POS TUNING and EDEKA Daniels report on joint pilot project

Mr Daniels showed many pictures from his newly opened store in March 2019 and explained what is important to him when it comes to the Point of Sale. In his store, he focuses on freshness and convenience, new concepts such as freshly prepared sushi, a herb cupboard, a large illuminated counter area and a wine & spirits department with a lot of atmosphere in the half-timbered house style.

Mr. Daniels previously had 2 stores where he had already had good experience with POS TUNING’s pushfeed systems. He reported a 7% increase in turnover in the convenience category and a significant time saving in shelf maintenance. He therefore decided to implement a large-scale pilot project with POS TUNING in the new store. This involved the use of pushfeed systems in 16 categories. He reported to the audience that although the new opening did not allow him to evaluate sales versus the previous period, the systems had helped in the first phase in particular with too few staff and too many customers.

His goals were achieved in all categories: a higher-quality appearance, more visibility and orientation for the customers and time savings for his employees. This was also confirmed by further study results with other retail customers and universities and agencies, which Kristin Kolbe-Schade presented. All in all, an increase in turnover, reduced expenditure for shelf maintenance and higher shopper and employee satisfaction were found in all projects.

At the end, the two companies gave an outlook on the next steps in the cooperation. Further categories are to be equipped with pushfeed systems and a category with particularly high out-of-stock rates is to be optimised with a new beacon technology from POS TUNING. The aim is to measure inventory and reduce out of stocks.

SPAR improves the shopping experience

Jesús Diaz Quintana, owner of Grupo Spar Mogán, attaches great importance to a tidy picture on the shelf: “The shelf is THE instrument with which we present the products and offer them to the customer in optimal condition”. The shelf order is often quickly lost, because the products are easily mixed up on the shelf, tip over or are poorly visible.

With the POS TUNING pushfeed systems, shelf maintenance is now much easier for store employees: “We save a lot of time in shelf maintenance and are more efficient. The products, which previously had to be pulled forward by hand by the employees, are now automatically in front. Mr. Diaz Quintana also sees a considerable advantage for the ordering process: “We can immediately see where a product needs to be refilled because the gap in the shelves can be seen at a glance thanks to the proper alignment of the products. If you want to offer your customers an optimal shopping experience, you have to use pushfeed systems. The visual effect, the placement and the access to the product convince all along the line”, says Mr. Diaz Quintana, convinced of the POS TUNING pushfeed systems.

Fuchs and POS TUNING report on successful projects

POS TUNING Head of Marketing Kristin Kolbe-Schade presented the following topic together with R. Thomas Krüger, Head of Field Sales Grocery at TEUTO Markenvertrieb GmbH (a company of the Fuchs Group):

Shopping experience and shopper orientation in the complex spices category

Mr. Krüger, with his expertise in the spices sector, knows about the difficulties of this category at the point of sale. In addition to an enormous product variety and thus also difficult orientation for the shopper, the low shopping frequency (every 9 weeks) is a challenge, as the shopper is rarely at the shelf. In addition shopper want emotionality and experience at the POS.

This is why Fuchs developed its own furniture with POS TUNING pushfeed systems a long time ago. The furniture is made of wood and of very high quality. Due to the pushfeed systems, the products are always on the shelf front and easily visible and reachable. Both brand messages and the names of subcategories are displayed on the furniture as orientation aids.

“By converting to a spices presentation with pushfeed systems from POS TUNING, we achieved at least a 20 percent increase in turnover and the investment paid for itself very quickly,” Mr. Krüger informed the audience. “Our field service is also absolutely convinced by the systems and praises the significant time savings in refilling and shelf maintenance,” he added.

Kristin Kolbe-Schade also reported on studies in other categories which, in addition to quantitative successes, also showed that shoppers and store employees said in interviews that the category had become more attractive and that they were very satisfied with the shopping convenience and easier shelf maintenance.

In the future, Fuchs and POS TUNING are planning joint new projects in the areas of innovation, displays and digitalization. Kristin Kolbe-Schade sums up the core message of the two partner companies: “Before converting the point of sale into a shopping experience with many highlights, you should first do the basics. Shoppers want visibility, orientation, accessibility and availability. Then you should create additional emotional messages and atmosphere and always pick up new trends”.

