Anyone visiting a typical supermarket cannot fail to notice the variety of displays used to attract their attention. There are many benefits for POP merchandising:

Benefits for the marketer
- Keeps the company and brand name/s visible to the consumer
- Reinforces brand image
- Calls attention to special offers
- Stimulates impulse purchases
 
Benefits for retailers
- Attracts consumers' attention and direct them to product/s featured
- Increases consumer interest in shopping
- Extends the number of time consumers spend in the shop
•    Helps optimize space utilization
•    Benefits for the consumer
•    Provides useful information that often assists in the purchase decision
•    Simplifies the shopping process

Not a lot of imagination is needed to realize that all these benefits lead to increased sales.
A wide variety of POP materials are available, one is only limited to one's imagination. They can be temporary or permanent, static or moving, interactive with the consumer and video merchandising centres.

A sample of the items that can be used would include a wide variety of signs, posters, mobiles, plaques, banners, shelf tapes/talkers, mechanical mannequins, lights, mirrors, plastic reproductions of products, check-out units, dump bins, racks of various literature, flags, bunting (string flags) etc.

POP materials perform four very important marketing functions:
•    informing,
•    reminding,
•    encouraging and
•    merchandising.

For POP displays and materials to be effective they should conform to a few requirements:
•    be the right size and format (in proportion to the location in which they are to be used).
•    fit the decor and design of the shop in which they are to be placed
•    be 'user friendly' easy to install
•    be sent to retailers in good time before the start of the sales promotion campaign
•    be coordinated with the other relevant aspects of the integrated marketing communications strategy, such as personal selling, general advertising and public relations.
•    be attractive, functional and useful to consumers.