Effective Retail Marketing Displays
Effective retail marketing displays can:
- Increase impulse buys
- Prompt cross-sells, and
- Enhance brand awareness.
Boost your sales with these 15 tips for attractive product retail displays that sell more products.
📌 In This Guide: Key Takeaways for Retail Displays
Building a custom corrugated display that actually sells requires more than just good design—it demands retail compliance and strategic planning. In this post, we cover:
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Cost Efficiency: Why temporary corrugated displays outperform permanent fixtures for short-term floor runs.
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Retailer Compliance: Navigating unique store nomenclature (from Walmart’s “Sidekick” to CVS’s “Mini-Wing”).
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The “Phygital” Shift: How to bridge physical packaging with digital touchpoints like QR codes and social media.
Read on for all 15 pro tips to optimize your next point-of-purchase display.
1
Save money on your custom retail displays.
The cost of your custom retail display will directly depend on the cost of the materials you use. The per-unit costs of custom corrugated point-of-purchase (POP) displays are typically much less than permanent displays made of acrylic, wood, metal, or glass.
Temporary vs Permanent Displays Pro Tip
Most stores will not dedicate more than 4-6 weeks of floor time to a display. Therefore, a temporary, corrugated display that lasts from 6 weeks up to (rarely) 6 months makes good economic sense.
2
Speak the language of the retailer.
Retailers often have different names that they favor for very similar, or even identical, types of displays.
For example, stores refer to virtually identical retail displays with the following terminology.
- Power Wing Display or Mini Wing Display (CVS)
- PDQ Sidekick Display (Walmart)
- Side Cap Display (Home Depot or Lowe’s)
- Fast Track Displays (Meijers)
Some allow advertising headers above or inside panels with messages. Learn more about 14 popular types of retail displays.
Nomenclature Pro Tip
Each store has unique names for similar (or identical) retail display types, as well as unique display standards and specifications. Don’t speak a foreign language to your retailer.
3
Comply with the retailer’s display standards and specifications.
To showcase your products, choose a custom display that perfectly fits your product offerings—not a ready-made shelf or bin. This will not only display your products in the best light, but it will also ensure that you comply with each store’s standards.
Standards and Specs Pro Tip
A “power wing” or “side kick” display may range from 14 to 16 inches wide and from 4 to 6 inches deep depending on the retailer.
The Walmart half-kick display must measure 24 inches, and a full-kick display must span 48 inches. At CVS, smaller-width display versions for pharmacy applications are called mini-wings.
You may need two or more different structural and graphic designs for the “same” display at different retailers.
4
Know how you would like to arrange your product displays.
Overall, these same displays, mentioned in Tips 2 and 3, can be configured in a variety of arrangements:
- Stacked on the floor
- Arranged on shelves
- Pegged
- Loaded into gravity bins
- Set on the counter
Know how the retailer will arrange your display.
Retail Details Pro Tip
Know how the retailer will arrange your products in the display. This will impact the structural design and die cuts. Do we need to allow for S-clips? Pegs? Gravity feed?
5
Rely on structural designers to help you properly configure the retail display.
Product samples help designers create the best retail displays. Our Wertheimer Box structural engineers will ensure that the corrugated material and configuration are the right strength, size, shape, direction, and thickness to support your product.
Cost-Saving Pro Tip
Provide complete product samples for our structural designers, along with all components that will go into the display. Read about 5 ways you can help Wertheimer Box structural designers create an attractive, effective retail product display for you.
This will help you get the perfect design without dozens of revisions, which can lead to cost overruns and delays.
6
Remember K.I.S.S.—Keep it simple, “silly.”
Select a display that won’t require an engineering degree to assemble, is ready to use, or doesn’t need to be restocked frequently (or at all)—especially during today’s retail labor shortage.
Assembly Pro Tip
Keep in mind that the retail store employee may not share your passion for your products. It may make economic sense in the long run to deliver a filled, floor-ready display.
