If you missed the 2022 Shop! OMA Awards in person, we missed you too. We are extremely proud of our amazing design and engineering teams. Congratulations on winning 4 Gold, 3 Silver and 1 Bronze! It is wonderful to share these awards with our amazing clients and vendor partnerships. We love making these retail displays come to life.
This fun show is a great way to learn more about what Bish has to offer for your next retail display.
Get a chance to also learn from keynote speakers including: Vera Bradley, Target, Walmart, Ring, and Coach.
Make sure to stop in for this session with Jerry Fox: Thursday, May 12 2:15 – 2:45 PM Central
The Details
Where: McCormick Place, Chicago
Expo Hall Times:
Wednesday, May 11th: 9:00 AM – 6:00 PM
Thursday, May 12th: 9:00 AM – 3:00 PM
Booth: #825
Our latest Retail Insights series is a bit different! We’re excited to showcase our NEW 360º Virtual Tour! Explore our showroom of end-to-end merchandising solutions to spark ideas for 2022 marketing! We work with you to make your brand stand out from the rest.
Click below to explore the 360º Tour we created just for you. Click on Jerry to listen to his insights.
The retail industry is always changing, and we are excited to be a part of this evolution. It’s rewarding to see how the competition has grown through the years.
Our 2020 Virtual Showcase was a huge hit and we’d like to show our 2021 entries along with our winners in the same engaging way!
2021 Bish Creative 360 Virtual Showcase video transcription
Hello again, my name is Jerry Fox, president and CEO of Bish Creative Display. 2020 is behind us. Thank you. It’s been a challenging year, but amazing for so many different reasons. Welcome to the 2021 Shop! OMA showcase. We obviously live in a virtual world now. It’s only obvious that we continue on with a virtual show. Naturally, we would love each and every one of you to touch and feel and see the exciting and engaging work that we’ve created at Bish Creative this past year. So please find this tour to be something exciting and different.
The OMA’s go back to the 1960s. It stands for outstanding merchandising awards of which Bish Creative Display has won several. In fact, we consider ourselves the leaders in award-winning innovative design. But today’s world, it means something different. Why? Because you have to be different. Today’s consumer is looking for exciting, engaging interactive merchandising that speaks to the brand, speaks to the occasion that they’re purchasing the product for and speaks to the world we live in today.
The future of marketing at retail will be a social, digital and physical experience. Therefore at Bish Creative, we pride ourselves in being the leaders in creating that point of difference. The retail future is exciting. It’s never been a better time and I personally have never been so excited. If you have any needs or wants or desires to learn more about Bish Creative Display, we encourage you to reach out for we are here, we have survived, for we are here for the long haul. Welcome again to the 2021 Shop! OMA showcase. Enjoy the tour.
What exactly is a retail display and why do they matter? A retail display, also known as a POS Display (Point of Sales) or POP (Point of Purchase) display, is anything in a store that houses or promotes a product. Visual merchandising strategy focuses heavily on retail design and the appearance of merchandising displays in order to persuade shoppers to purchase specific products or increase visibility on brand messaging. As a consumer, we may not think about the details that go into in-store design, but there’s a whole science behind how consumers shop, how brands can creatively push their products and messaging with in-store displays.
Materials play a big role in retail displays, some popular materials for merchandising displays are wood, metal, acrylic, corrugate and iron. While corrugate tends to be less expensive than other materials, the recent transition to wood, metal and iron has given displays more depth and detail, allowing them to stand out. There is also an increased focus on sustainability, and therefore recycled materials and eco-friendly displays have grown in demand and use. In addition these displays often have interchangeable pieces to update graphics/product for holiday and seasonal use.
Brands are doing all they can to quickly capture the shopper’s attention and promote engagement, especially in the current market where time spent in retail environments is lessening. Phygital, the combination of the word physical and digital. This implies there is some sort of tangible but electronic/digital component integral to the display. Examples of this might be a motion-activated experience or a QR code that links to a web page and lets the shopper learn more about the product right on their smart-phone.
