by Jen Johnston

POS is an acronym that refers to the point of sale, which is “the point at which a customer makes a payment to the merchant in exchange for goods or after provision of a service.” In other words, it’s when money changes hands from shopper to retailer.

POS materials are promotional items used in a store to attract consumer attention and promote the brand. They fall into three general categories:

• Around the Store
• At Shelf
• At Counter

The development of smart, relevant POS materials is a function you can ill afford to ignore. With marketing dollars needed for consumer marketing, trade marketing, influencer education and more, it can be hard to imagine stretching your budget even further to also include POS materials.

Why do POS materials matter? Because they influence shoppers at the point they are about to make a purchase decision and where they are most receptive to brand information. That means there is not much lag time between when they receive the message and the purchase, which means less chance of forgetting or changing their mind.

The retail shelf was coined as the "First Moment of Truth" by Dina Howell (of Proctor & Gamble fame), who proposed that all elements of marketing and promotion should be defined from shelf-level interaction. In that case, not only are they an important element of your marketing, they are the collective catalyst!