Point of Purchase (POP) or Point of Sales (POS) communication is an integral part of a company's integrated marketing communication plans. Creatively designed POP also adds to the store atmosphere and an increase in store patronage in durables, books or lifestyle stores where ambience, comfort and display are found to be of value to the consumers in India. The future of retail advertising is in POP and it is up to the marketer to use it or ignore it as he can do so at his own risk.

Retail marketing influences our daily lives as consumers, shoppers and researchers. It encompasses a wide range of activities including environmental analysis, consumer analysis, distribution and promotion planning—the role of retail marketing is changing with each new retailing situation.

As the shoppers become more discerning, they demand more choices, which lead to an increase in the number of brands in the shops. It is interesting to note that besides the organized retail players even the small cornerside groceries and general provision stores have grown. These are the two principal representatives of traditional Indian retailing, that are characterized by small size, cluttered and nearly absent visual merchandising but high level of service.

Given this scenario, we can safely assume that it has become difficult for the brands to gain attention at the shop level. In the area of integrated communication, it is imperative for the marketers to use all points of contact, including Point of Purchase (POP), with their customers to increase brand awareness. In this context, it is not surprising that the POP should be viewed as an important advertising medium—in the US it has the fifth largest budget allocation.

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