How to Use Mobile Wooden Racks in Your Point-of-Purchase Display

Store owners create point-of-purchase displays - also called POP displays - to situate certain kinds of merchandise directly in front of their customers as they're making their final purchases.

This strategic product placement is designed to increase sales at the last minute, it's important store owners make their POP as convenient and attractive as possible.

One display fixture that can help them do that is the mobile wooden rack.

Step One: Take a Good Look at Your POP Area

This is the simplest, and quite possibly the most important, step: You need to take a good look at your POP area so you’ll know exactly how much POP display space you have to work with.

Knowing how much POP display space you have to work with will help you with the second and third steps: Deciding which kinds of merchandise to display and choosing the mobile wooden rack that best suits your needs (based on space and merchandise).

Step Two: Decide Which Kinds of Merchandise to Display

Now that you know how much POP display space you have to work with, it’s time to decide which kinds of merchandise you want to display. This decision will, of course, depend largely on:

• The kind of store you mange. If you manage a gas station or convenience store, you might want to create a POP merchandise display of candy or other snack, or you might want to showcase convenience items like travel-sized hygiene products, miniature manicure sets, or eyeglass repair kits. However, if you manage a hardware store, you might want to fill your wooden baskets with items like rolls of measuring tape or small packets of nails, nuts, bolts, or screws.
• The kinds of merchandise your store sells. For the most part, you’ll want to keep the merchandise in your POP display similar to the kinds of merchandise displayed throughout the rest of your store; however, there are certain situations in which you might want to make an exception. For example, if your store normally sees adult customers but these customers often bring their children, you might want to create a POP display of candy or fun novelty toys.
• The kinds of customers with whom your store typically does business. This one is pretty simple: Depending on the kind of merchandise your store sells, if your store usually sees more adults than children, you’ll want to showcase items adults would be interested in (such as travel-sized sewing kits); if your store usually sees more children than adults (or, many adult customers bring their children in), you’ll want to showcase items children would be interested in (such as candy or small novelty toys).

Step Three: Choose the Mobile Wooden Racks That Best Suit Your Needs

Once you know how much POP display space you have to work with and the kinds of merchandise you want to display, you’re ready to choose the mobile wooden rack or racks that will best suit your needs.

Mobile wooden racks are typically designed for floor displays and are available in a variety of heights and widths. Be careful to select the size that:

• Holds the amount of product you want to display.
• Creates an easily viewable and accessible display for your customers.
• Don’t block the path to your checkout register or hinder customer mobility in any way.

POP Barrel Displays Add Rustic Charm to Your Store's Merchandise

POP displays – every store needs them. However, not every store creates the most attractive POP displays possible. Plastic containers, acrylic bins, lollipop trees – these are all great tools for POP merchandise displays, but how can set your displays apart from all the rest? Consider wooden barrel or basket POP displays for your store’s POP!

Positioning Your POP Barrel Displays

The POP of a store (or any business that sells some merchandise, even if it isn’t exactly a “retail” store) – or, the point of purchase – is the area within the store where customers make their purchases. Usually the POP location of a store includes checkout counters and registers. The idea behind POP merchandise displays is to encourage customers to make impulse purchases. These items generally range from candy to small convenience items – the kinds of items customers want, but might not necessarily purchase unless it’s convenient for them to reach out and grab them.

As you’re deciding where to position your POP barrel display, consider:

• The amount of space you have to work with within your POP. You might have enough space on your countertop for a POP display, or you might need to situate a POP display rack on the floor near your countertop.
• The kinds of merchandise you plan to display. If you plan to display a lot of merchandise, you might need a floor display fixture. If you plan to display fewer numbers of items, a counter rack might work for your POP barrel display.

Choosing the Right Barrel Display for Your POP Locations

As you’re determining the right wooden barrel display for your POP, you’ll need to think about the same considerations you thought about when you were determining where to position your POP barrel display.

Single wooden barrels are good choices if you have spare space on your countertop or you want to create your own arrangement, but floor and countertop racks work well to both maximize the amount of space you have within your POP and to hold more merchandise. (Wooden barrel floor racks are also great for repositioning; if you decide you want to change your POP merchandise display, you can move these racks anywhere else in your store.)

Note that you might want to think about the kinds of merchandise you plan to display in your POP location before you purchase any wooden barrel display fixtures. See below.

