POS advertising is a classic marketing strategy. It is also cost-free - so if you weren’t intrigued before, you sure should be now. Point-of-sale advertising involves encouraging your customer to make an impulse purchase. With a few POS marketing strategies, your staff can increase last-minute sales. This technique requires quick thinking and a sprinkle of pre-planning. It is never past the sales point, even once customers reach the checkout counter. All this business tool requires is a little bit of training and creativity.
In this guide, we’ll cover everything there is to know about POS advertising. From types of POS marketing to use to what exactly it entails, get ready for a thorough introduction. And with so much to talk about, let’s get started now.
What Is POS Advertising?
POS advertising stands for point-of-sale advertising. By point-of-sale advertising, we mean marketing efforts that staff make at the point of sale. This can be organized through computer software online or manually by staff members. The easiest way to imagine this is the little discount perfumes and sweets you find at a checkout counter.
The company is trying to persuade you to impulse buy in these instances. The checkout staff might even prompt you to look at these goods. For example, “would you like any of these discounted chocolates today?”. This form of marketing is prevalent in retail stores. Especially when the store has stock that is nearing its use-by date. Everyone is a sucker for a bargain. And when customers are already getting their cards out for a purchase, it is easy to think, “why not”.
Of course, it isn’t just retail stores that use POS advertising. Any business can. In a restaurant, pos marketing strategies can help secure tips. This is effective advertising at the end of the customer experience. Face-to-face with their waiter or waitress, after a positive experience, it’s harder for diners not to tip. Wait for staff and diners to establish rapport as the experience continues. And also, by choosing the POS to invite diners to tip, you capitalize on that last-minute impulsiveness. POS is a fantastic way to improve your business.
POS marketing can be a retail store sale display or a restaurant pin machine option. This advertising technique is versatile and adaptable for your business. If you are looking to increase your sales or net profit, this is a tool you need under your belt.
What Is POP vs POS Advertising?
What is the difference between POP and POS advertising? It is an excellent question. The differences between POP and POS are very subtle. There is a significant overlap between the two. To best answer this, let’s break down what each form of advertising is first.
POS is point-of-sale advertising from a business perspective. It involves successfully getting the customer to buy or invest in something before checkout. This could be a bottle of wine to take away at a restaurant or a discounted perfume at a retail store. It could be signing up for a loyalty program at a fashion store. Regardless, it is when the business notes down that they’ve bagged an extra sale. The point that it becomes a POS is someone actually takes the payment - e.g. using technology to take a transaction.
POP advertising is from the other perspective. It is when the customer decides that this deal is for them. From customer experiences, POP is the point of purchase - the moment their faces light up at a fantastic value. Considering this subtle difference, the best way to invest in POP is to use visual incentives. It also re-emphasizes the importance of creating a POS strategy that suits your customer base.
If in doubt, consider POP and POS to create more last-minute sales. You’ll often find the two terms used interchangeably. However, strictly speaking, POP is more advertising displays, and POS is when someone takes a payment.
Why Should You Use POS Advertising?
Now that you know what POS advertising is, why even use it? In short, it can increase your sales and profit by a ton. There is no cap on the success you can derive from point-of-sale advertising. You could sell a $400 bottle of wine as guests head to your restaurant checkout counter. Or you could sell 30 extra products daily from your sale display at a retail store.
We love how flexible and uncapped this marketing strategy is. This is its main positive. You can devise any marketing plan that uses this strategy to suit your business. If you create it effectively enough, you can also strengthen customer awareness of your brand identity. A stronger l brand awareness results in better relationships with your customers. And better relationships with your customers link back to - you guessed it - more sales and more profit.
The way to get this advantage is to choose your POS products carefully. Will you provide chewing gum and sweets at toddler eye level? Or will you provide discounted off-the-menu wine and champagne bottles? Target your customer demographic, and you’ll soon see why you should use POS advertising.
Another reason to use this advertising technique is that it creates better customer service. Customers feel more understood (if you nail your product choice), and it opens a friendly dialogue with the counter staff.
If you invest in a technological system, you can improve your customer experience tenfold. Staff can rely on an automated system that manages sales transactions, inventory control, and manage POS payments. With an online system, taking last-minute sales is a breeze.
5 Top POS Advertising Examples
When it comes to marketing strategies, you have got to be creative. Not only have you got to keep your customer demographic and their tastes in mind. You must also ensure your technique stands out enough to target that last-minute purchase impulse. It would help if you were tempting - with a capital T.
We have got some tried-and-tested ideas that you can use to start your POS journey today. While brainstorming, you may use a few of these classics. Here are our 5 top POS advertising examples.
1. Last-minute Items for POS Advertising
Last-minute items are the perfect way to grab customer attention. You are waving your customer’s dream items in their face with too-good-to-miss prices. As far as POS advertising goes, this is the most effective idea. It is the easiest one to tailor to your customer demographic. Plus, you can use a sale display to eliminate surplus stock.
2. Gift Cards
Gift cards are another fantastic opportunity for point-of-sale advertising. It plays on the customer’s emotional side and encourages them to consider family and friends. Who knows, maybe your customer struggles to pick their mother’s day present? A gift card is a solution for someone who can’t find a present. And, of course, from your business’ point of view, it works like a referral scheme.
3. Loyalty Programs for POS Advertising
If you haven’t discovered how effective loyalty programs are, start researching. Loyalty programs are among the best ways to create customer loyalty and increase profit. They are also most effective at the point of sale. You can lure customers in at the checkout counter with an instant 10% off - immediately signing them. From there, you have email marketing and text marketing opportunities galore.
Social media marketing has been rising for a while and is not slowing soon. The more traffic you can drive to your socials, the more success your business will have. So take advantage of POS advertising by tempting customers to follow your social media accounts. You could offer an instant 10% discount for following on social media. Or a free item, like a coffee or chocolate.
5. Ads for POS Advertising
Ads may not seem the most exciting thing for customers to come across. After all, how many ads do people see per day? And how quickly do people exasperatedly wait to skip ads online? But when it comes to your point-of-sale advertising, your ads will be different. Be picky (super picky) with what you advertise. Keep it relevant to your customers - whether a WIFI advertisement or a poster.
For instance, as an Italian restaurant, an Italian wine-tasting evening is ideal. Or even third-party ads for Italian holidays. Whatever you choose, the vital thing is staying in your demographic’s interests and within your brand image.
Hopefully, with these 5 POS marketing examples, you will feel inspired and ready to tackle your business. Marketing strategies can be simple. And you know your customers best, so don’t overthink this stage - try a few ideas and see what works.
Final Thoughts: Starting POS Advertising Today
POS advertising is an easy step to start today. After all, you could start as simple as grabbing a few products and arranging them by the checkout counter. If you have an eye for detail, this is where we recommend starting your POS journey. Go on. We dare you. Otherwise, begin brainstorming today and develop a few different ideas. You could advertise upcoming events. Or create a loyalty program or some gift cards. Point-of-sale advertising is entertaining once you get into it.
POS advertising is an excellent low-cost way to invest in your business and its success. You can start today with only your original stock or a 5-minute digital design job. This marketing strategy is versatile yet effective - what more could you want? When choosing marketing strategies, make sure POS is on your list.
Are you looking for extra help? At Beambox, we are always happy to assist you with marketing. As experts in content marketing and encouraging restaurant success, we can help start your journey to success. Outsource to us, and let’s take the following steps.
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