School holidays are winding down and suddenly, parents are left with long shopping lists, trying to get everything in order for their child’s first day back to school. New uniforms, crisp notebooks, colourful pens, sturdy school backpacks, and a whole universe of back to school supplies – the annual hunt is on.
As a brand, where do you fit into this equation? Beyond having the much-needed products accessible for the parents to buy, planning ahead for maximum sales is crucial. The answer lies in smart in-store branding and strategic placement of PoSM (Point-of-Sale Materials).
Curious to know how the sales of back-to-school products is rampantly growing at a rate of 6.1% every year? We will uncover the impact of visual merchandising and PoSM in this detailed Channelplay guide.
As human beings, we “feast” with the eyes first. This explains why there is an ongoing emphasis on visual branding to make it more marketable and attractive to the target audience.
In-store branding extrapolates from that purview, highlighting how a specific brand is “showcased” inside a retail space. This includes banners, posters, product displays and how a particular product is arranged on the shelves.
PoSM (Point-of-Sale Materials) are tools or materials that are used for marketing your products, attracting the attention of the shopper and ultimately encourage a purchase. Believe it or not, PoSM is the “unsung” hero of retail marketing. The smart use of PoSM will define the difference between “blending in” and “standing out.”
Back-to-School season is an ongoing and recurrent “annual ritual”, wherein parents step out of them home with a checklist to ensure their child has all the tools they need to succeed in their new school term.
As a retail brand, here’s why this season is such a crucial retail moment:
Bottom line? It’s a make-or-break moment, and you need your brand front and centre and with visual merchandising and sales force outsourcing service, Channelplay streamlines that entire process for your brand.
Installing the right PoSM in the retail stores require planning for successful execution. So, being aware of the types of PoSM can simplify that for you.
Shelf talkers, as their name suggests, are retail display fixtures that are placed on the shelves to draw attention to specific products, communicate information to the customers and encourage purchases too.
They sit right where the purchase decision is made—on the shelf. They can highlight a feature (“Spill-proof water bottle”), a discount (“Buy 1 Get 1 Free”), or a USP (“Trusted by 10 Lakh+ Moms”).
A quick tip: For back to school season, leverage shelf talkers to highlight kid-specific features like cartoon prints, durability, vibrant and bold colours, fonts that are funky yet easy to read, etc. Also, for more comprehensive rundown of the product and its application, use QR codes.
Standees are the “vertical” stand-in marketing display boards of the brands that are usually placed in front of the entrance or inside the retail store, aisle ends, product zones, etc.
Given their “billboard” like nature, standees are often hard to miss out on. So, when you use them right, these can drive a lot of sales.
A quick tip: To visually attract children and their parents towards your brand (and products) using a standee POS, consider using fun and vibrant design featuring cartoon characters, school-themed visuals and clear branding. Also, don’t forget to highlight staple back to school products like school backpacks, pencil kits, lunch boxes, etc.
These are your “last resort” at driving sales or promoting upselling. These POS items are usually placed near the billing counters or checkout areas to attract the attention of the customers.
The main objective of countertop displays is to promote “last-minute” or “impulse” purchases. This could include a parent waiting in billing queues looking around or a child that is entranced by the product and simply can’t miss out on it.
A quick tip: A well-placed counter display offering quirky erasers, colourful pens, or sticker books can easily land in their basket. So, ensure that you are being tactical about the product placement.
Knowing which PoSM to use for in-store branding is half the battle. Deployment is where you have to fight the rest of the battle. If the POS material and the products aren’t well deployed, it is bound to fall apart like a tower of Jenga.
Here’s a quick breakdown of how to ensure a successful deployment of the in-store branding during back-to-school season:
At the end of the day, every step of the planning and execution is done by our team at Channelplay, taking away the burden off your shoulders so you can focus on the products.
In a crowded retail environment, your brand has a very small window to grab attention. It won’t matter if you have a great product. If it gets hidden in the sea of hundred other similar products (and brands), it won’t get picked during the going back to school retail season.
This is where smart in-store branding and PoSM placement come in. At Channelplay, we have worked with leading brands like ONDC, Tata NexArc, Snapdeal, OYO, Apollo Hospitals, etc., create seamless, impactful retail experiences.
With our pan-India reach and deep expertise, we help you move from strategy to shelf—flawlessly.
