10 ways to make your POP display stand out

What’s an effective way to get a shopper to see your product and buy it? Catch them with a Point of Purchase (POP) display while they’re browsing in store. The store is the ideal place to advertise your product as 82% of purchasing decisions are made there, according to a recent KDM study that interviewed 3,000 mass merchant shoppers.

The POP display is effective because it appears at the precious point of purchase. Shoppers often spend quite a bit of time walking around stores so there are many opportunities to catch their attention. According to recent reports by Statista and the US Department of Agriculture, Americans spend an average of 30 to 46 minutes at the grocery store.

Many of the decisions to buy are made last minute as well. The KDM study found that 62% of shoppers make an impulse buy while shopping, and 16% of unplanned purchases are driven by in-store promotions.

An eye-catching POP display can bring success to your marketing campaign. POP displays can be anything from free standing displays, shelf displays, dump bins, floor graphics, and more. These are all effective marketing tools to catch a shopper’s eye.

How can we design POP displays that impact shoppers? The following are ten strategies to make your POP display stand out.

1. Create a fun moment

This innovative Oral-B POP display attracts children and parents alike. It uses the ever-likable Toy Story characters Woody and Buzz Lightyear as spokespersons and friends welcoming you to check out this brand. Their presence can easily evoke fond memories of their delightful movies.

On the side of the POP display is a feature shoppers can have fun with as well: a tape measure with Toy Story characters climbing it. This inviting design might just inspire children to check out how tall they are and perhaps discover that they’ve grown a bit taller.

This interactive POP display is a brilliant way to attract children and their families to Oral-B children’s products. The POP display is more than just an ad, it calls shoppers to interact with it. The longer they stay at the display, the likelier they are to buy a product.

This photo booth for Pert shampoo is a perfect place for adults and children alike to take a selfie. Pert cooperated with Taiwan’s most famous illustrator Jimmy on his book Sometimes, Sometimes and created a pop-up storybook where people can check in on social media and take photos. People in Taiwan enjoy being seen with Jimmy’s creations, so it was a very effective way for the brand to gain exposure.

Pert’s colorful 3D photo booth was placed in front of Taiwan’s popular grocery chain PX Mart for people to have fun with. It was a hit with customers of all ages. Creating an enjoyable experience that people want to share is an ingenious way to connect with customers. Moments like these project positive feelings and exposure for the brand.

The design of the display complements their line of products perfectly and brings the characters to life. This leaves a deeper impression on the customer and just might inspire them to buy the shampoo.

2. Show your brand spirit

Vidal Sassoon created a bold new look for modern women. “I wanted to change things,” Sassoon said. “To me hair meant geometry, angles, cutting uneven shapes, as long as it suited that face and that bone structure."

With that vision, Vidal Sassoon invented the blunt bob cut, a style that was sharp, sophisticated, and easy to manage. With that one signature look, Sassoon revolutionized how modern women could style their hair.

The design for Sassoon’s shelf display reflects his innovative spirit. The lines are sharp and geometrical while the colors are bold and bright – all expressing the trendsetting spirit of the brand. A pair of hair-cutting shears are also designed into the display to remind customers of the iconic bob cut that made Vidal Sassoon famous.

This half gondola end is placed at the end of an aisle. This design features the sharp geometrical lines that Sassoon loved to cut into women’s hair. The red-haired model shows off Sassoon’s trendsetting look, and the POP display’s bold colors and sharp lines show the cutting-edge spirit of the hair care brand.

This POP display depicts a clean refreshing spirit, which is perfect for this shampoo brand. The model’s stylish air blown hair along with the flowing arch of water expresses a feeling of revitalization. Shoppers feel a sense of renewal just by the design of the POP display which also serves as elegant shelving for the shampoo products.

The gold shelves are a lovely backdrop for Pantene’s products. Shoppers enjoy a sense of self-care when they take a shampoo from the pleasant POP display and put it in their shopping cart.

