Add Value To Pole Display Sales
Pole displays may be more important to your customers than you think. Boost your bottom line by proactively selling this point of sale peripheral to retail customers.
Founded in 1946, the company employs 180 people. In 1998, IEE reported annual gross sales of $25 million. "Retailers don't always see the value of including pole displays in their point of sale (POS) systems," says White. "VARs can do a better job of selling their retail customers on the benefits of using pole displays."
Sandra Hsia, v.p. of marketing for PartnerTech, agrees with White. PartnerTech (Tustin, CA) manufactures pole displays and other POS peripherals including programmable keyboards, PC-based POS stations and magnetic and bar-code readers. The company has 120 employees in several locations, including Taiwan. In 1998, the company reported gross sales of $9.5 million. "One way VARs can add value to their pole display sales is through service," says Hsia. For example, depending on the POS system, VARs can offer to change scrolling messages for their retail customers seasonally.
Market-Driven Display Features
Vendors have added features to their pole displays that meet specific customers' needs. Both White and Hsia say much of their product development is market driven.
Displays can now do more than just show prices. For example, active matrix, color LCDs (liquid crystal displays) have the ability to show slides and full-motion video. "Retailers can use these displays to advertise products in their store," explains White. A video rental store, for example, can show movie clips of new releases, he says. Color LCDs can also be a revenue source for retailers. "Retailers can sell advertising on displays to their vendors," White explains. "Not only does the pole display then pay for itself, but it can generate additional revenue as well," White adds.
Four-line displays are becoming popular, according to Hsia. Typical displays have two lines available for text and graphics. However, because displays are often used as an advertising medium, the need for more display lines is increasing. For example, a four-line display is well suited for use in theaters. "The display shows the number of adult tickets sold, the number of child tickets sold and the total amount due," says Hsia. The fourth line reminds ticket holders to buy popcorn and snacks at the concession stand.
Standards Continue To Impact Peripherals
New standards, such as OPOS and USB, are impacting pole displays, as well as other POS peripherals. OPOS (Object Linking and Embedding [OLE] for Retail POS) is a software standard developed by Microsoft and other POS vendors. It provides a common interface for 32-bit Windows applications. Hardware vendors are developing new versions of POS hardware, with specific OPOS drivers, to accommodate this new standard, says Hsia. Configuring POS systems is simplified using both OPOS-compliant peripherals and software.
USB (Universal Serial Bus) is a hardware bus becoming standard on most new PCs. Up to 128 peripheral devices can be daisy-chained together from one USB hub. According to White, adding USB to a product is an investment on the vendor's part. "Our larger customers are switching to USB products, so we've made that investment," he says.
Selling Pole Display Features
What can VARs do to boost their sale of pole displays? White and Hsia both say VARs should sell pole displays based on specific features that meet their customers' application needs. These features include display character color and size and international language, graphics and scrolling message capabilities. Smaller retailers may spend more on displays with scrolling message capabilities, if VARs highlight that feature.