Deciding On Merchandise for Your POP Barrel Display

You probably already have a pretty good idea about what kinds of merchandise you want to include in your POP barrel display; however, below are two tips to help you along the way:

1. Think about your barrels. There are many different kinds of wooden barrels and baskets available. Based on their size and durability, how much product can the ones you’ve chosen hold?
2. Think about your usual customers. A POP display is designed to encourage customers to make impulse purchases, but even the most attractive POP display isn’t going to work if the merchandise in the display consists of items your customers wouldn’t be interested in.

Wooden Barrels Create Beautiful Merchandise Displays

Many stores, and other businesses that aren’t in the retail industry but do sell some merchandise, rely on traditional display fixtures when creating merchandise displays. While clear plastic containers, convenience store racks, revolving bucket racks, and even pegboard displays are great ways to showcase products, there are options out there that allow storeowners to add an extra charm to their displays – and still keep them functional. Wooden barrels and wooden barrel displays are ideal choices for these needs.

Browse the Different Kinds of Wooden Barrel Display Fixtures

They may offer a rustic charm that doesn’t appeal to every kind of business, but for those businesses who are interested in wooden barrel displays, there are plenty of options to choose from!

• Single Wooden Barrels: Using single wooden barrels (unattached to any kind of stand or shelf) work well for small displays or for when you want to create your own displays.
• Wooden Barrel Floor Racks: Floor racks designed to hold wooden barrels or baskets are great for both POP barrel displays as well as floor displays throughout other areas of your store.
• Wooden Barrel Counter Racks: Like floor racks, counter racks designed to hold wooden barrels or baskets are great for POP barrel displays.

Decide Which Merchandise Will Work Best in Your Wooden Barrels

There are two things you need to consider as your deciding which merchandise will work best in your wooden barrels:

1. The size and weight of your merchandise. There are different kinds of wooden barrels available, but no matter what kind you choose, you must make sure it will be able to hold the merchandise you plan to display in it.
2. Where you want to situate your wooden barrel display. See below.

Consider Where You Should Situate Your Wooden Barrel Displays

Where you situate your wooden barrel display depends on several factors. To get started, ask yourself the following questions:

• What kinds of merchandise am I showcasing in my wooden barrels? Are you displaying merchandise your customers came to your store specifically to purchase, or are you display impulse merchandise you want them to pick up at the register? The former situate allows you a bit more freedom to place your displays anywhere throughout your store; the latter works best when you create POP barrel displays.
• Is the merchandise I’m showcasing related to any other merchandise in the store, and if so, would it make sense to make sure the different displays are situated close together? Some storeowners opt to create floor displays at either end of aisles, and in these displays they like to showcase merchandise that’s related to what’s already on the aisle’s shelves. For example, the manager of a convenience store or grocery store might want to create a wooden barrel display of small, travel-sized hygiene products and place it at the end of an aisle that features larger, home versions of the same products.
• Is there enough room in the area where I want to position my barrel display? There are many different kinds of wooden barrel displays to choose from. Either make sure you select the display fixtures that will work with the space you have, or make sure you can set aside an area in your store where your display fixture will fit.

Wire Mesh Baskets for Your POP Displays

As the owner of a store or any other kind of business, when you think of creating displays of your merchandise, products, or even samples – especially within your POP area – the first kinds of fixtures that come to mind might be the traditional clear plastic containers and wire convenience store racks. While these kinds of common display fixtures certainly work well, sometimes you want to add a little extra visual appeal to your displays.

Wire mesh basket displays are great display fixtures in that capacity. These sturdy, versatile display fixtures are designed to organize and showcase your merchandise in ways that are both convenient for and attractive to your customers. With a little browsing, you’ll find it’s easy to locate wire mesh displays that will work well with your particular POP location as well as hold the items you need to display.

Situating Your Wire Mesh Basket Displays

Your store’s POP – or, point of purchase – is the location in your store where purchases are made. Generally this is the area near your checkout counter and register. POP merchandise displays are great ways for storeowners to provide a selection of impulse merchandise items for customers getting ready to leave, and POP mesh displays are ideal fixtures to showcase that merchandise in a way that breaks away from the traditional plastic container and convenience store rack displays.

Wire Mesh Basket Display Options for Every POP Location

Two of the most versatile kinds of wire mesh basket displays are grid display fixtures and rotating basket displays.

The grid display fixtures generally come with eight or twelve sturdy mesh baskets for merchandise. Some grid display fixtures are slanted to maximize the display area, while some include mesh baskets designed to slant so customers can more easily access the merchandise.

