How do you see the current retail landscape from your perspectives?
Frank: Even though brands are becoming more thoughtful with their marketing-budgets, they keep having a need for IMPACT and visibility at the point of sale. Last minute and impulse purchases are revenue boosters and in real life this effect is the strongest. The physical stores are the main way to discover new brands and products spontaneously.
Roel: Brand recognizability helps a lot with these spontaneous purchases. Social media marketing and digital marketing keep brands in the top of their customers’ mind, they help with image and recognizability where other channels like television and print have less influence than before.
Why are brands currently more thoughtful when it comes to their marketing-budgets?
Frank: Because of the current economic situation. The prices of raw materials are subject to inflation, and of course the wages of staff follow this trend too.
Roel: The inflation also puts pressure on the consumers; private label brands and discount brands are gaining in popularity, which in some cases puts A-brands under pressure.
Towards which direction is the Point of Sale market headed?
Frank: Towards sustainability and harmonisation Roel: Flexibility also plays an important role.
Frank: There’s more and more demand for sustainable point of sale solutions. Wood and plastic are replaced by FSC certified cardboard. Mono-material (100% cardboard) displays are therefore rising in popularity. In the context of lowering Co2 emissions there’s also a higher demand for field displays (displays that aren’t prefilled so don’t have to be transported with all products inside).
Frank: Brands are looking for more harmony when it comes to point of sale campaigns, one display per product for all of Europe.
Roel: On the other hand there’s a trend towards more exclusive displays with a variety of designs. That’s why digital printing is becoming more and more important for point of sale campaigns. It can temper the production costs while providing the flexibility brands want for smaller or dynamic campaigns. It’s also a perfect way to respond to certain events when they happen, for example when Belgium would win the soccer world cup.
How does Smurfit Kappa Drogenbos adapt itself to these changes?
Frank: In the last decade, we’ve bought two top-of-the-line digital printers that help us operate dynamically and makes us able to quickly react and adapt to customers’ demands. We’ve also designed all our displays to be mono-material without sacrificing strength or durability.
To accommodate the marketing-demands towards harmonisation we’ve optimized our standard POS-range to be price-friendly, customizable and of the highest quality, all with quick delivery times.
But most important of all is our Drogenbos-team which efficiently adapts to every situation and innovation, and always puts the customer first. It’s a breeze to work with and manage such wonderful people :)
Thank you Frank and Roel for this brief but enlightening summary!
If you’d like to know more or are interested in our POS materials, contact us here.
