It is a method for retailers to communicate about the products, schemes, services or any other important information about the brand or store to their prospective consumers who walks-in to their stores. Think of POS, scheme related to POSM elements or any other forms of communication. Currently, there are many ways to deploy in store communications. There are traditional methods such as deployment & refurbishment of point of sales material which talks about services/offers/products, exclusive fixture installations which indirectly influence customer attraction etc. or there are modern ways of communication such as experiential marketing techniques, virtual demo of products in store, live demo of products, using augmented reality to showcase features of products & services, 3D holographic displays & advertisements etc. Despite, having too many methods to use in store communications as a way to increase impulse buying & improved consumer awareness, we need to understand the best & effective ways to improve on in-store communications too. Let’s talk about how to improve the effective in store communications:
Research
Identify types of consumers/walk-ins & set standards to understand market segmentation. Post a detailed market research you would be able to answer what type of walk-ins are entering in market, of which income group? of which age group & what are their buying patterns? This will help in choosing in right set of ways out of the available options for in store communications.
Communicate
Post analyzing the market segmentation, you can choose the best & available options from communication mix. Such as Visual Merchandising through traditional or modern methods. Usage of signage, pop-up standees, call-outs, posters, danglers, 3D holographic displays, experiential marketing, live demos, virtual demos, activations etc. Indian market is very dynamic which changes after every few Km thus categorization of markets & utilization of category-based communication methods are must for modern marketers. A virtual tour about product & services through live display panel which uses AI may only work in hyper markets with highly educated consumers & may not be effective in rural or semi urban markets. Thus, identification of right communication mix is must for marketers. The other way of communication is through physical assistance by in store personnel. Hiring right set of people & training them on the guidelines, products & services leads to effective in store communications to right set of prospective consumers.
Monitor
People resist to change & marketers are the ones who leads the change. Thus, to ensure that set guidelines are being adhered at the right time is very important. As a brand manager you might decide to deploy 5 different POSM elements in stores which creates a story for consumers & communicate effectively as a package but is possible that store staff or VM did not deploy the same as per set guidelines. This could happen due to multiple factors & monitoring of the same real time is must. Otherwise it could lead the wastage of money & efforts.
Repeat
Continuous & repetitive research, communication & monitoring will lead to better understanding of market followed by utilization of effective methods of communication for the right set of potential consumers. All this should be regularly monitored & arrangements should be taken to arrive on informed decisions.
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