Today, we’re looking at the costs of a custom display versus the value of your product and, whether or not the display increases the value of your product.
How much should the display cost verses the value of the product?
This a great question but has a complicated answer. There are so many variables to consider. However, one of the main factors is determining the ROMI, or Return on Marketing Investment, you want to or can achieve. Your type of product, its environment and the targeted customer all play an important part in that decision. No matter if your product is going into a dollar store, a convenience store, a retail store, or a high-end specialty store, your ROMI can be achieved with the proper visual merchandising POP display. Costs really do count and making an informed decision can make the difference between a profit and a loss.
DISPLAY COST (DC)
– All the costs associated with designing, producing, assessing, and deploying the in‐store merchandising materials. This includes many variables and choices starting with quantity required, size, preferred materials, messaging, etc. Too many times, companies, and retailers, especially when introducing new products, ask their merchandising partners to “bring them innovative ideas, out‐of‐the‐box solutions, etc.,” with little specific direction and no budget target. This slows down the development process at best, while often losing important focus at a key point in the merchandising development.
DISPLAY QUANTITY (DQ)
– This is a key metric, as depending on the display’s specifications, there are economies of scale producing these items, and these vary based on quantities, in addition to materials and complexity, etc.
DISPLAY LOCATIONS (DL)
– Quantities and locations are not necessarily always the same. For example, some companies may weigh the option of ordering more display units than they currently need to take advantage of a lower price point, knowing they will use them soon.
PRODUCT COST (PC)
– What is the cost of the product to the manufacturer or retailer?
PRODUCT QUANTITY (PQ)
– What is capacity and/or inventory the merchandising display supports? The merchandising strategies and retail objectives will obviously be different for a high cost, small inventory product (fine jewelry) than a high inventory, low-cost product (small electric batteries).
PROFIT MARGIN (PM)
‐ The actual or anticipated margin between the cost and gross revenue generated. The cost of a retail merchandising program, whether funded by the manufacturer, retailer, or in a co‐op effort, needs to be calculated by the gross margin, and is a key indicator in the program’s success.
INVENTORY TURN (IT)
– How often does (or should) the inventory turn? More turns are just another way of describing more sales and is often a function of product cost and product capacity.
Can a display help my product’s perceived value?
The short answer to this question is, YES. As you are aware, there is a lot of competition out there. More than ever, people are looking more closely at products to see what value they will receive for the price. When comparing several products that claim to provide the same results, the consumer will be looking at other factors to determine which product they will buy. As a society, we are a visual group of people. A product that can convince the consumer that the company is dependable and stands by its product and its customer, it will do what it claims.
