Endcaps take up maybe 5% of your total floor space. But they can account for something like 3 times that in sales. The products that you feature on these setups will wind up in shopping carts at a much higher rate compared to what their footprint would hint at. Retailers who track their metrics can watch the sales lift, conversion rates and cost-per-impression to see what should go there. Most stores without that data on hand will just go with gut instinct or let the vendor make the call.
Now let’s see which of the endcap setups deliver the biggest bang for your money.
How to Measure Your Endcap Success
Retailers who want to measure how well their endcaps are performing need to track a few important metrics. Sales lift percentage is usually the first one to look at. Sales lift measures how much a product sells when it’s displayed on an endcap compared to how much it sells in its normal shelf location. A product that normally moves about 100 units per week on the shelf but then sells 150 units when it’s on an endcap has generated a 50% sales lift.
Conversion rates are another big one to watch. This number tells you how many shoppers who pass by your endcap will stop and pick up a product. Sometimes a display can get tons of attention but nobody buys anything and it defeats the whole point. The best endcaps catch eyes and drive sales at the same time.
Cost per impression gives you another way to gauge your display performance and lets you see how much you’re spending for each person who actually sees what you’ve set up. The formula accounts for your up front costs and for how long the display can stay in place before you’ll have to replace it.
One mistake that stores make all of the time is adding up the total revenue from an endcap and calling it a success. What gets missed here is that you’ll have to subtract the costs that go into that display. The display structure costs money (whether you build it or rent it) and someone on your team has to stock it and take care of it each day.
A better way is to compare the endcap performance against the normal shelf placement for the same exact products. This gives you a baseline showing what the product would have sold anyway and it means you can measure the lift from the endcap position instead of just making assumptions.
Run these numbers for a few weeks or months and the patterns will start to appear – some display types will drive sales over and over and others might look nice but never actually move product. The data tells you what’s working in your particular store and which setups are actually worth your time.
Drive Quick Sales With Seasonal Deals
Promotional endcaps with discounts of 20% or more can move plenty of product – with sales lifts between 200% and 400% compared to what those same items would do on a normal shelf. This works because shoppers respond strongly when they see urgency combined with a solid deal.
Limited-time deals create urgency, and urgency gets shoppers to commit right then instead of walking by with plans to come back later. A discount paired with a deadline will push buyers to buy right away. Back-to-school supplies on endcaps in August are a perfect example and grilling gear that hits the floor before Memorial Day weekend. Most shoppers already have these items on their radar anyway – the discount just gives them a reason to put them in their cart right now.
Freshness is what makes these setups work over time. Stores like Target and Walmart swap out their seasonal endcaps every 2 to 3 weeks for a reason. After shoppers see the same display for multiple weeks in a row, it just blends into the background and they stop paying attention to it. This rotation also helps stores match up with upcoming events and holidays without missing that short window when demand is at its highest.
Holiday-themed setups work well because your customers are already looking for what you’re selling. A shopper who needs Halloween candy or Christmas decorations is going to search the store for anything seasonal. An endcap with these items meets them right where they are and it saves them from walking through multiple aisles trying to find what they want. The shorter that path between “I need this” and “I’m buying this,” the easier to close the sale.
The discount itself adds real value for customers who might otherwise wait. A shopper may have planned to buy something next week or next month. A 25% discount on an endcap moves up that timeline pretty fast. They’re going to grab it right away because nobody wants to miss the deal or find out that the item is sold out later.
A promotional display can be well-designed and have a great deal. But it won’t perform if it’s in a low-traffic area.
Best Places for Your Store Displays
An endcap display can be the best one in the world. But it won’t deliver results if you stick it in the wrong place. Where you place it matters just as much as the products you pick to feature on it.
The data proves it. An endcap in the front third of a store can pull in anywhere from 60 to 80% better returns than the same setup toward the back – and we’re talking about the same product on the same display here.
Power aisles are also a great place for endcaps. These aisles get the most foot traffic all day long. In a grocery store, we’re talking about the main runs that everyone has to pass through. For bigger retailers, it’s the sections like the pharmacy and the electronics. Shoppers will walk past these endcaps over and over again during their trip.
Checkout lane endcaps can work really well, as long as you’re selling the right kinds of products. Impulse items that cost less than $20 usually do extremely well in this place because customers make quick decisions as they’re waiting in line. Products that need more careful consideration or any side-by-side comparison just won’t move as fast here. Most customers aren’t in the right mindset to review a bigger buy when they’ve already decided to check out and head home.
A prime location is worth quite a bit to you. But it won’t do much for you if the display itself can’t grab the attention. Endcaps near the entrance or along a power aisle are going to get plenty of foot traffic. What actually turns that traffic into sales is if your display gives the customers a good reason to stop and pull a product off of the shelf.
Tech Features That Improve Your Sales
Tech features can improve your endcaps and make shoppers actually pause and pay attention. QR codes are usually the easiest place to start. Link them to recipe ideas, video demonstrations or coupons that customers can redeem right there in the store.
Coca-Cola ran tests with video screens that adjusted their content based on customer data and the numbers were solid – 35% better engagement than traditional static signs. Technology that adds real value to the shopping experience will get more attention and customers respond when what they’re seeing feels relevant to them.
