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Why do old-school in-store advertising tools no longer work?

In-store advertising is essential for both brands and retailers. FMCG brands have the opportunity to promote their products, to capture the attention of customers and to increase brand awareness. Retailers want to sell more and increase their profit per square meter. 

While eCommerce is always innovating and finding new ways to delight their customers, brick and mortar shops still rely on old-school in-store advertising tools to catch the attention of shoppers. 

Nowadays, this might not be good enough for the demanding customers. Shoppers expect much more for both brands and retailers. 

You might be wondering why shoppers don’t just give up on brick and mortar stores all together. Well, it’s all about the feeling they get when they step inside a physical store, especially if it’s a bigger retail chain. They can see, smell, and touch the products, compare them to others in real time, read the labels and ask the employees questions to make sure they select the best products. 

While most people do their research online, shoppers still come to the stores to make the final purchase. But how can you help customers have a better experience, buy more, and the store satisfied? 

By combining old-school in-store advertising tools with new, innovative solutions! 

Why can’t you grab the attention of your customers? 

You know it and we know it: It’s getting harder and harder to attract customers and to grab their attention. Let’s take a look at why you simply can’t make your customers stop and stare when you have a new promotion.

1. You are using only old-school in-store marketing tools

Yes, the most common mistake is relying only on old-school in-store advertising tools. Simple POP displays, like dump bins or shelf talkers, no longer resonate with your customers needs. Shoppers simply pass by and take the products they need, not the ones you promote. 

2. You focus on cutting prices

You don’t actually have to cut prices to sell more! All you have to do to succeed is to capture the attention of your shoppers. 

Common promotions like Buy one, get one free (BOGO) don’t have a great return on investment. Why? Because people think that there is something wrong with most products that are on sale. Also, you usually put more money into promoting the product and people end up buying less. 

3. You don’t collect or implement feedback from customers

Another common mistake is NOT focusing on collecting and implementing feedback from customers. As you know, most eCommerce platforms ask their shoppers to fill out a feedback form or just leave a simple review for the products they purchased. This way, they are able to make changes and improve their processes, from purchase to delivery. 

If you don’t collect feedback from your customers, you will never know what they like and what they hate about your brick and mortar store. You don’t even have to ask them in store since most of them won’t respond then and there. 

You could ask for their email address and send them a feedback form after a few purchases. By combining the offline environment with the online one, you will be able to focus on omnichannel retail. Bonus: By collecting feedback from your customers you will show them that their opinion matters and that you care about them. 

4. You don’t innovate

Finally, the biggest problem for all brick and mortar stores and FMCG brands is the lack of innovation. While eCommerce stores focus on innovation, physical stores only focus on making people purchase more. 

Don’t get us wrong, there is nothing bad with trying to sell more, but you can make it look a bit more interesting. You need to offer your customers an amazing experience and by innovating you can do so!

 Old-school in-store advertising tools 

What’s the problem with old-school in-store advertising tools? What are they no longer capturing the attention of your customers? 

Maybe the old-school saying tells you something: They are not captivating enough! 

1. They are not a showstopper

People are used to seeing shelf talkers, dump bins, end caps, and other POS displays all over the store. They see them and then they move on. Even if you have a witty message written on them, shoppers won’t be attracted to them. 

2. Hard to customize mid-promotion

Just imagine: You have a promotion and you write a great message on your displays, but then a major event happens and you would love to make some tweaks. Unfortunately, this is costly and a bit difficult to do in real-time, as the event unfolds. 

3. Customers don’t resonate with them

Another issue is that customers don’t resonate with simple displays. They need something more interesting, more captivating. They are looking for an experience while they are shopping. 

4. Old-school in-store marketing tools don’t offer data

It’s important to always know how your campaign is going. Unfortunately, most in-store advertising tools can’t offer you relevant data. This is why it is hard to monitor the performance of the campaign. You won’t be able to know until the promotion is over which means you can’t make changes mid-campaign. 

The innovative in-store marketing solution: Tokinomo

We’ve established that old-school in-store advertising tools no longer work, but what can you do to attract the attention of your shopper? 

By using a better, more innovative solution named Tokinomo. 


Tokinomo combines sound, light, and motion technology and it lets your products talk for themselves. 

Why you need to start using Tokinomo

 1. Tokinomo can lift sales by 200% without any price cuts

Unlike simple POS displays, robotic POS like Tokinomo can help you increase sales without even cutting prices. Did you know that a regular in-store promotion can lift sales by 20%? Well, Tokinomo offers you 10 times more with no price cuts. 

 2. It is highly customizable

Because of its cloud-based platform you can change the way Tokinomo moves, the audio message, and even the whole campaign if you wish. With a simple click, you can customize it just the way you want. 

3. It offers data in real-time 

Does your shelf talker offer you data about the number of shoppers who passed by? No, but Tokinomo does. On the cloud-based platform, you can see how many people passed by the devices and how many times it was activated. Soon, you will also be able to see other demographic data about your customers. 

4. Customers will remember the name of your brand

Tokinomo doesn’t only help you sell more, it also helps you increase brand awareness. 40% of the shoppers will remember the brand name after they’ve left the store. In most cases, after a promotion, people don’t remember the name of the brand, but with Tokinomo, they will. 

5. It increases customer engagement

Let’s not forget about the most important thing: customer engagement. With regular displays, your customers are not engaged. With Tokinomo, customers will be surprised, will laugh, and they will even share the moment with their friends and family. 

Old-school in-store advertising tools no longer work, but Tokinomo does and it will help you sell more, delight your customers, and raise brand awareness, all at the same time. 

You are not using Tokinomo? Drop us a line to find out more about how Tokinomo can help you and your business.

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