The Hindu Business Line : How relevant is the role of POP value chain?

MAKING the `store' a beautiful place to `drop in' — this was the maxim doing rounds at POP Asia 2005, the conference addressing the requirements of the point-of-purchase (POP) value chain here. However, like all maxims, it comes with a baggage of issues.

The POP industry has become the visual arm, and now encompasses store design, visual merchandising, point-of-purchase, store construction and exhibit design. However, how relevant is the role of POP and merchandise in mom-and-pop store formats?

"Mom-and-pop stores do not offer much space to experiment with visual merchandising. They should invest in highlighting product line rather than space management," said Mr R. Kannan, President, Ramms India Pvt Ltd.

However, there are others who believe that it is about how you play your cards in such formats. "If the point-of-purchase material can make the brand stand out, besides enhancing the look of the store, it can surely work for any mom-and-pop store," said Mr Lloyd Mathias, Executive Vice-President (Marketing), Pepsi Foods Pvt Ltd.

The second issue that this business faces is that retailers hate point-of-purchase materials such as posters, danglers, product literatures stuck all across their stores. There is no point if the utility got lost amidst the visual population in the store, they say.

Mr Mathias said he believed that while the issue the brand faces is visibility, retailers have to address the matter of driving traffic towards their store. He said that a win-win situation was possible only if a synergy between the two happened.

However, others like Mr Harish Bijoor from Harish Bijoor Consults, a Bangalore-based brand management agency, said that POP material should have more utility than just conveying the message. If a POP material came with a mirror, for instance, it would definitely draw that extra attention.

POP advertising has been generally restricted to FMCG. However, a few companies such as HSBC and Tally are also working actively in this area.

Tally accounting software has been actively pursuing retail activities. The company is expected to be setting retail outlets soon. That opens a new opportunity altogether, said Mr Mani Nagasubramaniam, Managing Director, RD&M, a Bangalore-based retail consultancy.

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