3. Display some fast moves

Another reason the Pantene POP display is so inviting is the dynamic sense of motion displayed by the water and the model. The gold shelves are designed like a beautiful fountain while the water looks like a refreshing bridge of crystal-clear water.

The joyful model tosses her lovely hair, as if she had just shampooed and styled it to perfection. The swift sense of movement displayed by the water and model fill the air with a refreshing spirit that’s contagious and may influence the shopper to take Pantene home with her.

This Gilette POP display shows the smooth moves of a slick razor that gets the job done clear and clean. The design fuses the dynamic move of a razor with classic masculine attire.

The bright yellow tie and POP display is eye-catching and creative. People walk by intrigued by its design and inspired to buy a sharp razor that enhances one’s appearance just as a tie does a gentleman.

4. Charm the customer

Who knew that Winnie the Pooh and friends could join you in your hair care? This cute picture of this famously harmless cartoon character draws the shopper in to check out the botanical hair treatment oil that has Winnie mesmerized as well.

The oil treatment has a unique combination of marula oil and honey extract that nourishes one's hair. Winnie the Pooh is a fun familiar character that helps highlight the sweet ingredient in this hair treatment line.

5. Be touchy-feely

Let the shopper reach out and touch something. When someone touches a product – whether they’re trying on clothing or testing eye shadow, they are much more likely to buy it. If the texture of your product is an asset, offering a real live version of it can influence shoppers to buy.

This diaper touch-and-feel display helps parents understand why Pampers is a great choice for their infants, especially since high-quality products tend to be more expensive than most other brands. A touch-and-feel sample clearly displays the brand’s higher value. When parents touch and feel the soft well-designed Pampers diaper, it may be just the trigger they need to buy a pack.

Make up samples, hand cream testers, and sample perfume are also examples of how experiencing the product firsthand can be just what the shopper needs to do to buy it.

This scent tester graphically depicts the foam and squirts out a sample of the scent. It calls on the shopper to PUSH! and try the scented foam body wash for oneself.

The Lux Botanicals body wash is called Shower Foam as it literally comes out in the form of foam. Each scent tester features a different flower that marks the variety of aromas in the product line.

When placed on the display stand, the POP displays add intrigue to the product. People may walk by and be curious about why there is foam coming out of a pump dispenser or what they’re supposed to PUSH! This POP display is a great way to get shoppers to take a closer look and try this new body wash.

6. Immerse them in your world

“The most beautiful POP display of the season” is how the client described this cherry blossom scene. The ode to spring flowers in this immersive POP display is perfect as all the botanical products feature the fragrance of cherry blossoms and other spring flowers.

The cherry blossoms – a favorite flower in Asia - are almost lifelike. The lovely pink floor and the cherry blossoms that appear throughout the shelves are an exquisite call to try one of their bottles of body wash. It’s almost like buying a souvenir after visiting a destination – customers take a bit of the beauty they just experienced home with them.

It’s hard for customers not to pick up a Lux botanical body care product after walking through this enchanting cherry blossom display.

This expo design presents a world of warm motherly love. The photos of a happy child and joyful mother alongside hearts and Pampers products give the subtle message that loving mothers let their babies wear Pampers.

When a shopper walks through this expo display, she wants to be a part of this sweet scene between mother and child. A mother might imagine herself to be like the model pictured, enjoying a special moment with her child. What easier way to imitate her than to take some Pampers home?

7. Show and tell

Sometimes shoppers need to be told step by step why a product is great and what its benefits are.

This on-shelf display explains all the different functions of Oral-B’s electric toothbrushes. The acrylic display describes the speed at which they turn, their different cleaning modes, options for pressure, the child and adult versions, and how it works with Bluetooth and its app.

After reading through all the explanations in this display, the customer may be persuaded to buy one for herself or even her whole family.

This paper stand displays what makes each of Maybelline’s makeup products unique and provides testers for customers to try them. Each level on the stand explains how the products on that shelf are used.

The stylish stand is a great way to attract shoppers to the brand and then show customers through explainers what’s special about its line of products.

