Stop me and buy one

Bricks and mortar retail outlets are currently facing a conundrum as they must appeal to a range of target audiences with a whole range of different needs and expectations, from Baby Boomers in their 60s and 70s, to the younger Generation Y and the up-coming Millennial Generation, the 18 to 34 age group).

As a result, we are seeing a growth in omni-channel marketing, encompassing online, social media and digital technology both in and out of store, in order to draw and retain customers in-store. Deloitte UK says that 44 percent of all retail transactions in the UK involve interaction with multiple channels, such as in-store, online, mail order and catalogue.

However, once on the high street, in the shopping mall or in-store, across all sectors, physical point-of-sale marketing still has a role to play. Its importance is emphasised by recent research: Shopper Insight says that unplanned and impulse shopping is increasing with only around 16 percent of grocery shoppers now using shopping lists. This is further supported by SourceWire’s Virginia Hayward, who states that 18 percent of shoppers say that they take between just one and five minutes to choose a gift, meaning that almost a fifth of people make a snap decision.

Catch me if you can

This represents a huge opportunity to capture the customer’s attention and point-of-sale signage manufacturers and suppliers, therefore, must look to offering eye-catching products that meet the diverse needs of this sector and overcome the myriad of other distractions that surround us.

“The clear communication of messaging has long been a crucial requirement in the retail environment and a great example of this is the upselling of food and drink within cinema chains throughout the UK,” says Arken-POP marketing manager, Vicki Cox.


Arken POP supplies most of the UK’s cinema chains with internal and external illuminated signage, both in the food sale areas and to advertise new films, all UK manufactured at their factory site in Newmarket, Suffolk. 

“As well as the core purpose of screening films, cinemas are also a significant hospitality and retail business, providing lucrative opportunities to increase revenue, which has become an incredibly important income stream in recent years,” continues Cox.



She adds: “In order to maximise sales, eye-catching messaging is key to enable customers to make quick decisions about product offers in an incredibly busy environment, enabling the retailer to sell food bundle deals and special offers, maximising their profit alongside providing a crucial service to their customers.”

Arken-POP’s popular LED Purelite range is slim, robust and economical to run. It is available in a range of aluminium frame options, all of which are customised to exact colour and size specifications.

“The fantastic illumination from the LEDs helps enhance the poster message and provides maximum impact,” Cox explains.

In addition to light boxes, Arken-POP manufactures a wide range of other graphic display products, supplying many sectors, including health and beauty, leisure, and fashion and their products can be seen up and down most high streets. 

Of course, getting the customer into the store is the first step and this is where pavement signs still come into their own. Signwaves, one of the UK’s largest manufacturers of point-of-sale (POS) signs, claims that its lightweight and portable Ecoflex range is Britain’s top selling pavement sign, and it has been used in many major campaigns. For example, in 2014, when Wall’s celebrated ‘25 years of Magnum’, Ecoflex was part of the point-of-sale package created by Signwaves.



James West, marketing manager at Signwaves, describes their systems as being, ‘very much POS with purpose’.  As well as the quick-assembly Eco-flex2 pavement sign, which features an eye catching silhouette-cut sign panel, Signwaves produces large-capacity bins, cone holders, branding boards, and 3D lenticular counter-mats—each being used in their own right for prime-position visibility and to provide touch-point brand presence throughout the summer.



 “From start to finish Signwaves was exceptionally helpful,” says Tom Hurrell of Unilever Ice Cream, explaining why the corporation chose the company for repeat business.

He adds: “Their willingness to step-back and deal with our unique challenges, as opposed to offering existing ‘off-the-shelf’ style solutions, resulted in a great portfolio of product solutions.

“Signwaves are clearly experts in their fields, with incredible attention to detail from concept/innovation right through to packaging testing and user experience.”

New to the Ecoflex family for 2015 is Ecoflextra, with a display area 30 percent more than Ecoflex2, at 540 x 917mm. With rounded corners and smooth edges for high pedestrian safety, it is ideal for pavement, road-side, and forecourt promotions.

