Benchmarks

3 Printed Retail Displays That Bring in the Buyers

A JACK OF ALL trades is a master of none, unless your business focuses on retail and P-O-P displays. In this space, problem-solvers who specialize in more than just printing graphics can gain an edge in earning expansive, multi-site contracts.

In each of these examples, a PSP wins retail business by leveraging expertise that is not just deep, but also diverse. Every project hinges on the masterful provision of multiple services, from creative engineering and construction to back-end software and databases. Each project also is a case study in earning the trust of – and in some instances, additional work from – a well-known, established brand prone to expansive promotional campaigns for brick-and-mortar locations.

Image Options
Foothill Ranch, California

For Image Options, “printing” implies more than just the application of ink. Also on the table is 3D printing, a critical capability in fabricating more than 400 snow globe plinths like the ones shown here for Luxottica’s 2022 holiday-themed eyewear promotions. In addition to that equipment and the associated software, this project required the use of the Solidworks CAD system, Adobe Illustrator, and a vinyl cutter, not to mention white-ink printing and the creation of window graphics. Materials range from brushed chrome vinyl to acrylics to corrugated plastic. Graphics were imaged via an EFI Vutek GS3250LX Pro UV LED flatbed printer.

However, this job involved more than turning the client’s initial 2D renderings to 3D-printed reality. The primary goal was to ensure displays would be easy to pack, ship, and set up at LensCrafters stores throughout California and in Vancouver, Canada.

To that end, the company also developed installation manuals, complete with QR-code links to step-by-step building instructions, to accompany each shipment.

Tip: Perhaps you don’t need to go so far as making instruction manuals and videos, but it’s worth thinking about whether installation will be intuitive. What can you do to ensure setup is easy, and that your work has the desired effect once onsite?

GSP
Clearwater, Florida

Any high-quality P-O-P display could be characterized as engaging (otherwise, what’s the point?). However, the ask for this Mtn Dew flavor promotion signage, which came from one of one of the largest convenience store chains in the country, contained a different, perhaps more apt descriptor: “disruptive.”

GSP delivered, leveraging multiple printers and different media to transform 15 Casey’s convenience stores for the rollout of Overdrive, a new flavor of Mtn Dew. Floor graphics, wall graphics, window graphics, graphics on the drink pumps themselves, and graphics in front of the gas pumps – all varieties are strategically positioned to “disrupt” patrons’ headspace no matter where they look or how they move about the store. For this project, GSP leveraged its EFI Vutek H5 wide-format printer, Agfa Jeti Tauro H3300 UV LED wide-format printer, Durst Rho 312R roll-to-roll printer, and swissQprint Karibu 2 roll-to-roll printer. Media included General Formulations GF 270 WindowMark perforated film (70/30), Asphalt Art TexWalk fabric-reinforced, non-slip PVC matte vinyl; Coroplast corrugated plastic sheets; clear Lexan 9034 polycarbonate sheet; and Duratex Dead-White styrene.

The success of the Overdrive promotion led Mtn Dew to collaborate with Casey’s and GSP again for the annual Dew Tour, a skateboarding event in Des Moines, Iowa. To help establish an exciting backdrop for the promotion, GSP created multiple versions of a series of window vinyl films to span 12 apertures.

Tip: Diversify your equipment and media to make virtually any surface a candidate for applying vivid promotional graphics.

DCG One
Seattle

DCG One’s work with Nordstrom Rack goes well beyond providing floor standing fixtures like the one shown here. In fact, the company provided a single-source antidote to the ails of working with multiple signage and graphic vendors, such as lacking consistent methods for ensuring adherence to brand guidelines, fully understanding product utilization, and even consistent part numbering and shipment tracking systems. Overall, the comprehensive retail signage program includes marketing signage campaigns, environmental graphic production, installation, and a client-specific, online ordering portal to help manage digital assets.

Regularly updated for in-store promotions throughout Nordstrom Rack’s network, the sign fixtures feature graphics printed from an EFI Vutek H5 wide-format printer on Transcendia Trasnpaque II, a block-out opaque polyolefin film for both indoor and outdoor banner applications.

Tip: Variability and inconsistency can be the enemies of efficiency. Even if you’re a small operation, consider the advantage of a single source when possible.

PHOTO GALLERY (11 IMAGES)

Matt Danford

Matt Danford joined Big Picture and Screen Printing magazines in January 2023. A graduate of Ohio University’s E.W. Scripps School of Journalism, he is a veteran trade journalist with deep experience covering transformative technologies and business strategies. As managing editor for both brands, Matt spends his days writing, editing, attending industry events, curating submitted content, and otherwise conveying knowledge and actionable insight to wide-format and screen printing professionals.