My point-of-sale marketing is a bit dated. What should I do?

I’ve got a couple of retail stores and my point-of-sale marketing is a bit dated. I’m not sure if it’s doing my business much good. Should I be looking at things like QR codes or other flashier technology?

As business owners that care about our businesses and strive to take them to a greater level, it’s easy to get caught up in what’s new and what’s hot in technology and marketing.

I personally don’t believe that QR codes are the answer for the simple reason that they still have relatively low saturation among consumers.

Brands are jumping at the bit to utilise the power of QR codes but until they’re on every other mobile phone and consumers are familiar and comfortable with them, they are probably not worth the effort.

Let’s look beyond the technology and into the core benefits of point-of-sale marketing and how a customer reacts to it.

Point-of-sale marketing should be about one of two things:

1. Brand building: using imagery, celebrity endorsements or slogans to enhance your perception of the brand and willingness to give them your trust.
2. Increasing the value or frequency of the sale: by promoting a special, new product or simply by drawing attention to an additional item.

Drive to your local supermarket and you’ll find a dozen products, each with their own point-of-sale signage right as you’re ready to hand over your money.

They’re typically small and at a low price so that you feel no fear in increasing your shopping bill with that last item. That’s increasing the value of the sale.

Drive to your local sports store and you’re likely to see cardboard cutouts of Michael Clarke advertising Slazenger cricket bats or the latest reality TV star promoting fitness equipment.

If you want to do something out of the box and bridge the gap between your in-store presence and your online marketing activities, advertise your Facebook, blog or Twitter in store and give them a compelling reason to add you on the spot.

Some nightclubs do this brilliantly. As you walk into the club they have signs saying “add us on Facebook right now and show the bartender to get your first drink on the house”.

This connects you with the brand beyond the length of your night and increases your frequency of sale or word-of-mouth spread due to the viral nature of Facebook.

Turning your in-store customers who might see you twice a year into online followers who interact with you on a weekly basis will not only improve customer loyalty, but also the frequency of purchase and word-of-mouth spread.

The immediate future of point of sale marketing is bridging the gap between offline and online customer engagement.