While innovation and engagement are key to the current retail display game, it’s equally important to understand the different types of displays and to know when to use each one. Just remember, this is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to creative retail design. If you’re looking for a new innovative way to showcase your brand or product, we’d love to hear from you!
Here are the top seven most popular displays we’re going to cover:
1. End-Caps
2. Free-Standing Displays
3. Countertop Displays
4. Pallet Displays
5. Power Wing Display
6. Dump Bins
7. Inline Displays
End-caps are a product display placed at the end of each aisle which encourage impulse buying and give brands a competitive advantage by providing increased visibility. Picture this, you’re walking through the grocery store, you’ve grabbed everything on your list and you’re heading to the check-out counter. Then suddenly you’re faced with a Frito-Lays Potato Chip display at the end of an aisle. If chips weren’t on your list, chances are they are now. End-caps tend to be fixtures, permanent displays or semi-permanent displays and can be seen in tons of retail environments such as grocery stores, pharmacies, convenient stores, and big-box stores. This high traffic, large volume piece of retail is every brand’s dream placement.
Free standing display units (FSDU) are exactly what their name would suggest. These displays stand directly on the ground throughout the store and are intended to draw attention to certain products and specific brand messaging. Free standing displays can be permanent displays, seasonal displays or temporary displays. Examples of a free-standing seasonal display would be a Jose Cuervo Holiday Nutcracker piece, or football themed Bud Light or Frito Lay display strategically placed by the store entrance right before the Super Bowl. Free-standing display units can also be seen in all types of retail environments such as grocery stores, pharmacies, convenient stores, big box stores and department stores.
While we mentioned impulse shopping for end-caps, countertop displays focus even more on the theory that if we put the product directly in front of the consumer, they’re more likely to buy. Like free-standing floor displays, in an effort to engage consumers countertop displays tend to have higher impulse items and hold relevant products for the time of year. Usually, material is decided by the lifecycle of the display and type of store plus how long it’s expected to stay in-store. Popular materials for countertop displays are metal, wire, acrylic and vacuum formed pieces. Countertop displays can be found in virtually any retail environment, from your typical grocery store, big-box store, convenient stores and pharmacies, to department stores, small mom and pop retail settings and everything in between.
Pallet displays utilize a full-size pallet base, and displays product and messaging details printed on the display. These displays are very efficient as they are shipped as is with products already in-place, retailers just need to place the display where they want it and open up the appropriate sections to display the product. Due to this setup time savings, pallet displays tend to fall into the PDQ display category (pretty darn quick). Generally needing more floor space than other types of displays, pallet displays are very popular in big-box or department stores.
Power wing displays, also known as sidekick displays, are often attached to end-caps to promote relevant add-on items. Power wing displays can be very effective as they promote products that go well with the product it’s accompanying. The example you see above, reminds consumers who are purchasing wine, to not forget the beer and hard alcohol. Power wing displays are great for any type of retail environment, as they really encourage those relevant add-on purchases while maximizing floor space.
Dump bins are a free-standing floor display that essentially have a space filled where products are dropped in and easily grabbed by consumers. The large printed pieces allow for high visibility branding and messaging to attract customer’s attention quickly. These displays tend to be large to hold a lot of product, so they demand a decent amount of floor space. Dump bins can be seen in convenient stores, grocery stores, pharmacies and big-box stores.
Where there is limited space, inline displays shine! While floor standing displays need an ample amount of space, inline displays are attached directly to aisle shelves. These efficient displays utilize a strategy called shelf management, where they essentially maximize existing shelf visibility to more efficiently stock products. Inline displays, also known as shelf displays, draw consumer attention to a brand or product and encourage them to grab your product over your competitor’s right nextdoor! Inline displays can be found anywhere there are shelves, so pretty much any retail environment you can think of!
Now that we’ve gone into some detail of the top seven retail displays, next time you’re walking through a store, pay attention to what’s around you and how it impacts your shopping experience! Maybe we’re biased, but we think it’s pretty cool how retail environments can persuade and influence consumer behavior without us even noticing.
Now let’s talk about your brand and how our approach to creative retail displays will help build your brand’s visibility!
