Catching more attention: COSSMA

They should be eye-catching and encourage customers to buy the products. But at the same time, the demand for sustainability in large sales displays is increasing. Jakob Rinninger shows how this can be implemented in both the premium and the mass market.

Cosmetics manufacturers that want to work sustainably need clear goals – also for their packaging and POS, which should be focused on reducing waste and promoting recycling. The companies also need instore presence to engage shoppers in a relevant way while communicating a positive brand story¹.

Taking a more sustainable approach can impact every step of the POS process, from design and material selection through to production, distribution, and disposal. The earliest stages have the biggest impact on sustainability – which means design and material choice are key elements.

Material and design

For this POS solution, using GD material was an obvious choice as it is fully geared to the circular economy: made from recycled paper and fully recyclable. No bleaching agents or brighteners are used, making it even more ecologically friendly. A humble and unspectacular material to look at, GD comes to life with clever structural design and graphics.

Multiple factors influence the design of a display. First and foremost is brand relevance, as well as the ability of the display to attract and engage its target shoppers. Store style and format, and the profiles and motivations of shoppers, will differ across retail channels. The final design needs to balance brand values and retail context while appealing to the target audience.

Different markets

Specialist stores are often more invested in setting up and merchandising premium-looking displays that suit their format and that will engage shoppers who are focused on health and wellbeing and more open to exploring something new. Mass-market channels tend to have less time for setting up and supporting displays and so require more functional units to drive sales.

However, it isn’t sustainable to create a bespoke display for every channel – even if they are all made from recycled cardboard. The tooling required to cut each display design is a one-off, and each change of production setup requires more energy, so each additional design option increases the environmental impact of a launch.

To balance the needs of brand, channel, shopper, and product as sustainably as possible, the number of display options must be no more than necessary. In our example, the displays were therefore designed as a dual concept.

Niche vs mainstream

A more premium structure was developed for specialist pharmacies and health food stores. Premium partly relates to its exclusivity within these specialist retailers as well as to its appearance. A more complex construction with disruptive curves, this high-end display involves a more manually intensive production process and must be set up and filled when it arrives in store. This input pays dividends in terms of perceived quality and strong visual impact. The specialist display has a very dynamic look, with flowing apertures on two sides. These reveal colourcoded shelves that highlight the different variants available, holding them securely in place with custom inlays. On the outside is an array of

testers, on matching coloured platforms, so shoppers can trial each of the new fragrances. Only the headers are localised, optimising communication in Germany and Switzerland while maximising efficiency that is necessary in this example. For mass-market retailers a more basic modular display system was used, which had many universal parts.

This reduced the amount of tooling needed to cut different components and was less energy intensive to produce. This helped to lower the CO2 footprint and benefit from cost efficiencies. Able to be sent pre-assembled and pre-filled, this display version is ready to sell as soon as the outer box is removed, making it more practical and appropriate for a high-volume channel.

Blending luxury with sustainability

Sustainably maintaining a premium presence in store, whether for launch or promotional purposes, requires an appropriate blend of efficiency and customisation throughout the POS process. Luxury brands can optimise their approach by combining highly sustainable materials with eye-catching structures, graphics, and finishes. Diversification, whether of structures, graphics, or production methods, should only be pursued where justifiable. Retaining as many common elements as possible encourages greater efficiency, cost savings and of course, better sustainability.

References

¹ As it is shown here with the example of the Swiss natural cosmetics manufacturer Weleda.

WHAT ARE THE TRENDS?

COSSMA: What role do POS displays play today, in times where more and more orders are being placed online?

Jakob Rinninger: If anything, they have become more important. Consumers always seek new products; being able to see, touch and even try them on a POS display is a powerful persuader and essential for gaining market share. There is still a huge opportunity for brands to boost impulse sales in physical stores by cutting through the noise and engaging shoppers with creative displays; this kind of standout is often harder to achieve with a solely online approach. POS displays are fundamental to driving sales on a broad scale, as well as reinforcing brand communication with customers.

What properties must a modern display have?

As always, it depends on the brief and the scope of the project: what the brand is looking to achieve with its target audience across different retail channels. As a minimum, all our displays are designed to disrupt and engage shoppers in a brand-relevant way while being strong enough to hold products safely for the agreed time in store, as well as meeting retailer guidelines and remaining aligned with core brand values such as sustainability.

Displays can be designed in a wide variety of shapes and formats. Which forms are currently particularly popular and what is not possible at all?

Sustainability is now top of many brand agendas and we hope it remains there. We’ve always used resources efficiently and aimed to support a circular economy,

so our designers are skilled at creating just about any shape from cardboard. Giant 3D products have always been popular and still are – but where we’re seeing the most interest is in new materials, such as grass paper and silphie paper. Sustainable and recyclable solutions are core values of our family business.