4 Tips to Keep in Mind When Choosing a POS Partner

As retail brands grow, they need a sound go-to-market strategy. Many lack in-house expertise to set marketing in motion and enlist an ad agency, which may recommend TV, radio or even print advertising. But when it’s time for the product to hit the store floor, that agency — and its expertise — is nowhere to be found. Marketing is one thing. Getting a product to a point of sale (POS) in a way that makes people want to buy it is quite another.

For aspiring global brands, finding a POS partner to deliver successful campaigns is a priority. Creating your own network of local suppliers capable of handling this on a per-country basis is extremely labor-intensive. This is made especially true when there are global providers that can do a better job using their own resources. Whether you’re looking for a local partner, regional supplier or global behemoth, the following four tips can help you make the right choice.

1. Engineering Success

POS providers that bring an engineering perspective to displays can set your campaigns apart. That’s because engineers analyze challenges then come up with creative solutions. In a POS context, they would weigh budget, product dimensions, assembly concerns and environmental impact. Then they would deliver solutions based on their findings to ensure optimum output while maintaining brand integrity.

That means materials that arrive on time and displays that can be easily assembled. It involves deftly negotiating freight and transportation. It requires an understanding of how long a product should sit on a shelf and what its environment should look like. Don’t look for a partner that simply has designers; seek out those that encourage engineering to maximize return on investment, while embracing technical and creative problem-solving.

2. Timely Decisions

When a brand gets its POS campaign set and ready to roll, only to learn its displays are stuck on a dock in China, it has a big problem. It’s critical that any partner you choose has the resources, suppliers, local intelligence and expertise to deliver every campaign on time.

When reviewing providers, ask about the strength of their supply chains and how they can guarantee timely deliveries. Discuss challenges they’ve encountered — e.g., material shortages or unexpected transportation hiccups — and how their logistics team resolved them. Dig into their factory partners and display production so that you don’t end up with something different due to a supply issue.

Most important, have them communicate their process from beginning to end so you can grasp timelines, approval structures, and how their network of suppliers stack up.

3. Check the Quality

A POS campaign should send off the correct messages to consumers, whether you’re underscoring environmental commitment by using sustainable materials or promoting luxury with a unique and sleek display. You also need to be certain it can handle the job it's intended to do. You don’t want your ultra-creative, expensive displays buckling under the weight of the actual product.

That said, find a POS provider that places a major emphasis on quality assurance (QA). Become familiar with its full QA process. Insist independent quality control teams, not factory employees, approve raw samples, inspect units after powder coating, and know the order that products were loaded into containers.

Some retailers outsource quality processes to providers who sign off on samples and production before a product goes to manufacturing. They’ll have their own graphic designers to approve artwork. They’ll also deliver QA reports so no detail is overlooked. Choose the right POS provider and your campaigns will go off without a problem.

4. Sound Structure

Having the right displays won’t do a bit of good if you can’t get them to their destinations. Remote markets in expansive geographies like Australia can be extremely difficult. To overcome this requires research into local infrastructure.

Understand how transportation will factor in and create routes that work best. Nail down the last-mile delivery. Anticipate scenarios like moving large POS displays across difficult road infrastructure with few transportation options. Consider a local logistics professional capable of opening up air or sea freight options. The right one will have the right structure in place so your displays get where they need to be on time and ready to perform.

Bringing it Home

Your company is growing and your POS campaigns need to scale alongside it. Having feet on the ground in the form of a POS partner can make best use of budget, deploy campaigns faster, and troubleshoot more effectively.

No matter where your next POS campaign takes you, it’s got to hit home. Bringing in a partner with local awareness and homegrown resources is the best way to get there.

Lynne Laba is head of U.S. for Communisis/Vox, a global permanent point-of-sale specialist, partnering with the world’s biggest brands to deliver value, resilience and sustainability from display and merchandising supply chains.