The merchandiser includes a digital screen with looped video and audio to show the consumer how the machine functions, the assortment of cocktails, and draws the consumer in to interact with the replica machine sitting on the counter.
The concept of a well-crafted, tasteful alcoholic cocktail made from a concentrated liquid is fascinating and relevant for today’s world. This type of convenience cocktail making is the wave of the future. The Drinkworks machine is made for the consumer that doesn’t spare expense when it comes to their adult beverages. It is the category leader for premium cocktails made at the push of a button, and the in-store merchandiser is built with the same high-end look and feel to coincide with the premium brand identity.
Easily interchangeable panels and artwork have made these pieces a staple for stores that continue to engage and attract customers. From product launch to expansion of flavors the versatility in these displays has been able to accommodate and grow with the brand.
Client: Keurig-Dr. Pepper and AB InBev
Brand: Drinkworks
New Product Launch
Main Channel: Specialty Retailers & Services
Awards/ Recognition: 2020 Shop!
Year: 2019
Type: Permanent Display
Main Materials: Wood, Steel
Merchandising Type: Permanent
The retail environments we are now familiar with have evolved a lot over time. If you look back, you’ll notice several aspects of in-store shopping that have changed over time, from expanding aisle width to accommodate carts, to interactive displays using advanced technology to grab consumer’s attention. We may be biased, but here at Bish Creative we think the evolution of retail is fascinating, so we decided to share some of the highlights.
Where retail began – 1700s: It all began when “mom and pop” shops opened up in the 1700s-1800s. They were very small drug stores or general stores offering medications, groceries and even fabrics and toys! These stores were family-owned, independent businesses that started the retail and shopping experience we come to love today. Mom and pop shops generally focused on specific categories, products or services, whether that was a pharmacy, a butcher or an agriculture supply shop, so consumer’s would need to visit multiple stores to gather what they needed.
Department Stores – 1800s: As the United States expanded and populations moved west, there was an increased need for retail environments spread across the growing country. Businesses were booming! In response to ever-increasing demand and the ongoing effort to improve the shopping experience, department stores became popular in the mid 1800s to early 1900s. Stores including Macy’s (1858), Bloomingdales (1861), and Sears (1886) began popping up in cities like New York City and Chicago. Curiously, stores back then didn’t just sell items, they also offered demonstrations, lectures and entertainment events to appeal to the wealthy community. Imagine, going into Sears to learn about the new washer and dryer systems – very different from the online appliance shopping many of us experience today! Today the experience while shopping is coming back to the forefront of the shopping.
Birth of the Supermarket – 1850s: Where shoppers used to visit multiple small shops to buy all their food and groceries, and Department Stores grew in popularity, large grocery stores, known as supermarkets, did the same. Jewel Osco (1899), Kroger (1883) and Piggly Wiggly (1916) stores started popping up. These chain stores allowed consumers to visit one location for all their groceries, including fresh meat, produce and dairy, plus packaged food and home goods. These larger supermarkets encouraged purchasing more in one visit, and therefore delivered another iconic shopping feature we all take for granted. In 1937, the introduction of the shopping cart revolutionized the in-store experience. Grocery stores were even forced to widen their aisles to accommodate the extra need of space.
Shopping Malls and Big Box Stores – 1950s: Shopping malls and big box stores made their appearance in the 1950s – 1960s. During this time people went to the mall to socialize, in addition to shopping. A family could enjoy the entire day at the mall – visiting stores, relaxing by the fountain while snacking on lunch and finally going to the movie theater.
While people loved the experience and social aspect of shopping malls, there was a growing need for big box stores which offered all the essentials, oftentimes at a discounted price. Walmarts, Targets and K-marts grew in popularity and added new locations, generally in close proximity to populated cities.
The Age of Technology – 1990s: As technology continued to advance, the consumer experience evolved with it. E-commerce sales became popular in the 1990s and have only continued to grow with the introduction of smartphones and mobile tablets. Amazon started in 1995 merely as an online bookseller, but has grown into the preeminent online store experience, offering almost every product imaginable. A number of retailers have since jumped on the e-commerce bandwagon for many reasons, one of which was to continue growing brand visibility and awareness. The convenience factor and efficiency to compare prices, read reviews is hard to beat.
