The psychology of point of purchase (POP) displays and how to influence shoppers

Psychology has long been used to encourage people to purchase products. It’s a very clever way to increase sales! Point of Purchase (POP) displays do this very successfully. They are designed to catch the attention of customers, influence consumer behaviour and affect decision-making.

Retail display stands, POP displays, can be found in all types of retail environments including supermarkets and department stores. By understanding the psychology behind POP displays, you can see how they play a significant role in influencing shoppers on their buying decisions.

How to influence shoppers with your POP display

Attention-Grabbing Design

People are creatures of habit and tend to shop on autopilot. You need to interrupt this routine and grab their attention with the clever use of retail design. If customers discover a pleasant surprise, such as your POP display, they’re more likely to make a purchase.

The reason so many POP displays use bright colours and bold graphics is that the human brain will instantly notice these things. A vibrant POP display will stand out from the shelves and draw shoppers in. Once you have their attention, you need to ensure you keep the customer engaged so they’re more likely to make a purchase. You could do this by adding interactive elements.

Likeability

People seek things like happiness, safety and beauty, so your pop display needs to have positive connotations. This will evoke a positive emotional connection with your brand or product. You need to consider your target customer and make sure your POP display appeals to them specifically.

Visual Hierarchy

Visual hierarchy is something that shop display stands use to guide the shopper’s attention and create a clear layout. The psychology behind it is rooted in how the human brain processes visual information and makes sense of complex visual stimuli. You need to ensure that the most important information is noticed first. You can lead the shopper’s gaze toward the product you are promoting. The idea is that you don’t want the viewer to have to think about where to look first, you automatically draw them to each element in the exact order you want them to view it.

Social Proof

People follow the crowd and make decisions based on the behaviour of others. If they see other people enjoying or using your product, they’ll want to try it too! To tap into this, you could add positive customer reviews to your POP display or use phrases like ‘best-seller’ or ‘most popular’ to highlight the admiration for your product.

Storytelling

The power of storytelling is a strong psychological tool that engages shoppers because stories trigger emotions. If you give a relatable story behind your products, customers will create an emotional connection with your brand. If you have an environmental or ethical product, for instance, customers will like being told about this. You need to make the product more relatable. Storytelling is a powerful marketing tool that translates to sales!

Mystery

A little mystery can draw the customer to your POP display and encourage them to explore further. It’s a fine line though, as you still need to make your message clear and easily understood once they do explore your POP display! You could use teasers to create curiosity such as ‘What’s inside?’ You could also use hidden elements like boards that lift up or scratch off panels. Mystery makes your brand more memorable. The key is to stimulate the customer’s curiosity a little and you’ll be rewarded with sales.

Scarcity

Tap into the concept of ‘fear of missing out.’ Customers will perceive something as more valuable if there is a limited supply. Establish urgency by making your product a limited edition or part of an exclusive promotion for a limited time. Using language like ‘while supplies last’ and the psychological principles of scarcity will encourage impulse purchasing.

As you can see, there are many psychological tricks that you can use to take your POP display to the next level. By understanding buyer behaviour, you can improve the effectiveness of your POP display.

If you need help with your shop display stands, Impulse Point of Purchase can help. We design and manufacture POP displays and point-of-sale displays for a wide range of industries. We are experts in retail design and we can help you to apply some of these psychological principles to your POP display. Contact us to discuss your retail display stand needs.