More space in chilled shelves with POS TUNING

With the new POS‑T PlusOne chilled shelf, retailers get up to 20% more space in the plus refrigeration. Where four shelves previously had space, five shelves now fit into the shelf. The clou: the POS‑T PlusOne chilled shelf is so sturdy thanks to its special design that a front folded edge is not necessary. This saves space, one more shelf is installed, and customers continue to get their desired product comfortably. The ideal complement to this is the pushfeed system POS‑T Compartment C90. At the same time, this ensures a permanent front presentation of the products on the shelf — even for particularly narrow and tipping products. This also enhances the freshness area.

The shelf looks tidy and appealing. Shoppers find their product quickly and reliably, even when stocks are low. The retailer has less effort in shelf maintenance and fewer markdowns. “The shoppers appreciate a good orientation in the market and at the shelf. A long search can lead to an aborted purchase. With the new POS‑T PlusOne chilled shelf together with our pushfeed system Compartment C90, the retailer gets the perfect combination,” says Andreas Hippauf, Head of Product Management at POS TUNING. The new chilled shelf can be used for all categories in the chilled zone: sliced cheese, sliced meat, convenience of all kinds, bags of salad, chilled drinks and much more.

Round things in an angular environment

The presentation of tobacco products can be a real challenge. In hardly any other area you find such a wide variety in packaging sizes.
For instance there are the classic cigarette pack, the tobacco pouch, the small papers and, last but not least, the relatively young RRP category with many different products. As an example lets‘ take oral tobacco which you find in round packaging.

Stacking is difficult, there is no visibility oft he product anymore and the risk of the products falling over is quite great. POS TUNING from Bad Salzuflen has the right solution: stackable channels are perfect for presentation in the shelf. They can be easily integrated into existing shelving structures and ensure an optimal use of space. This form of product presentation offers quick orientation for both the retailer and the shopper. The products can be presented upright, thus there is an optimal visibility. The products can easily be taken out thanks to the integrated pusheedfeed system. The refilling process is more easy as the packaging won‘t tip over or twist. That’s a really “round” thing.

Automatic facing up success

Read the article here:

POS TUNING supports the German initiative “Grips&Co”

Sweets — the pleasurable seduction at the POS

This means that, depending on their mood, they buy less, but usually more or something different than planned. In addition to this “disciplinary decline”, there is another phenomenon: the average shopper’s length of stay in the shop continues to decrease! In plain language, this means that the time — the short moment — required to perceive the individual offers tends to decrease steadily!

In this context one has to have high appreciation for the product managers and packaging designers on the one hand, but also deep regret on the other hand:

Experts of this species create “facings” according to all the rules of art and the profound findings of sales psychology. The harmony of colour, design, illustration and text has been perfectly achieved. Every viewer from the target group (and who isn’t?), who consciously looks at this product for only 5 seconds, literally has his mouth watering. The emerging desire for pleasure can hardly be suppressed. The seductive packaging increases the desirability of the appetising product to a maximum. The customer should have access to the presentation! — So much for the recognition!

Now for regret: The 5 seconds contact time are pure utopia! Even one second of “perception” often remains a dream. In many cases the hurried shopper does not notice this great product at all! — Isn’t that regrettable?

And not only that, this has also direct influence on turnover and profit, on regular or second placement. It is obvious: An impulse purchase needs an impulse! — This is triggered by the positive perception in the supermarket.

The causal connection is clear: the better the perceptibility, the higher the chance of sending out positive impulses. Or the brutal reverse conclusion: Products that are not perceived positively have no chance of ending up in the shopping cart as impulse purchases! From this point of view, take a critical look at the presentation of the products in the markets. The P.O.S. as Point of Sales often mutates into a “Part of Stock” at best. After the first products have been sold, the rest disappears into niches that can hardly be seen any more, possibly bags or thin products fall onto the “face” or — even better — are stacked flat on the shelf. Now, at the latest, the point has been reached where the packaging designer’s mood reaches zero!
Weekly performances filled with creative sessions, photo shoots and discussions about layout alternatives are simply a waste of time: No one can see your beautiful product design!

In order to preserve the optimal sales chances, typical impulse purchase articles in particular must be presented with the facing (not in the stack!) in the best visible area on the shelf front.

There are many intelligent solutions for the optimisation of front presentation today like pushfeed or glide systems. Of course, confectionery is the category without limit, where visibility is most important. What people don´t see, they cannot buy. Therefore the best results of sales increase, reduction of shelf maintanance and improvement of shopper orientation are achieved in this category (See case studies here: POS TUNING FALLBEISPIELE). Product designers must love front facing solutions.