Rotating basket displays, on the other hand, offer a “tiered” design with three, four, or five baskets for holding and displaying merchandise. These displays are great for heavier merchandise items and many include basket dividers to better organize your products.

As you browse available wire mesh basket displays, think about the amount of room your POP offers. Does it lend itself to grid display fixtures, and if so, how many wire mesh baskets should your grid include? Or, would a rotating wire mesh display work best – one that allows you to easily transport it and the merchandise to a new location?

Your Mesh Basket Display Is Assembled – Now What?

Once you’ve decided which wire mesh basket display would work best for your POP merchandise display, it’s time to fill it with actual merchandise!

Of course, the items you display will depend on your store or other business. Convenience stores and grocery stores, for example, do well with displays of candy, convenience items like travel-sized bottles of lotion or packets of tissues, and even small toys for children like plush stuffed animals or bouncy balls. Owners of other kinds of stores, however, like the more specialized candy shops, hobby shops, or bookstores, will want to fill their wire mesh basket displays with items related specifically to their customers’ needs.

Creating Snack Displays for Your Specialty Shop

If you manage an ice cream parlor, bakery, yogurt shop, or any other kind of specialty food shop and you think your shop wouldn’t benefit from a snack display because it already sells specialized food items, think again: Snack displays are lucrative ways to add additional merchandise to your customers’ menus!

If you're not sure how to get started, ask yourself the following four questions.

1. What Kinds of Snacks Would My Customers Like?

No one knows your customers better than you do, but as you’re considering the kinds of snacks to include in your snack display, keep in mind you also want to match your snacks to your current food items.

For example, if you manage an ice cream parlor that caters to lots of families with children, sweet treats like wrapped candies or lollipops might be the very things children want to get their hands on. On the other hand, if you manage a bakery that caters mostly to adults picking up a bread roll for dinner or a birthday cake for a party, gourmet chocolates might be the best way to go.

2. How Much Traffic Does My Shop Experience?

In addition to your display space (see below), the amount of traffic your shop usually experiences will help you determine how large or involved your snack display should be.

If your shop stays fairly busy, chances are a large snack display would work well; however, if your shop doesn’t experience a high volume of customers, a small display will work just a fine.

3. What Display Fixtures Should I Use for My Snack Display?

The kinds of display fixtures you should use for your snack display depends both on the kinds of snacks you want to display as well as the amount of display space you have to work with.

Once you know exactly the kinds of snacks to display, spend some time browsing the various kinds of display racks.

Plastic containers work great for small kinds of snacks, like wrapped candies, and you can use them alone or situate them on wire countertop display racks.

Small wire display racks with flat or angled shelves are great for holding small boxes of bagged candies or snacks like peanuts, and larger wire display racks are great for larger bags of chips.

4. Where Can I Situate My Snack Display?

The best place to situate your snack display is at your shop’s point of purchase, or POP. This is the area in your shop – usually the countertop where the checkout register is located – where your customers pay for their purchases.

One reason POP snack displays are so effective is that they promote impulse purchases. Don’t misunderstand – you’re not “tricking” your customers into making a purchase they don’t want; rather, you’re presenting them with merchandise they do want but might not have purchased otherwise because it wasn’t right there within their reach.

Which brings us to another reason POP snack displays are effective: Customers don’t have to walk anywhere to retrieve them, nor do they have to pick them up on their way through your shop and carry them to the checkout register. It’s not that your customers are lazy, but it IS that they are often busy with other things. Maybe they’re managing a couple of rowdy children, or maybe they already have their hands full with bags from another store. By placing the snack display in your POP, all they have to do is grab it, pay for it, and go.

Every Business Can Benefit from Creating Snack Displays

If you think your business can’t benefit from creating a snack display because your businesses doesn’t primarily sell food items, not only are you wrong, but also you’re depriving your business of lucrative merchandise displays!

Snack displays are perfect additions to a wide array of retail stores and other businesses – craft and hobby stores, bookstores, toy stores, movie rental stores, and hotels and motels can all benefit from snack displays. All you have to do is figure out which snacks you want to display, decide on the best display fixtures for those snacks, and determine the best location for the snack display in your business.

Choose Popular Snacks

Obviously, you’re going to want to display popular snack items. There’s no point in creating a snack display full of snacks nobody wants – especially if you operate a business that doesn’t primarily sell food.

