Above: The pull-out shelf system from Trion Industries maximizes product density by minimizing wasted vertical space. It also allows easy access to the rear of each product lane, speeding re-stocking, reducing labor and enforcing product rotation by keeping dated materials to the front for earliest sale.
Right: The KD Cigarette Merchandising System is part of the Easy-Stak display line from California Quality Products. It features widths from one to four feet and heights from two to over eight feet, slanted shelves for cartons, pack-pushers for packs and flat shelves for cigars.
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[ OPERATIONS]
A Good Impression
Retailers face product display challenges head on by focusing on presentation
by Tracy Cox
In an age of pervasive branding, product image and display are more important than ever. Undeniably, product displays often make the difference in store sales and repeat business. Tobacco retailers bring a unique set of challenges to product display: store kiosks, tight spaces, small, difficult-to-organize package sizes, a myriad of products, and freshness-dated items can all make tobacco retail space management a challenge.
Retailers may find an unexpected parallel between good product display and increased profits. Cigarette carton sales can make up to 25 percent of business and they are primarily sold at the checkout counter, according to Don Knoll, sales consultant for Chicago-based Visual Marketing Inc. So when one retailer needed to continue to sell cigarettes with eight feet of space while meeting cigarette company requirements and also exposing cigars, it was a call for creative design. Visual Marketing’s solution was to use eight to nine inches of cigarette sign space in the overhead area for storing cartons. This type of flexible signage is just one example of the expansive product display solutions used today to cope with the range of retail issues from store space to contracts and packaging.
Facing challenges
Tobacco retailers today either have to outsource for creative solutions or resort to their own ingenuity when dealing with the many product display challenges.
Tony Kadysewski is communications manager for Wilkes-Barre, Pa.-based Trion Industries, Inc., a manufacturer and national/international distributor for seven distinct styles of shelf-management systems, including product dividers, pushers, and shelf edge and storewide labeling systems.
“Tobacco retailing offers a near-bewildering array of products that require high-density storage without wasted space, impeccable organization and good product visibility for item selection,” he said. “The majority of products are dated and require strict enforcement of product rotation for freshness and customer satisfaction.”
There’s also a visual similarity of many product classes, which requires clear shelf-edge labeling and signage in both associate and self-serve areas. Also beneficial are other point-of-purchase techniques, such as shelf-talker and shelf-edge sign holders in self-serve areas. Inexpensive, color-coded shelf-edge labeling can provide a store-in-store effect, helping identify product categories.
Product Display Goals:
- Organizing complex items
- Simplifying selection
- Billboarding brands
- Maintaining appealing displays
- Forwarding dated product for earliest sale
- Defining in-store destinations
- Compelling sales (shelf-talkers and signage)
- Lowering inventory and restocking costs
(auto-feed sales systems)
- Differentiating stores and achieving image on the
selling floor
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Retailers should keep in mind some basic objectives when planning for product display (see sidebar). Simplification is key, according to Kadysewski. A confused customer experiencing sensory overload can amount to a lost sale. Defining in-store destinations with labeling and organized stock are important tactics. This organization includes monitoring product dates and moving forward dated items for earlier sales of these products.
Space constraints
However, aesthetically pleasing product displays that optimize visibility can be a tall order for the small spaces of many tobacco retail outlets.
“I think space limitations do affect what type of product display retailers choose,” said Harry Banner, sales vice president for California Quality Plastics, Ontario, Calif. “A lot of times product display and design is also affected by barriers such as windows, where the displays may block outside views.”
California Quality Plastics offers stackable merchandisers called Easy-Stak that can be altered to accommodate a range of spaces. Eighty percent to 90 percent of tobacco retailers focus product placement on three areas, according to Banner. These areas are:
- Overhead merchandising
- Under-counter placement
- Backbar product placement behind the cashier
Additionally, Banner said that some retailers offer islands where transactions are handled on the center of the island. Merchandisers in these cases are often situated in the middle of the islands.
Kadysewski agreed that, because of issues of tight space, tobacco retailing is uniquely well-suited to pull-out shelf systems.
“Pull-out shelves maximize product density by minimizing wasted vertical space,” he said. “The pull-out feature allows easy access to the rear of each product lane, speeding re-stocking, reducing labor and enforcing product rotation by keeping dated materials to the front for earliest sale. Auto-feed sales systems reduce the time required to keep the store neat, orderly, fully stocked and well-faced.”