Read more about assembling displays in the fourth pothole or pitfall in 12 Potholes and Pitfalls of Retail Displays.
7
Avoid clashes.
Be sure the colors you choose are appropriate within the store environment.
Elect for creative (pictures, colors, photos, etc.) that are relevant to the season. But don’t clash with the store’s colors.
Seasonal Pro Tip
Retailers usually have standards for seasonal products unique to a given time of year. Ensure your display coordinates with the store’s color palette.
8
Go green.
According to Forbes, “Today, eco-conscious consumers are increasingly seeking brands that prioritize environmentally friendly practices, making sustainable packaging a crucial factor for business success.”
Sustainability Pro Tip
Wertheimer retail displays and boxes are made from approximately 78% recycled corrugated materials, and the remainder is sourced responsibly.
9
Brand, Brand, Brand.
10
Be succinct.
According to Entrepreneur Magazine, humans now have attention spans of just eight seconds. (With nine-second attention spans, goldfish now surpass people.)
Since you’ll be selling to humans—and not goldfish—be sure to be a quick read. Fonts must be large enough to be legible with appropriate spacing and visual contrast.
Rely on a professional graphic designer for your display art.
In general, apply messages with only 50-75 characters (including spaces) per line, says the Baymard Institute.
Succinct Branding Pro Tip
Note how this case stacker display we manufactured features the imported brand name prominently and little else in the way of messaging. Its simplicity and the image on the design make it effective. Cold brew, anyone?
11
Tout your greenness.
Remember to include brand messages that tout your use of recyclable packaging made from recyclable corrugated materials. Remind consumers that your company is environmentally friendly.
Green Opportunity Pro Tip
Your corrugated display is made from recyclable materials. Why not put an eco-friendly icon on your display? This will subtly give consumers another reason to purchase your products.
12
Go Phygital.
Consider pairing your in-store retail display with your digital marketing and online store—a phygital (physical + digital) trend.
Remember to take and post digital photos of your retail display—for online ads, social media, and website pages.
Proudly include your brand messages and showcase your products both online and in your brick-and-mortar store. This will help close the loop of your customers’ phygital experience.
If you have an online store, Wertheimer Box can match your ecommerce packaging with your display. Explore our WEcommerce Packaging Solutions.
Phygital Pro Tips
Instead of “as seen on TV,” you can include “as seen on Instagram” (or another social media channel) on your display. For example, we recently manufactured a breakfast food display; the product was also featured on TikTok and Instagram.
On another P.O.S. display we manufactured for a confectionery company, we included a QR code with a message about a well-known social influencer. The display’s QR code led to a video from the influencer. It made sense for the target audience.
13
Go for the eyeballs.
Position your retail display where it will grab attention—usually at the shopper’s eye level. Consider the entryway (appetizer), main store (entrée), or checkout (dessert).
Sight is the sense we use most. Plus, the sight of the product can:
- Jog shoppers’ memories about needed items.
- Pique curiosity about products they’ve seen online or on TV.
- Prompt purchases shoppers may not have considered previously.
Visual Pro Tip
When considering the overall look of your display, remember the product. Will the products block your messaging once your retail display is filled?
Does the product packaging itself provide enough visual interest without adding clutter? Consider the overall effect. Don’t consider your display’s attractiveness in a vacuum.
Less may be more. Or not.
14
Be on the move.
Corrugated retail displays are lightweight and easy to move around the store. Test the optimal physical product placement within each store.
Location, Location, Location Pro Tip
Experiment with showcasing your products at different heights. Does a specific height sell more products than another? Does it vary by retailer type?
15
Be informed and consider the process.
Summary
Wertheimer Box manufactures high-quality displays. By following these 15 Tips for Attractive Retail Product Displays, you will be more likely to sell more products. Rely on our corrugated experts to help you comply with store specifications, ensure your display’s proper strength and configuration, brand your display professionally, and optimize placement.
Robert (Bob) Sievert