Artificial intelligence inspires shopfitting

“The new shoppers have grown up with digitalisation. Marta Kwiatkowski Schenk, expert for social, economic and technological changes at the GDI Gottlieb Duttweiler Institute, gave an outlook on the digital future.

Agnieszka Walorska, managing director of the innovation consultancy Creative Construction Heros, outlined the development of artificial intelligence: “The effects of AI across all industries will be immense. Some say that the first industrial revolution will be Pillepalle. The development is more comparable to the discovery of fire: it made us a new species,” she explained in her lecture.

AI, eCommerce platforms, AR and VR — not everything that comes has a future. What really remains in the end? Trend researcher Lola Güldenberg got to the bottom of this question. “VR glasses, for example, have not yet made it into stores, but mobile phones have,” Güldenberg said. Language assistants are also becoming more and more important. “That should be considered with the shop fitting, says the expert.

Afterwards, top coach Peter Holzer gave a rousing lecture about courage and common sense. Because that’s what’s needed when dealing with change — digitization is just one of them: “We like to see change as a problem for the time being. A change is not a bad thing. We just have to think about how we react to it.” As an addition on Friday, there were factory tours at Elektra, POS Tuning and Nolte Küchen.

Also in the own rows of the DLV network shop fitting is much dynamics. Vice President of dlv — Netzwerk Ladenbau e.V., Carsten Schemberg, welcomed 21 new members. The external appearance should also be fresher and more modern: A relaunch of the corporate design, which is to be presented in time for EuroShop 2020, is now on the agenda. Lutz Schneppendahl then reported on the new guide to digitisation at the POS, which was developed by the relevant department and can now be ordered via the dlv website.

The DLV has a lot more in store for it. In addition to the annual planning for 2019, which includes four seminars in autumn, Carsten Schemberg announced the planned tour to Shanghai in 2020.

Source: https://www.moebelkultur.de/news/kuenstliche-intelligenz-inspiriert-den-ladenbau/ (German)

Happy customer – Happy retailer

Do you collect loyalty points? No? But you certainly have a loyalty card? And if you don’t have a loyalty card, then you like to use the discount promotions and buy three for two, don’t you? In German retail, advertising for customers is in full swing. Three quarters of all shoppers use at least one loyalty programme. And according to a study by Acquisa, this is higher than the European average. But how can the customer be made really “happy”? Are bonus programs and discounts really the secret of customer loyalty?

In order to get to the bottom of the question, various studies have examined and evaluated various purchasing factors in more detail. This has resulted in many interesting results:

For example, the experience culture plays an immense role for customers. Shopping is no longer just about paying for goods and taking them home. Customers want to experience something. According to a Walker study, 86 percent of shoppers are willing to pay more for a product if they have a special shopping experience. The way leads through the senses to the customer’s heart and is thus memorized in the mind.

And if the customer is initially convinced of the company, then he is, in most cases, also a loyal companion. He is the best critic the retailer can wish for. The customer delivers improvement requests one-to-one to the retailer and the retailer can therefore react promptly. If the wishes or suggestions are taken seriously, the relationship between the customer and the retailer is strengthened enormously.

Thus another point is found to the “Happy customer”: Service. Most customers are annoyed by telephone consultations or chat contacts. Waiting for hours in the telephone loop is perceived as annoying. If a problem occurs, professional help is needed and this should take place best in person. Those who know the contact person and feel they are in good hands will always return to their trusted retailer.

The retailer‘s interaction with the customer seems to be the key to success. If the retailer takes the customer seriously, knows his wishes and can respond to them, an optimal symbiosis is created. The customer feels comfortable because he is noticed and the retailer has a good feeling because he can also tailor his actions completely to the customer. The most beautiful marketing campaign is of little use if it leads past the shopper.

In summary, this means: customer loyalty is not = collect loyalty points! The real connection happens on many deeper levels. The ability to put oneself in the customer’s shoes and to take his wishes and criticism seriously is of far greater benefit than a pure marketing campaign. If the customer feels comfortable, the decision for a company is an easy matter. And the well-being feeling atmosphere does not necessarily mean that there must be a “lounge” or a “quiet area” in every company. Optimum visibility and easy access to the products on the shelf, no out-of-stock situations, easy removal and also an overview of the market are the simple tips that make both the customer and the retailer “happy” in the end.

Photo: © puhimec/stock.adobe.com