We’ve recently heard a lot of concern about tariffs on POP displays manufactured in China. The current 10% tariff is inclusive of all of the HTS codes that are typically used to import POP displays from China. On January 1st, tariffs are expected to increase to 25%, which will certainly have a greater impact on display manufacturers who manufacture in China as well as their customers who are likely to see price increases.
In today’s post, we will discuss one strategy that could prove beneficial to customers who are looking to avoid or at least minimize the impact of tariffs as we enter into 2019. In a nutshell, the strategy is to buy stock displays and customize them. Rather than purchase an imported custom display, customers can take advantage of stock displays that are already in inventory and have been purchased at pre-tariff prices. For example, offering a viable line of stock displays to our customers means we have to carry enough inventory for customers to be able to select fixtures that can be used to build programs. What that means for customers is that we have already purchased the overwhelming majority of our stock displays at pre-tariff prices, which translates into savings for our customers.
Let’s take a look at 11 examples of how our customers have been leveraging this strategy of customizing our stock POP displays. If you are interested is seeing more examples, check out our blog entitled “Ten Great Ways to Customize a Stock POP Display.”
1. 4-WAY-POST- The example below shows how Uscape Apparel customized our stock 4-WAY-POST display in Oklahoma State University’s bookstore. We helped them convert a generic fixture into a tastefully branded fixture by printing a custom header sign and adding base graphics.
2. 4-WAY-EXT- Uscape Apparel used a similar approach with our stock 4-WAY-EXT display to merchandise its products in Grand Canyon University’s bookstore, although we skipped the base graphics on this version.
3. Nesting Tables- A third example of how Uscape Apparel has used our stock displays is shown below. In Long Beach State’s bookstore, Uscape used our stock nesting tables as a complementary fixture set to the 4-WAY-EXT fixture which you can see in the background on the right.
4. FX-24- Squishable leveraged out stock FX-24 display to merchandise its line of plush toys. We started with the stock FX-24 shelf display and added 6 hooks for hanging product and PVC header sign.
5. UMF-24G- Aetrex utilized our stock UMF-24G display and customized it with die-cut PVC side signs and a custom 2-sided curved PVC header sign.
6. WD-HG-TGW-SG- Open Road Brands did a great job of creating a customized, high-impact merchandising vehicle for an Ace Hardware rollout by starting with our stock 4-sided slatgrid display. We added screen-printed branding, hooks for 4 plastic clip strips, stock hooks, cap pockets, shelves, and a branded bamboo header sign.
7. CTX-06- The example below shows how even one of our most economical and basic stock displays can be branded to achieve more of a custom look. In this case, it was simply a matter of making a 360-degree header to help get shopper attention. The fixture and header colors matched Bionic’s packaging and products well, which helped to create an attractive presentation.
8. WD-20-FLP-ST- This is one of many examples of how we have customized one of our stock wood shelf displays. We added a white washed finish to match the vibe of the Cabo Chips brand and included a PVC header sign. To create a more heavily branded fixture, we could have added shelf and side signs had the budget allowed.
9. WD-2S-TGW– The picture below shows again how easy it is to customize any of our basic stock displays to create a branded display. By simply adding a header and side signs to this wood slatgrid display, we were able to create a fixture that not only promoted the FootBalance brand but also provided a strong messaging platform for the product.
10. CAP-12ECO- The picture below shows a customized version of our economical 12-pocket stock cap display. As usual we added a header sign, but what made this display more customized was the side flag sign we added which provided Grom Squad with a vehicle to tell its story and provide compelling imagery, helpfing to capture shopper attention.
11. WD-MPP- We customized our stock MPP-HD display for WIGWAM to merchandise socks. We created custom hook accessories, changed the MDF base panel to stained wood, and added a high-end wood and acrylic header.
Jim Hollen is the owner and President of RICH LTD. (www.richltd.com), a 35+ year-old California-based point-of-purchase display, retail store fixture, and merchandising solutions firm which has been named among the Top 50 U.S. POP display companies for 9 consecutive years. A former management consultant with McKinsey & Co. and graduate of Stanford Business School, Jim Hollen has served more than 3000 brands and retailers over more than 20 years and has authored nearly 500 blogs and e-Books on a wide range of topics related to POP displays, store fixtures, and retail merchandising.
Jim has been to China more than 50 times and has worked directly with more than 30 factories in Asia across a broad range of material categories, including metal, wood, acrylic, injection molded and vacuum formed plastic, corrugated, glass, LED lighting, digital media player, and more. Jim Hollen also oversees RICH LTD.’s domestic manufacturing operation and has experience manufacturing, sourcing, and importing from numerous Asian countries as well as Vietnam and Mexico.
His experience working with brands and retailers spans more than 25 industries such as food and beverage, apparel, consumer electronics, cosmetics/beauty, sporting goods, automotive, pet, gifts and souvenirs, toys, wine and spirits, home improvement, jewelry, eyewear, footwear, consumer products, mass market retail, specialty retail, convenience stores, and numerous other product/retailer categories.