Survey reveals changing face of in-store advertising
Growing competition between retailers will significantly change the face of in-store advertising over the next few years as brands compete for business, a new survey has found.
The Epson 20|20 Vision Survey interviewed 500 retail brand and marketing managers across the UK, Germany, France, Italy and Spain to evaluate the retail industry’s use of in-store print and electronic point of sale signage and how it will change up to the year 2020.
In the UK, 100% of retailers polled said that they needed to adapt and broaden their market focus to drive growth. As a result, over half of UK retailers said that they were optimistic that their budgets for in-store point of sale advertising would increase substantially by 2020.
Never Miss a Retail Update!By 2020, the Epson survey shows that retailers are planning to conduct more frequent and shorter campaigns that use a mix of print and electronic advertising to accurately target specific customers. The study predicts that in the UK most retailers will use quality printed advertising to promote high-value products in store, with dynamic electronic advertising used more to promote mass market, commodity products with special offers that can change on a daily or hourly basis.
The study also revealed that by 2020 print advertising will still be used by most brands when promoting products to men. However, an equal amount both print and electronic advertising will be used to reach females, reflecting the fact that they are a key target for both high-end and commodity products.
Age was found to be another influencing factor. By 2020 retailers will use more electronic advertising when targeting 18-65 year olds, but print-based promotions will still be preferred for products aimed at children, teens and the over 65s.
“The research findings are interesting and certainly echo the trends we are already experiencing in the sector,” explained James Henry, head of retail, Intermarketing Agency. “We’ve already started to see significant growth in digital POS. This is enabling us to deliver highly targeted and tactical campaigns that we can tailor based on targets, sales and seasonality.
“Face recognition, proximity sensors, footfall tracking and many other advances make digital POS increasingly well targeted and effective. Plus with its fast turnaround and low cost, it allows us to deploy campaigns quickly and cost effectively.”
Nick White, business manager, professional graphics, Epson, added: “The Epson 20|20 Vision survey shows how UK retailers are planning to diversify to protect their business and expand over the next few years
“While there is an expected increase in POS budgets, business leaders will demand higher ROI and increased efficiencies, demanding careful selection and deployment of promotional medium. Both print-based and electronic POS media will play important roles in retailers’ on-going efforts to develop customer relationships and drive increased sales.”
