Giving brands the final word

TillTops targets shoppers at the zone that has maximum traffic in-store – the till point – and that's when the customer has little to do but look at brand messaging. Influencing consumers at the point of purchase, the company's printed messages are found at 20 000 tills in 1 800 stores across South Africa, including Shoprite, Checkers, Clicks and Jet. According to AC Nielsen, in the Shoprite Group alone, TillTops reaches 10-million unique shoppers each month, and witnesses 434-million transactions a year.

Despite targeting shoppers at the end of the shopping trip, rather than the start, the company says it has delivered impressive results for brands, acting both as a call to action medium, and as an awareness-building tool. For those products stocked at the till point, ranging from airtime and magazines, to sweets and chocolates, the medium is designed to boost purchase. The company says that MTN starter pack sales increased by 181.5% thanks to the message put across at the point of purchase over a yearlong campaign, and similarly, People magazine enjoyed a 15% increase in sales over its three-month TillTops promotion.

Products not stocked at the till can also feel the effectiveness of the medium, as the medium is designed to drive awareness of new goods, variants or line extensions, and prime shoppers for their next shopping trip. The company says General Mills, for instance, saw sales grow by 57% in Shoprite stores, when promoting its new Nature Valley granola bars using the medium.

Some brands have even used the medium to build brand affinity, providing shoppers with a sponsored, entertaining visual or news snippet to read at the pay point, reducing their perceived wait time while building positive associations with the brand.

Daniel Goss, CEO of Top of Mind, the alternate media company offering TillTops as a marketing medium, says that research shows that only 54% of shoppers will walk down any one aisle, but 100% of shoppers will end up at a till point.

Shoppers are forced to slow down and wait at the till point and “this is when they begin to actively look for stimulation, and this is exactly the reason that you experience impulse purchases at the checkout counter,” says Goss.