“Once inside there are many ways point-of-sale signs can encourage customers to buy,” says West, who adds: “Illuminated displays, chalk boards, chiller flags, 3D printing and hanging banners are just a few Sign-waves products which sign-makers actively recommend to their customers.”



West says his company is certainly experiencing a return to buoyant trading after the recession and this trend is also being experienced by one of its industry peers. Following a record year in 2014, Hull based Brownings is currently enjoying significant sales growth across all areas of its business, whether it is bespoke, sized poster frames, TexSign—Browning’s own fabric faced frames and lightbox systems—or Flexface signs, where Brownings is one of the UK’s leading suppliers.

Sales director Richard Vincent comments: “Having launched our TexSign range in 2013 we have seen steady growth on both the illuminated and non-illuminated products.”

Getting illumination exactly right is key to their effectiveness, as Vincent stresses: “As you would expect, the illumination of these products is via LEDs. However, to get a full even illumination, without the LEDs showing through the substrate or washing out the print, has taken a number of months of research to get us to the point where we are 100 percent happy with the results. There is nothing worse than seeing hot spots from LEDs strips ruining a quality image. We have the solution for all of our illuminated products. Depths start at 60mm, then 120mm, and go up to 170mm single sided or 180mm double sided versions.”

Bringing in the bucks

With such a diversity of products to choose from, what are the most lucrative opportunities that POS signage offers for sign-makers?

Vincent advises looking to supply bespoke solutions: “In my view, sign-makers need to be steering away from off the shelf products. Think about it—you sell and fit a number of A4 silver anodised poster frames, or lightboxes. But these can be bought cheaply over the internet, and because of that the sign-maker isn’t going to get a high margin for the frame.



“Also, the sign company may supply the initial images that go into the frames but, once done, the end client may possibly just print any new images himself. Going down the bespoke route, the client could have any standard RAL colour, or by offering the client a bespoke size (say 500 x 500mm) the sign-maker is more likely to get the repeat business to supply the posters on an on-going basis.”

Vincent goes further, really making an appeal to the industry to think about what they specify for a job: “We supply a number of companies with our Posterlite product. Its a slim, back illuminated clip frame. We have supplied these for a number of years to two particular contracts where the poster frame is a different colour to the body of the unit, making both the unit and, in turn, the image that is displayed more eye catching. Don’t just settle for a silver anodised finish, it’s what everyone else is offering.

“Think about offering your client a different shape of lightbox or TexSign, we can make just about any shape or curve required. As with the shaped external flexface signs, Brownings seem to be getting a name for supplying our internal range of products in all shapes and sizes.”

With the economy growing, competition on the high streets, retail parks and leisure complexes of the UK is getting fierce, so grabbing customers’ attention is vital.



“Whilst new forms of advertising appear, there remains no substitute for classic kerb appeal,” asserts West, who adds: “Whether it’s a corner shop, department store, café or industrial unit, point-of-sale signs can be the difference between attracting many customers or very few.”

O Factoid: Women spend over eight years of their life shopping, spending 399 hours and 46 minutes in-store each year (Source: GE Money). O

West believes the opportunities are stronger than ever for sign-makers. Pavement signs, forecourt signs, poster displays, and flags are just some of the products businesses look for to attract paying customers.

She concludes, summing up some key points on the trends shaping this sector and how Signwaves is reacting to them: “With an increasing café culture, we have improved our market leading Adfresco Café Barrier System. Now available in stylish black as well as stainless steel, the patented system allows the user to partition areas—inside and out—whilst providing a great way to display their brand. It’s ideal for pavement seating areas, guiding queues, or simply grabbing attention. 

“Businesses are increasingly looking to entice customers. For sign-makers, the opportunities to recommend point-of-sale signs will only get stronger as competition and the economy grows.”


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