How the Custom Retail Display Industry Operates
The thinking that Point of Purchase (P.O.P) Display companies are a commodity to be bid out job by job has hidden costs that you pay for even though you gave the job to the lowest bidder.
Twenty to Forty percent of the costs of each store fixture you buy are covering the cost of a project or RFP that did not sell. That’s right. Retail Display suppliers need to recoup their overhead. 50%- 80% of the promotional displays and programs that are presented and then subsequently bid on, never make it into production or are lost to the competition.
Sales forces and the creative departments are expensive to maintain. RFPs and presentations can cost $5,000 all the way up to $50,000 or even more! The majority marketing efforts with cold calls and free display designs are not turned into profitable sales. The sales that do sell need to pay for those that do not.
This is the result of an industry that has been deemed a vendor of store displays. A biddable commodity, not as a long-term partnership with its clients to supply at retail marketing.
Some years ago, when advertising agencies began buying Point Of Purchase Display companies, it seemed like a logical marriage. The agencies could now be a one-stop shopping center, servicing their clients with media advertising, promotion and store fixtures. Unfortunately, the divorce came because the two cultures could not meld. Agencies consider clients as long term contractual partners. P.O.P. companies look for immediate results in multi-materials such as: wood, metal, plastics and paperboard. Neither party could figure out in this new relationship how to bill clients. Hourly billing by P.O.P display companies was unworkable as clients looked on them as producers of biddable commodities and agencies were certainly not going to sell their efforts job by job.
Today the marketplace is changing, and along with this change many P.O.P. Display companies are no longer manufacturers of retail displays. They are now in-store marketers and consolidators of manufacturing.
It made sense in yesterday’s marketplace to have all production under one roof. Labor was not expensive, technology was limited and the computer didn’t exist. Today no company can afford this luxury. It makes more economical sense to use outside partners who specialize in the various components that make up a custom retail display, and then act as a consolidator of the final product. Concentrating on marketing, creative and engineering provides more value to the client than hammering nails.
Asset Display Solutions (www.assetdisplay.com) is one of those companies that has evolved into this hybrid model. We no longer consider ourselves a vendor of retail displays. We are an at retail marketing company and a consolidator of manufacturing. As a result of this change, we are looking for clients who believe, as we do, that long-term partnerships are more beneficial than the biddable short-term job-by-job relationships.
If you believe this could be of benefit to your company, we can offer you an advantage over your competition. With a long-term partnership, we can utilize our At Retail marketing expertise to ensure you meet your marketing goals. The design, manufacturing and distribution of your retail displays will be less costly and we guarantee the savings will be passed on to you. This is a “WIN WIN” situation for you and your company.
Start Cranking Up Your Sales!
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