Here are 12 tips for avoiding potholes and pitfalls when creating your retail point-of-purchase (POP) displays.

I joined the Wertheimer Box team in 2020, but I’ve been in the packaging industry nearly 30 years. I’ve seen retail POP display executions that go smoothly. They clearly follow processes, such as Wertheimer Box’s 8 steps to successful custom, pop displays.

But other times, the process is painful.

In this article, I’ve included 12 tips to help you stay within your budget, stick to your timeline, and sell your products.

1

Involve the packaging company early in the POP display creative process.

One way to ensure the development of your POP display goes smoothly is to engage an experienced packaging company, such as Wertheimer Box, early in the project. A good time to involve us is when you’re starting to set your budget.

When that happens, you won’t have to shift directions later.

At Wertheimer Box, we’ve been in business since 1939. Nearly all our sales reps are seasoned packaging experts with dozens of years of experience. We offer expertise that can help steer you in the right direction. One of our core services is point of purchase displays.

Additionally, our structural and graphic designers are specialists who work with us to ensure that your point of purchase display is both aesthetically pleasing and structurally sound.

2

Focus on more than just the aesthetics of your POP display.

A common pitfall I’ve seen is an aesthetically pleasing visual that simply won’t stand up to the job it’s meant to do.

Let’s say a POP display needs to hold 140 lbs. of pet food or gallons of juice. In those cases, it needs to be created structurally so that it doesn’t collapse under the weight of the product.

Likewise, you can’t have a display that is only reinforced in the back. Yes, you want to showcase the product in front. But you don’t want your display to tip over.

Literally, it’s a balancing act.

Again, by involving the packaging company early in the process, the design can be both visually appealing AND structurally sound.

3

Focus on more than just the structure of your POP display.

At the same turn, you don’t want to have a structurally sound POP display that’s boring. We’ve been working with a variety of substrates for years. Of course, we can print on kraft paper, oyster white, bleach white or Kemi.

One nice thing about working with Wertheimer Box is that we are a one-stop shop that can create almost any type of corrugated packaging or POP display that you need. We have both the in-house capability and the industry relationships to accomplish your job at a competitive price.

We use a variety of substrates. For example, we can use Kemi (white corrugated board with an enhanced printing surface), flexographic (often used for food packaging), digital print direct to corrugate, and lithographic (glossy finish like a magazine) printing. What’s more, we can enhance the feel of your item with soft touch (similar to that on the iPhone box). Alternatively, “linens,” and leatherette can grace your corrugate POP displays or marketing kit.

We can also:

• Emboss
• Deboss
• Foil Stamp
• Work with matte and gloss finishes
• Create spot varnishes, and even make
• Holographic designs.

In sum, we can help your display get noticed.

Keep in mind, we’re accustomed to working with outside graphic designers and ad agencies. At the same time, we have an in-house design team of both graphic and structural designers.

4

Choose a packaging company that will work within your budget.

It’s important to understand what’s “doable” within your budget. What’s your unit price? What will you sell it for? Will the display you want be available within your budget? How many units of product do you want each display to hold?

The nice thing that I’ve noticed about my weeks at Wertheimer Box is that we’ll work with our customers. Additionally, I’ve been impressed with our pricing. It’s very competitive. We provide great value to our customers.

Furthermore, no job is too small or too large. We enjoy many, many clients with household names. At the same time, we love to help smaller entrepreneurial companies that are just starting out. We help their businesses grow.

5

Consider your budget AND warehousing capabilities

When thinking about your budget, consider warehousing capabilities. Wertheimer Box is one of the few packaging companies that will warehouse and inventory your POP displays or cartons for you. It’s a nice service for customers.

6

You don’t necessarily need an ad agency for your POP display.

We enjoy working with ad agencies. Of course, as we mentioned, the project goes most smoothly if the packaging company is engaged along with the agency from the get-go.

However, if you don’t intend to engage an agency, that can work, too. We have in-house graphic design support. You can have your budget savings go into your POP displays—rather than toward agency fees.

7

Use the right substrate for the right job.

There are many different types of corrugate. Additionally, there are many different printing techniques and substrates that can be applied to the corrugate structure.

The “right” substrate for you is the one that will hold up under use. I’ve seen competitors bid lower on a project and win the business. But the weight of the product crushes the POP displays. The customers would be furious if they saw how their products were on the floor at the retail stores.

8

Allow time for production and fulfillment of your POP display.

Yes, Wertheimer Box can produce POP displays and packaging within a very short turnaround time. If at all possible, we’d prefer more lead time.

In general, I believe last minute rushes are more likely to lead to errors. I guess that’s why the saying “haste makes waste” has been around since before the 16^th century.

Ideally, Wertheimer Box appreciates 3-4 weeks lead time for production. Fulfillment adds one more week.

Again, the entire process goes most smoothly when the packaging company is involved at the get-go. In that way, the structural design, budget, and timeline are all reasonable.

9

Think about who will be constructing your display.

In the store, a 16-year-old kid may be putting together your display.

If you are paying a company to place this in the stores this does not apply. If not, the in-store staff may have limited skills for putting complex displays together. In that case, your product may not have the exposure you want.

10

Check out the finished product in several stores.

Don’t just check out the packaging display in the store near you. Check out a few others.

How does it look?

Ask yourself: Is the product displayed well? Does the design look enticing? Or is it easy to miss?

Is the POP display holding ample product? Or collapsing or tipping under the weight?

I’ve seen competitor-manufactured displays that underbid me and got the job. But the product in the stores is on the ground. They used the wrong substrate. They overpromised and under-delivered.

11

Listen to experience.

I’m not trying to gouge you on pricing or providing unnecessary materials. Instead, our goal is to get you the best design and value with the best return on investment.

Integrity is an important value at Wertheimer Box. We want to ensure that your product will look spectacular on the shelves and that it will fly into people’s shopping carts.

Allow us to work closely with you, so that we can help you achieve your goals. Avoid common pitfalls and problems. Hear us out.

It’s not “no.”

It’s “How can we make it work? How can we do it efficiently and effectively?”

We’ll help you stay within your budget, meet your timelines, and ultimately sell your product.

12

Contact Pat Delaney

At Wertheimer Box, we are resources of knowledge and experience in the POP and corrugated world. It is our privilege to be able to help customers get the maximum return on their products in any situation.  No job is too big or too small.