Point Of Sale Marketing

Point of Sale Marketing comes from two parent ideas. These are "point of sale" and "marketing." To understand "point of sale," one can simply visualize the supermarket floor, where one can see people choosing certain goods over competitive offerings and then going to the sales clerk at the counter to pay for the chosen goods. To understand marketing, one can simply think of the idea of "selling," but with the objective of achieving continued repeat purchase behavior from customers.

There are other ways of looking at marketing. One can also look at it in terms of the famous five P's : Product, Placement, Price, Promotion, and People. Thus, when these five P's come into play at the selling area or at the place where the product is usually purchased, that is "Point of Sale Marketing."

At face value, one can mistakenly think of Product as simply the tangible goods displayed at stores. However, a product is much more than that, because the physical product is simply the manifestation or the embodiment of the whole package of benefits that the consumer can derive from it. Thus, selling the product in a professional manner denotes not just selling the tangible part, but also the kind of experience that the consumer can enjoy after purchasing the product.

Placement refers to product distribution at the selling area. Essentially, it refers to the location of the product and how it can become most accessible to target users or buyers. A case can be made for placement as referring to channels of distribution. But, assuming that one is already in a specific channel of distribution (supermarket, specialty shop, warehouse or depot, or some break-bulk point among several possible channels of distribution), placement can also refer to the choice of location that allows for greatest visibility, access, and convenience to buyers.

Price refers to the amount of money that a buyer has to give up in exchange for the product or service. At the relative level, price refers to the amount of money to be charged to the buyer compared to the amount charged by competitive offerings.

Promotion refers to activities performed in order to induce a "first trial" of the product, to continue with the use of the product in spite of competitive offerings, and/or to encourage bigger volumes of purchases. Oftentimes, these include special offers, coupons, redemption of package labels, and other similar activities.

At the end of the day, the product or service must satisfy the targeted people, also known as "buyers." Indeed, buyers do not simply buy products. Rather, they buy and pay for THEIR expectations of a favorable customer experience. And, that holds true, whether what is being sold is something as tangible as a product or something that is as intangible as a service.

By: Mark J Gregory

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Mark Gregory is writing on behalf of Esppos, who offer perspex display stands accessories and cardboard dispensers.