Whatever the solution, flexibility is essential, as evidenced in the systems designed by most manufacturers. Visual Marketing’s Visual Tobacco Solutions System, for example, can be easily configured in a variety of retail scenarios, regardless of the size of the store. Components should be easily configured to maximize selling space in any number of store floor layouts.
New trends
Today’s focus on brand and price is apparent in the tobacco industry, where product labels are prominent. Kadysewski said retailers would be well-advised to monitor the constant evolution of fixturing and apply new concepts to their product lines.
New specialty products such as anti-theft and loss-prevention fixtures might be appropriate for high-cost or exotic product offerings. New merchandising lane-tray fixtures might be suited to unusual sized, shaped or packaged products.
And retailers should also look to the small changes. “Improvements in the transparency of extruded plastic front product stops might allow the substitution of this lower-cost material for expensive and brittle molded clear plastics,” said Kadysewski. “New shelf-edge labeling systems that include built-in sign clips would allow instantaneous shelf-edge product promotion without additional fixtures or separate sign clips. Color-coded shelf-edge labeling and aisle marker signs can aid in store navigation and product selection.”
Another trend – clear product labeling and pricing – is a growing requirement in all retail environments. Difficult-to-locate product information and price surprises at checkout detract from the shopping experience, according to Kadysewski.
“According to Point of Purchase Advertising International, 70 percent of general purchase decisions are made at the shelf edge,” he said. “And though highly brand-conscious and brand-loyal tobacco customers might make fewer self-edge changes to their shopping mission, they can still be influenced by the clear presentation of alternatives, the high-visibility call-out of new products, or cross sold to related products and accessories by point-of-purchase messaging.”
In-store communication can be enhanced by labeling and signage that adjusts in angle for the height of the shelf.
“Messages at eye-level should be vertical and forward facing, messages on lower level shelves should be tilted up to improve visibility for a customer-friendly environment. Modern shelf-edge labeling and signage systems offer this increased functionality at very low cost,” said Kadysewski.
Retailers should remember that both form and function are essential when displaying products. Creative product presentation includes involving practicality in display, with products placed in sequence or order of use. The Premier prepackaged shipper, for example, enables retailers to merchandise cigarette tubes next to injector machines, for a custom mix of tools that consumers can purchase in one stop.
Maximizing potential
There are various expert perspectives to consider when working out product display solutions. Tobacco companies may or may not offer merchandising solutions, while more and more today the retailer is heavily involved in product display. In fact, Knoll said there are three parties that play parts in the product design process: the individual store retailer, the fixture manufacturer and the tobacco company. Good teamwork and clear communication can make all of the difference in high-quality design.
“Successful designs must meet the varying needs of all three parties,” said Knoll.
With 33 years of experience at R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co., Knoll’s knowledge of contracting and product placement is invaluable.
“Contracts are often based on space and visibility,” he said, “and they change every eight months or so. Fixtures that are flexible will meet these changes, as well as changes resulting from mergers or market share changes.”
Retailers need to work with a range of tobacco company requirements. A combination of technical expertise of these requirements with design knowledge translates to successful product display.
“From what we understand,” said Banner, “some companies do have to balance the contract requirements that dictate product placement with the components of other merchandiser products.”
“All of our product display depends on the tobacco company contracts,” said Rasul Balar, owner of Addison Payless Tobacco, Addison, Ill. “The priority is with the company requirements. They generally direct product display and what we do. Then the customers have a role and we place products according to what sells.”
Retailers also have to deal with certain physical requirements of the store location itself, requirements beyond tight space. Knoll said the right product display makes the most of a retailer’s basic store design.
“Often these stores will have front windows,” he said, “and retailers will want the (gasoline) pumps visible. In these cases, fixtures should have a window where customers can see the pumps. Flexibility and versatility of these fixtures are essential to product display.”
There are other methods to working with store space. Use of high-traffic, high-visibility locations should be maximized within the store. Kadysewski said specialized power wing and end-cap fixtures at aisle intersections, shelf ends and checkouts can be used to good advantage.
“It’s ideal to put desirable products in front of eager customers, promote new product offerings, cross-sell items, promote seasonal or special offerings or samplers,” he advised.
Finally, retailers shouldn’t forget the power of good lighting within a clean and comfortable store. Good product display is ineffective in a dingy or cluttered space. Appliance display fixtures or special lighting will enhance product display and the total effect will be a more polished store image and improved customer confidence. |
