additionally, products on display in aisle floor displays attract more attention than what’s on the shelf. This is good for sales items but can cause similar, perhaps more profitable products on the shelf to be missed.
Floor Display Exceptions
Of course, there are exceptions. When Home Depot and Lowe’s offer specials, they put a floor display in the middle of the aisle, but purposefully put them in an aisle where it doesn’t belong. For example, you’ll find a flashlight display in the screw and fastener aisle. Kohl’s also puts bargains on floor displays but that’s it.
We also recently developed a bird seed display where the budget didn’t cover a permanent display constructed out of metal to accommodate five shelves holding 50 lbs. each. We developed a semi-permanent display constructed with corrugated and metal bars that could hold the weight and is very easy to set up.
Another exception is at the entrance of Costco. They prefer to have pallet displays where products get picked over and employees are constantly straightening them. This makes it look like there’s a lot of activity, which further attracts customers to see what’s so popular. This has caused Costco to move away from trays that keep products organized.
PDQ & On-Shelf Displays Are In
Club stores and big box retailers want more on-shelf displays, called PDQs.
PDQ displays are basically chip board or corrugated trays that hold products and will often be filled with all kinds of graphics. If there’s no height
issues, you can also put a header on a PDQ or put a waterfall along the side that shows all product features.
In Target’s cosmetics department, PDQs are about two-thirds of the shelf and waterfalls give the description of the products. We’ve also been working on a program for Farm & Fleet where they want to have aisles with all kinds of signage, under which sits your products.
Aisle Violators
If you’re not doing a floor display, you may consider creating an “aisle violator” if permitted by the retailer. Aisle violators are signage constructed out of corrugated or plastic that hangs into the aisle and is perpendicular to the shelf. They can also hang from the ceiling above the product, which some retailers do allow. Aisle violators get people to notice in-shelf displays more than without them.
What’s In?
Since floor displays are largely out for big retailers, what’s in? See part 2 of our 2-part series to find out… and consider us for helping you determine the right form factor, material construction and design for your next retail display.
Contact us to learn more about permanent, semi-permanent and pallet floor displays
