Brands from startups to giants invest heavily in point of purchase displays: large-format endcaps, dump bins, shelf talkers, and digital screens. But meaningfully proving their value means capturing what happens in store.
Recent audits show up to 40% of displays are set up incorrectly or not at all (NielsenIQ, 2023). This isn’t just a production failure; it’s wasted budget. And with retailers demanding more data, brands need proof, not promises, to justify trade and shelf space.
Most POP campaigns fail because they lack three key things:
Without these, your campaign is just a box of material, not a driver of insight and accountability.
A major snack brand recently deployed a large-format POP unit at aisle ends. Field audits confirmed live setup in 90% of stores, with displays remaining intact for four weeks. Compared to control aisles, these stores saw a 20% lift in new SKU velocity, showing how scale and visibility combined boost unplanned purchases.
A beverage brand launched a limited-time summer campaign using temporary corrugated displays with interactive packaging tied to a QR-enabled loyalty game. The displays were placed in high-traffic locations such as front-of-store coolers and checkout ends. In participating stores, they saw a 2.4x increase in redemptions and a 16% sales lift on promoted SKUs, driven by the combination of visibility and shopper engagement. Retailers supported the expanded run after early performance exceeded forecast in week one.
Beauty brands used shelf-wobblers to highlight ingredient stories. They paired visual merchandising with QR-linked surveys. 65% of buyers said the wobblers influenced their choice, supporting pricing power, and proof for retailers during planogram reviews.
Start by verifying that displays are properly set up, stocked, and placed in the intended locations. Use field teams, store associates, or crowdsourced audits to track execution across your full retail footprint.
When should you audit?
Avoid rushing the audit too close to the shipment date. Most retailers follow a defined execution window based on their merchandising calendars. Displays are typically built after delivery but may not be live until several days, or even a week, later, depending on the retailer’s planogram schedule.
Best practice:
By aligning your audits to the retailer’s actual merchandising cadence, you get more accurate data and avoid false negatives caused by premature checks.
Wiser Solutions data shows that non-compliance is most often identified during week one and week three of a promotion: week one due to missed setup, and week three due to display degradation or early teardown. Regular tracking helps you stay ahead of both.
Once store execution is verified, the next step is tying that execution to actual retail performance. This connection is where many display programs break down—brands see sales lift but can't isolate whether it came from the display or external factors.
How to do it effectively:
This analysis helps you isolate true display-driven lift. For example, if fully compliant stores outperform others by 15 percent, and display timing was the only variable, that’s a strong signal the display made a difference.
Best practice:
Include both POS sales and shipment data where possible. POS reflects consumer demand; shipment data helps track sell-in effectiveness and identify inventory bottlenecks. Combining both gives a clearer view of how store execution affects performance.
Sales lift tells you that the display worked. Shopper feedback tells you why.
Brands that combine sales data with consumer input create a stronger foundation for creative improvements, brand positioning, and future promotional planning.
Tactics to collect feedback:
What to measure:
According to Path to Purchase IQ (2024), shoppers exposed to display messaging are 50 percent more likely to consider a new brand if the value proposition is clear and relevant. This insight helps justify continued investment in POP programs beyond aesthetics or legacy tactics.
Best practice:
Keep questions concise and incentivize completion (e.g., a giveaway or future discount). Pair the feedback with compliance and sales data to build a full view of display effectiveness.
With execution confirmed, performance quantified, and shopper input collected, the final step is to bring it all together into a story your retail partners can act on.
Most buyers are not swayed by anecdotal wins. They want structured insights that show how you drive incremental value—and how future investments can be de-risked.
How to package the results:
Best practice:
Use the same format across activations so you can track trends, benchmark campaigns, and refine retail strategies over time. A repeatable story builds credibility and helps your sales and category teams advocate for more space, better timing, or enhanced retailer support.
Point of purchase displays have power beyond aesthetics. When treated as measurable assets, they become instruments of growth—evidence-based levers for sales, shopper connection, pricing discipline, and retailer trust.
Today’s smartest brands use POP intelligence to prove what works, refine what doesn’t, and build their case for more space, better pricing, or category leadership.
Q: How often should I audit a POP display?
A: Begin 5–7 days after the setup window starts, and audit over 2 weeks for accuracy.
Q: What’s the average compliance rate for displays?
A: It varies by category, but recent audits show up to 40% are set up incorrectly or not at all (NielsenIQ, 2023).
Q: How do I prove a POP display boosted sales?
A: Segment stores by compliance and compare sales lift, adjusting for historical trends.
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Last Updated: August 2025