Beauty is one of the most competitive categories in retail. With dozens of products competing for attention in the same aisle, attractive packaging alone is rarely enough. A well-designed point-of-sale (POS) display can help a cosmetic brand interrupt the shopper journey, communicate its value quickly and make products easier to explore.
The most effective cosmetic displays do more than hold stock. They support the wider campaign—from sampling and gift-with-purchase promotions to brand collaborations and product launches.
Below are five marketing strategies beauty brands can build into their cosmetic POS displays, illustrated by examples seen in Sephora stores.
1. Gift with Purchase
A gift-with-purchase is basically a sales promotion strategy brands will use to encourage customers to purchase their product. This strategy is especially useful if the brand just recently launched a new product line that they would like their customers to try.
In order to do this, the brand must be able to establish the conditions of redeeming the gift. It could either be :
- (amount of money spent) minimum spend of $____ for a free ____ gift
- (quantity of product) buy ___ of product X and redeem a free ____ gift
Using gift-with-purchase helps create a higher perceived value for the customers, and it makes their purchase much more worth their money. Therefore, it is also important that the brand picks a free gift that aligns with their nature of business or something the target customer would want.
Which is why – in this example, the hand bag is the freebie because their cosmetics are targeted to women who typically like hand bags.
2. Use Samples
Cosmetics are a very subjective industry. With so many variations of cosmetics, there are plenty of brands customers get to choose from. Among many considerations from customers could be “which product will look better on my skin?” and “is this safe for my skin?”.
Therefore, it is subjective in a sense that each product might work differently for different consumers – depending on their skin, allergies etc.
To solve this problem, cosmetic brands are very persistent with letting their customers sample some of their products. With cosmetics, customers require a sample in order to assess if the product will benefit them. This is especially important because customers will usually purchase products that they are only familiar with.
3. Use Licensed Characters / Co-branding
Another great way to improve demand for your products is to co-brand with a larger franchise. Licensed characters are basically intellectual property (IP) licenses brands pay to the owner to use their characters/brand/content as a collaboration or integrated into the brand’s product line.
This is perfect if the brand wants to expand and gain more exposure into an untapped market base. In this example, using Barbie in their marketing campaign is a great tactic to attract customers who are already familiar with the fictional character. They leverage on Barbie, who many girls have grown to know of. This could reminisce good memories with the target customer (girls), and prompt them to purchase their products because of its association with Barbie.
However, closing a licensed deal could be very expensive – but an almost sure fire way to boost sales in retail.
4. Use your corporate colors
This is an especially useful advice for brands that are trying to boost their brand image. Corporate colors are important to follow and abide by. Branding requires several visual representation such as logos, tagline and corporate colors. This helps the customers associate these visual representations to your brand.
If this is not establish earlier with the market, it will confuse customers and it will be difficult to encourage loyalty with customers.
5. Be Unique
In order to be successful in retail, its important for brands to assess their competition. Even though customers trust brands they are more familiar with, customers are also much more inclined to explore for brands that are unique among others.
Having a comparative advantage and your own unique display will help your brand stand out in retail stores. Capturing attention of customers should be one of your brand’s biggest priorities in retail.
Notice the common denominator among these cosmetic display units? There are all dedicated to their own brand, and unique in terms of their display design, their color schemes and their branding.
What Effective Cosmetic POS Displays Have in Common
The strongest displays may look very different, but they share several principles. They communicate quickly, remain faithful to the brand, make products easy to understand and give shoppers a clear reason to engage.
Before developing a cosmetic display, define:
- The campaign objective
- The intended shopper
- The retail environment and available footprint
- The hero products and required stock capacity
- The desired shopper action
- The campaign duration, budget and rollout quantity
A clear brief gives designers and manufacturers the information needed to make better creative and technical decisions.
Bring Your Cosmetic POS Display to Life with ODM
An effective POS display sits at the intersection of marketing strategy, shopper experience, and production expertise. ODM helps brands connect those elements through custom POS display design and development.
Whether you are planning a product launch, tester program, gift-with-purchase campaign or limited-edition collaboration, ODM can help shape the brief, create the display concept and develop a practical solution for the retail floor.
Planning a cosmetic retail campaign? Contact ODM to discuss your products, target retailer, campaign goals and display requirements.
FAQs about Cosmetic Display Unit
Why should beauty brands invest in custom POS displays?
Custom POS displays help beauty brands stand out in crowded stores, communicate campaign messages quickly and present products in a way that supports discovery. They can also accommodate testers, gifts with purchase, lighting, mirrors, educational content and other features that standard shelving may not provide.
Can cosmetic displays include testers and product samples?
Yes. Tester and sampling features can be integrated into the display, along with mirrors, lighting, shade guides, applicator holders and disposal points. The final design should also support hygiene, cleaning, replenishment and safe interaction in store.
How much does a custom cosmetic POS display cost?
Cost depends on the display size, structure, materials, finishes, lighting or interactive features, prototype requirements and order quantity. ODM can recommend suitable options after reviewing the campaign brief, commercial goals and budget.
How long does it take to design and manufacture a cosmetic display?
Timing varies according to the complexity of the design, approval process, prototyping needs, production quantity and delivery destination. Sharing the target launch date at the beginning allows ODM to propose a realistic development and production schedule.
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