Augmented reality gets pretty cool with furniture and home decor products. Most furniture companies have AR tools that let you see how a couch or table would fit in your own living room. When shoppers are about to spend a lot of money on something big, they pause and second-guess themselves all of the time. AR helps remove most of that doubt before they go through with the buy.
Cost is worth considering with these systems. The bright side is that most retailers can make that money back within 6 months or so mainly because the conversion rates improve fast enough to cover what you spent at the start.
Motion-activated setups are an option worth trying. Shoppers spend about 40% more time in front of them on average and it gives you more opportunities to make the sale. Video screens work especially well if you want to show off related products in real-time. The recommendations can adjust automatically based on what a customer has already grabbed or added to their cart and it makes the experience feel more personalized without any involvement from your staff.
Smart Ways to Bundle Your Store Products
Product bundles work well because they tap into the buying patterns that customers already have in mind. A shopper who picks up a bag of tortilla chips is probably already planning to grab some salsa or guacamole on the same trip. Endcaps that group these items together make the whole process easier and they usually increase the total sale values by between 15% and 25%.
Product groupings like this work well but only when they actually solve a problem for your customers. Random items placed next to one another won’t accomplish much. The value is in making it easier for them. Customers can grab everything they need without wandering around. A movie night endcap groups popcorn, candy and drinks all together. The same goes for a summer grilling display – marinades, charcoal and tools right there together save them time and make the shopping trip easier.
Grocery stores have mastered this concept with their meal bundle setups. Instead of forcing shoppers to wander through multiple aisles, everything gets grouped together – proteins with the matching sides and sauces in one place. Customers can grab everything for dinner in a single pass and the convenience alone is what makes these setups outsell your standard single-product setups.
Cross-department coordination is where it gets tough with these setups. Batteries usually live in one section of the store while toys are in another and each category usually has its own buyer who takes care of the orders. Somebody needs to keep an eye on inventory levels for all of the items and make sure that they stay stocked together. When one product runs out, the whole display stops working nearly as well.
Your bundle also has to make visual sense to customers. Shoppers need to see how the products connect without spending much mental energy on it. A phone case next to a screen protector – that connection is obvious to just about anyone. But if your display looks too cluttered, or if the items seem randomly thrown together, shoppers will walk right past it. The setup needs to feel natural – when customers glance at it, they should be able to see why you put these products together.
How Sustainable Materials Improve Customer Sales
Retailers who use eco-friendly materials like recyclable cardboard and bamboo usually see engagement rates climb by 10 to 20%. Younger shoppers are the main ones who drive this increase and they look at these materials before they choose what to buy.
Whole Foods has made a name for itself partly because of this. Those natural wood fixtures remind shoppers of everything that they already believe about the brand. When your display matches up with what customers expect from your store, it makes them feel even better about spending more money on what you’re selling.
Materials have a functional side to them that matters just as much as the marketing benefits. Corrugated cardboard fixtures will cost you around 40% less than the permanent fixtures and those savings add up fast when you run multiple locations or switch out seasonal sections. You can swap them out whenever you have to feature something new or make adjustments for the season. This flexibility makes the sales floor fresh without a big investment every time you want to make changes.
Permanent fixtures can be the right choice in some situations. Categories that get heavy foot traffic all year long are usually worth the higher price tag since you’ll make back what you spent over time. Products that don’t change with the season make strong candidates for setups built to last that can take heavy use. Your goal should be to match what you invest with how long the display will actually stay relevant for your customers.
Some interesting data shows that shoppers will spend about 15% more time at the fixtures when those fixtures line up with their own personal values. All that extra time in front of your products gives you many more opportunities to make a sale. On top of that, the display itself helps to tell the story of who you are as a retailer and what your business stands for.
Your material decisions say quite a bit about how you think about retail. You either value flexibility and the ability to make changes when you have to, or you’d rather put money into fixtures built to last. These decisions show your priorities. They also tell customers what experience you create and how you want them to feel inside.
Convert Your Foot Traffic Into Extra Revenue
Endcap setups work well if you combine a few different high-performing elements together instead of just picking one strategy and calling it a day. Promotional items in prime places are a great starting point. Layering some interactive or screen technology on top of them will improve your ROI pretty reliably. What I like most about endcaps is the flexibility that they give you – you can test out different strategies and make changes based on what your customers actually respond to.
When you measure the performance in your own store, it’s much more helpful than copying what other retailers do. A strategy that gets great results in the electronics can flop if you apply it to cosmetics or home goods. Every store has its own customer base with different shopping habits, preferences and reasons for being there. Try one proven strategy and test it out first. From there, you can add elements like screens or cross-merchandising to see what actually drives up sales at your location.
Endcaps give you more control over your profits than just about any other tool in a retail store. Changing your store layout or adding more parking spaces takes months of planning and a big budget. An endcap display takes just a few hours to swap out. That flexibility means you can jump on new opportunities each week and you can adjust to what’s popular and to seasonal changes faster than almost anything else in your merchandising toolkit.
ecoATM kiosks can turn your existing retail space into an extra revenue stream without much effort on your part. We’ve recovered more than 6 million devices to date and our machines process thousands of customer transactions every day. What that means for you is real foot traffic and customers who spend more time in your store as they use the kiosk. The extra income alone makes it worthwhile for most retailers. But you’ll also get to show your customers that sustainability matters at your business. Our team would love to talk with you about whether an ecoATM kiosk makes sense for your location. Just reach out and we can talk about everything you’ll have to know about the partnership options.