There are lots of popular snack items on the market, and you can make your decision-making process a bit easier by thinking about your usual customer base. For example, if you operate a store geared toward children, such as a toy store, you’re going to want to include fun snacks in your display such as novelty candy. If your clientele consists mostly of adults, you might want to consider a snack display of gourmet chocolates.

Use Convenient Display Fixtures

It’s important for every store to use display fixtures that offer convenience to their customers; however, it’s especially important for a business that’s offering a snack display where no other food is normally sold. Rather than seeing the snacks as “in the way,” you want your customers to see them as a pleasant surprise.

The display fixtures you choose will depend largely on:

• The kinds of snacks you’re displaying. Plastic containers, for example, are great for small snacks like bulk wrapped candy, while wire display racks are ideal for larger items like bags of chips.

• Where you plan to situate your snack display (see below for more information).

Location, Location, Location!

One of the best places to create a snack display is at the point of purchase (or, POP). Your business’s POP is where your customers check out (or wrap up their business, depending on what kind of store you operate).

To create a POP snack display, you can use display fixtures designed for use on countertops such as plastic containers and small wire display racks. You can use either of these display fixtures by itself, or you can make them work together by situating the plastic containers on the racks to make the most of your countertop’s space.

You can also create POP merchandise displays beside your counter using bigger wire display racks (like those you see in convenience stores – there are many different varieties and it’s easy to find one that will complement your business’s décor) or 30-bucket revolving racks.

Of course, your POP snack display doesn’t have to be located directly on or beside your POP. Hotels and motels, for example, usually experience high volumes of busy traffic near their lobby counters, but these establishments can still benefit from POP snack displays within a few feet of their lobby counters, near soda machines and newspaper stands.

Create Point of Purchase Merchandise Displays for Your Drug Store or Pharmacy

The point of purchase, also know as POP, of your drug store or pharmacy is the area in which your customers make their purchases. A POP is usually the final checkout countertop, and as such it’s a hotspot for add-on merchandise and impulse purchases.

However, as the manager of a drug store or pharmacy, what can you use to create a POP merchandise display?

Candy and Other Snacks

Candy displays and snack displays work well in nearly every kind of business, and there is a wide assortment of display fixtures you can use to best showcase these items.

For example, you can:

• Use plastic containers to display small pieces of wrapped candies. If you don’t have much countertop space to work with or you want to use as many plastic containers as possible, you can pair these containers with wire display racks with shelves designed to sit on countertops.

• Use countertop racks with tiers that angle to display packs of chewing gum or the kinds of candy that come in boxes such as Good & Plenty.

• Use countertop racks with flat shelves or tiers to display small bags of chips, trail mix, or boxes of candy bars or bagged candy such as M&Ms.

Over-the-Counter Medication

Not many people head into a drug store or pharmacy with the sole purpose of purchasing over-the-counter medication. Usually, people pick up these kinds of items as afterthoughts, which makes them perfect for POP merchandise displays.

Chances are, your pharmacy already has a pretty sizeable display of over-the-counter medication somewhere in the store; however, you can use the same kinds of display fixtures discussed above to display small packets of over-the-counter medications ideal for carrying in a wallet or purse, as well as travel-sized bottles and even full-sized bottles, for those customers who might not intend to purchase any medicine but realize they’re out when they see the display at the POP countertop.

Small Medical Supplies and Accessories

Whether it’s diabetes testing strips or replacement batteries for hearing aids, small medical supplies make great items for POP merchandise displays. The same is true for accessories like reading glasses, travel-sized packets of bandages, and even medical identification bracelets.

Depending on the actual product, you might be able to use clear plastic containers with or without wire display racks, or you might be able to situate the merchandise on wire display racks with angled tiers or flat shelves. If you plan to display items like reading glasses or medical identification bracelets, be sure to check out spinning countertop racks with pegs for hanging the items.

Convenience Items

Many of the items listed above – such as over-the-counter medications and travel-sized packets of bandages – are considered convenience items by some; however, there are so many other convenience items you can include in your POP merchandise display.

Consider these ideas:

• Lighters and matchbooks
• Small eyeglass repair kits
• Travel-sized bottles of hygiene items like shampoo, soap, and toothpaste
• Toothbrushes
• Small bottles of hand sanitizer

Your options are really only limited to your store’s stock, your countertop’s space, and your own imagination!