Today – 2021: Today, we see more retail innovations that leverage a physical display and also utilize technology, sometimes referred to as phygital, or physical with a digital presence. We saw growth in interactive store displays and experiences. While many of us have not experienced the product demonstrations that were popular back in the 1950s, we are very used to reviews and influences or research the consumer on the brand website or social networks.
As a result of an increasing number of online stores, and in the context of the COVID Pandemic, there has been a sharp increase in e-commerce for consumers globally and a new mostly digital normal for the retail world. Once the dust settles, we can expect that much of this new online activity to remain, but brick and mortar stores will always have the distinct advantages. In many segments, shoppers want to touch and feel the products and also yearn for a destination experience and currently a reason to get out of the house.
While we fully expect that brick and mortar shopping experience to always be superior, we’d be ignorant to think the evolution of retail ended there. There will also likely continue to be more hybrid experiences, where products will be promoted and discovered online and then progressed into a store visit for the final review and purchase. With the increase of virtual reality, interactive videos and 360 views, we are most likely going to see this continue to grow, and here at Bish we’re excited for it.
We’ve gone a long way since the 1700s, and there’s always room for improvement as technology advances. We’re excited for innovation and imagination to push retail experiences and environments further than ever before.
Resources:
https://www.flexengage.com/blog/the-evolution-of-retail-a-look-back-and-a-look-ahead/
https://mi9retail.com/evolution-retail-last-millennium/
https://www.bigcommerce.com/blog/retail/#the-history-and-evolution-of-retail-stores
President & CEO of Bish Creative Jerry Fox, as he says goodbye to 2020 and hello to 2021.
Thanks for watching!
Retail Insights #15 Welcoming 2021 transcript
Jerry Fox:
Hello again, my name is Jerry Fox, President and CEO of Bish Creative Display. Welcome to 2021. It’s been a very difficult year and we cherish the lives we lost and cherish those who served and suffered during this pandemic. Someday, all of us will look back at 2020 and realize what we learned. We learned patience. We learned we cannot get everything we want, when we want it. How many of you had to print out a picture of something to give away as a gift during the holidays because it didn’t arrive in time. We learned respect. We learned to shop with masks on and be respectful of each other.
Jerry Fox:
If you go back in time and look at pictures of when your younger to when you’re older, you’ll see that the one part of your body that doesn’t change is your eyes. So as the saying goes, the eyes have it.
Jerry Fox:
We also learned to persevere. We learned to move forward; go in a different direction. The new normal is the normal, so we did notice some things that are changing over the past few weeks. Traffic is up on the streets. If you look at the highways and byways of life as people are getting back to a hustle and bustle. Sales in many categories are up; food, hardware, alcohol, not so surprised on the last one.
Jerry Fox:
Certain retail categories will struggle. Fashion will be an industry that will struggle for quite some time were we’ve learned to go through life in a casual manner. Other categories will continue to grow. We have one client that’s increased their order of craft beer tap handles. Why? Because they believe and know that once we are able to go into a bar, a cold draft beer will be required.
Jerry Fox:
My advice to retailers, your chance to change is now. If you’ve changed nothing over the past 10 months, change now. As the saying goes, hindsight is 2020. We will all look back someday and realize 2020 taught us more than we expected. As our friends at Frederick Wildman and Pol Roger say, “One bottle is not enough.” Cheers till next time.
In this video, the grandson to Bish founder Lorenz Buescher, Randy Buescher and current Bish President/CEO Jerry Fox chat about technology
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While this year has forced us to change and adapt, it has also taught us the importance of love and togetherness. We’ve found new ways to spend time together, whether virtually or outside. It’s allowed us to appreciate one another in ways we never knew. We’ve learned that everyone is essential, from hospital to grocery store staff. We’ve adapted our work life, home life and education. While this year has been tough, there are positives that allow us to grow closer than ever.
