As consumers get savvier and retailers battle to impress, which high street display features are likely to deliver the best return on investment in the future?
Uptake of point of sale displays by brands and retail outlets is increasing year on year in response to a growing demand for a personalised customer experience on the high street. A global retail survey published by the Anglo-American consultancy Technavio in December 2016 predicted a 15% growth in POS linked sales between 2017 and 2021.The big factor driving this trend is the reversal of the decline of the high street.
Currently, big data is the topic on everyone’s lips. So, what does this mean for retailers and brands investing in point of sale displays? Retail CCTV has been used to monitor interest in point of sale displays for many years, but it is not always effective at busy times. However, the growth of digital point of sale displays, whether with stand-alone screens or digital elements incorporated into an FSDU or CDU display, opens new possibilities for data gathering.
Metrics can be gathered such as the amount of time a consumer spends in front of a POS display or which combinations of colours, smells and messages lead to the most sales. This information is interesting and informative, as it can focus your POS marketing strategy on the most effective brand awareness tactics and give your consumers a more relevant, personalised experience.
QR codes and online content have been integrated with POS displays for some years now, but it has taken on a new urgency with the explosion in sophisticated mobile devices. There is now an opportunity to blur the lines between high street and online retail by providing exclusive discounts and content for mobile users accessing retail based POS displays. By using QR codes a consumer can access on the spot deals or unlock reward points, which can be redeemed against future purchases.
The potential of this technology is almost endless, as it involves nothing more than including an access code or scannable image onto your point of sale display graphics. The concrete result is increased consumer engagement on the high street, leading to a boost in POS sales and with this idea in mind, permanent point of sale display needs to be considered seriously to guarantee return on investment.
One of the key findings for retailers entering this current year was that customers still prefer the high street experience to shopping online, but are keen to see in-store digital features which link traditional stores with their online counterparts. Specifically, survey results revealed 65% want to see more touchscreen technology used by retailers, while a surprising 57% are more likely to visit a store which uses VR tools, illustrating that FSDU’s and CDU’s must engage and entertain the customer.
While online sales continue to grow year on year, accounting for 17% of all retail spend in December 2017, online sales from stores with a physical presence contributed the most to growth. It pays to offer both online presence for convenience and bricks and mortar stores for inspiration, advice and support. The importance of physical stores means there’s all the more reason to invest in informative point of sale displays and attention grabbing free standing display units.
In conclusion, e-commerce may be on a roll, but bricks-and-mortar isn’t going away any time soon and we believe that the future of retail will be a combination of the two. The latest trend is for the customer journey to engage and entertain. We at JCRPOS, can help you design and achieve this with our ideas for innovative point of sale display solutions and if you would like to discuss your next POS project then contact ben.sullivan@jandcrwood.co.uk
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