What Actually Is Point-Of-Sale Marketing? (POS Marketing)

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Point-of-sale marketing (POS Marketing) is one of the most popular and effective marketing methods that is used by almost every single retailer worldwide. 

In This Article:

• What is POS Marketing?
• Point-Of-Sale (POS) Marketing Vs Point-Of-Purchase (POP) Marketing
• POS Marketing Tips
• Best POS Marketing Product Placement Locations

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Think about this. Imagine you just finished looking for the items that you came to the store to get and you’re now at the payment counter. At the counter, while staying in the queue, how many times have you seen a candy bar or another random item and decided to add it to your shopping cart? My guess is – Numerous times!

This is called an impulse purchase decision. An impulse purchase decision is a purchase that you make without prior planning. Whenever you buy something that you didn’t initially plan on buying, and purchase it simply because you saw it at that instance, it’s called an impulse purchase. 

What is POS Marketing?

POS marketing is a technique used by marketers. Products are strategically placed right beside the payment counter so that people can add them to their shopping carts and trigger impulse purchases as they wait in line. 

When you go to buy a car, it’s very likely that they will introduce to you the shiniest car polishes, the best car wipes, the most reliable tyres etc. They might even introduce car insurance and other car-related products and services.

While this is mostly used on products, they are often used on services as well. When you visit the nail salon to cut your nails, they might recommend that you get your nails painted as well. If they don’t explicitly say it, the infographics and samples at the store will make you want to get your nails painted. This is also an example of POS marketing.

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Point-Of-Sale (POS) Marketing Vs Point-Of-Purchase (POP) Marketing

People often confuse POS marketing with POP marketing. POS marketing is done specifically at the checkout area when the customer is about to make the payment for their goods. POP marketing on the other hand is done all over the entire store to generate as many sales as possible. POP marketing is shown to the customer during their entire shopping experience while POS marketing is only done when the customer is ready to make payment.

POS Marketing Tips

When you’re creating your own POS marketing counter at your store, make sure that you do it right. The minor changes can mean a big difference to customers who are waiting impatiently in line near the payment counter. If you follow through with these tips, you’ll be able to execute an extremely successful POS marketing campaign.

1. Make sure that they’re small products or services

When the item beside the payment counter is small and easy to hold in their hands, they’re more likely to add it to their carts. This is because they psychologically feel like the smaller size reflects a small purchase and that it will probably not make a huge difference to their original purchase intention. 

This applies even if the item you’re marketing is a service. If you ensure that the service you’re trying to market during checkout is a nice little extra add-on, there’s a higher likelihood that your customers will end up buying it.

2. Make sure that the products are inexpensive

If the items displayed beside the payment counter are way too expensive, your customers will not want to add them to their cart. This is simply because spending money on another item that costs a large amount will require a longer decision-making process. The waiting time at the payment counter might not be enough for the customers to make the decision and they might put it away altogether. 

The same goes for services. If the service that you recommend to the customer at the checkout is expensive, they might feel like it’s too costly to say “yes!” to at that instant. Therefore, there is a high chance that customers will refuse to purchase them.

3. Display the items that are on SALE

At the checkout counter, customers are usually very focused on getting the best deals available. When you place the discounted items right next to the queuing line or the payment gateway, there’s a very high chance that your customers will add an item to their carts if it looks like a great deal. 

4. Place the products at the customers’ eye-level

When products are within eye level, it is not too difficult for customers to take a look at them. This will also increase the chances of them adding the products to their carts. 

This tip applies mainly to physical products. If your item is a service, placing the advertisement somewhere visible on the checkout page will increase the chances of them noticing it. 

5. Display bright and vibrant products first

Even while waiting in the queue, a lot of customers tend to not notice what’s around them because they’re too busy engaging on their mobile devices. Colourful and vibrant items can easily fix this because they tend to catch the attention of customers easily. Once the attention is on the products, you can place the remaining items (which are probably not all bright and vibrant) afterwards.

6. Place the products within the customers’ reach

When placing your products, make sure that they are within reach of the customers who are in the queue. This is because customers tend not to move too far from the queue just to grab an extra item, in fear of having to queue all over again.

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POS Marketing Product Placement Locations

When placing the POS marketing displays, it is important to place them such that they get drawn towards it. To make life easier, we have compiled a list of the top five places to display your POS marketing products.

1. Payment counter queue
2. Free-standing floor display
3. Dump bins
4. Fitting room queue areas
5. Endcaps

Conclusion

POS marketing is an extremely effective last-minute marketing tactic to drive as many sales as possible. POS marketing should not be confused with POP marketing as they are different from each other. Noticing the importance of following POS marketing tips could mean the difference between moderate and high amounts of sales. Product placement locations within your store should also be looked into.

What POS marketing tactics do you currently do in your business? Leave a comment to let us know. If you have any questions, drop them in the comments or send us an email at biz.smartiac@gmail.com.

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