Marketing Communications

POINT-OF-PURCHASE COMMUNICATIONS 393

judged on the basis of the size of the positive diff erence between the extra sales during the

promotional period and the drop in sales during the post-promotion dip.

Figure 12.7 shows another example, based on retail panel data, of the baseline sales of

a product, calculated on the basis of medium-term ‘normal’ sales, and the sales eff ect of

promotion campaigns in subsequent months.

Obviously, the only relevant measure of promotions eff ectiveness is its long-term pro-

fi tability. Sales volumes, sales prices and promotion costs will have to be combined into an

economic analysis of the profi tability of promotion campaigns.

Point-of-purchase communications

Point-of-purchase communications or POP communications, also called in-store, point-of-

sales or POS communications, are another powerful tool to activate a brand as they – as is

the case for sales promotions – reach consumers at the point when they are making the deci-

sion about which product or brand to buy. As indicated earlier (see Chapter 5 ), purchase

intentions oft en do not result in an actual purchase because of situational factors such as

out-of-stocks, competitive brands that are on promotion and attention-grabbing displays.

Besides altering purchase intentions, the store environment also signifi cantly infl uences con-

sumer behaviour in the sense that about one-third of unplanned purchases can be attributed

to the fact that the point-of-sales environment makes consumers aware of new needs while

they are shopping.^45 According to a global study, nearly 30% of shoppers make up their mind

at the point of purchase and do not know in advance what brand they are going to buy. One

in ten shoppers change their minds in store and buy a diff erent brand than they had planned

upfront. Almost 15% buy a product from a product category they did not intend to buy

before entering the store, and 1 in 10 shoppers leave the store without buying a product they

planned to buy. Although there are huge diff erences across countries, Figure 12.8 shows

that many consumers make at least one decision at the point of purchase.^46 F u r t h e r m o r e ,

consumers spend more and more time on the road away from home, which makes it harder

for traditional media to reach them.^47 No wonder that managers invest considerable resources

in point-of-purchase communications to infl uence shoppers.^48

Figure 12.7 Baseline sales and the sales effect of promotion campaigns

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