8. Highlight unique ingredients

The Japanese brand Hair Recipe uses natural ingredients like fruit and honey in its hair care offerings. This poster highlights the unique natural products that are the main feature in this hair care product line. The model holds the key ingredient – honey – in her hands and the poster describes in detail how the peach, honey and other natural ingredients play an intergral role in this line of hair care.

This decoration tray is placed right in front of the above poster. The props feature a cut open peach, a honeycomb, a honey dipper and a jar of peach honey- all set on top of wood and a picnic tablecloth.

The pleasant fruit and honey-themed display brings the heart of nature into the mind of the customer and explains why these ingredients are nurturing for one’s hair. The delicious props prompt customers to take a closer look at this line of products and perhaps end up buying one.

This Olay mask POP display highlights the pure drops of vitamin B3 essence contained in the facial masks. Vitamin B3 in its water-soluble form helps skin retain its moisture. It also helps smooth out the texture of one’s skin and reduces the look of wrinkles.

The vitamin B3 essence is Olay’s most popular skin whitening product. The design of this top shelf display highlights the fact that a half a bottle of vitamin B3 essence is in each mask.

The light blue and refreshing white colors also are soothing and convey a sense of nurture and therapy for one’s skin. The single gold circle stands out in this display and highlights the most important ingredient in the mask: vitamin B3.

The design is featured on top of this Endcap Display which highlights Olay’s new facial mask. The soothing blue white also provides an elegant backdrop for Olay’s array of skincare products.

This shelf talker promotes the main ingredient in Olay’s White Radiance Light Perfecting Essence. It highlights that this skin care product is 99.7% vitamin B3.

It also hired one of Taiwan’s most well-known and popular celebrities, Dee Hsu aka “Little S”, to model the confidence that a woman can have when she has a beautiful and fair complexion.

Shelf talkers also enable products to stand out right when shoppers are scanning the shelves for something to buy. A beautiful celebrity promoting this compelling ingredient is a great way to show what’s special about your product.

9. Stop the customer with your stunning design

An effective roadshow design is disruptive. It commands attention like this one. As shopper’s walk along the Hong Kong street, they can’t miss the Herbal Essences window display and likely stop to get a closer look.

This exquisite royal garden is an elegant and inviting window display. People may stop and take a closer look at the flowers from the UK’s Royal Botanical Gardens, Kew which make Herbal Essences hair care products so special.

10. Talk with texture

Another brand that loves to showcase its natural ingredients is Hair Recipe. Their POP display features wooden shelves - a call out to nature which is a distinct feature of their brand identity. This mega display features wooden crates that showcase the products and the fruit that is infused into their hair care products.

The bright mirrors atop Vidal Sassoon’s free-standing dump bins are flashy and eye-catching. It expresses the high fashion nature of the brand and might even attract a few shoppers to stop and take a glance at themselves in the mirror. Once they stop, you’ve caught their attention and they might even look at the products under the mirror and buy one.

his on-shelf decoration tray is an elegant showcase for AHC, a new high-end brand of skincare. The display uses mirror acrylic, acrylic, and other fine materials to create an image of luxury. The unique way of displaying its fine ingredients - lavender and narcissus - create interest and is visually appealing to many women.

This decoration tray also contains an explainer of its ingredients which includes 17 amino acids, narcissus extract and lavender essential oil. Elegant color, fine lines and textures, and beautiful flowers all help create interest and an image of fine luxury for this new skin care brand.

Designing a visually appealing POP display that speaks to customers and tells them about your product can be the key to increasing sales for your products. Many of these ten methods can be used simultaneously to enable your design to achieve multiple purposes.

All of the photos and designs in this article were created by Paradise Design, a leading design firm in Taiwan. Paradise Design has been designing POP displays, aka Point of Sale Materials POSM in Asia, for over the past 20 years. Paradise Design is available to serve clients throughout the world and meet a wide variety of design needs. For more samples of their designs, visit en.paradise-design.com.tw. For a free marketing consultation, feel free to contact natalie at paradise-design.com.tw.