Sustainable Retail Displays
You don't have to be in the display manufacturing business in order to make a major positive impact on the world. Retailers have the power to influence the products they sell and how these products are being delivered to them from manufacturers. Sometimes, it is as simple as changing your retail display method.
When your business is making a move to being green, one of the first things to do is make a list of all the ways you can be better. Reducing your overall impact starts with tracking your current usage, and a retail display is a great place to dig into.
That's because custom retail displays can do so much more for your business. Once you find clever ways to make them more sustainable, you can count those points toward your overall business. Touting this in your marketing is a great way to capture more customers.
Now let's dig into those tips!
Table Of Contents
Tip #1 Switch To Digital Printing
High-speed digital printing is one of the best ways to be more sustainable while actually doing more with your marketing. That's because the printing method can reduce your impact on the environment while allowing you to print more graphics.
At Bennett, when we switch a display to digital printing, it allows us to go through fewer machine passes. We have saved customers up to 18% on resources like water, electricity, and CO2 used on their orders.
Different Regions
Each location where your display is located should have its own design to correspond to the clients that reside there. In the winter, you wouldn't want to hang beach photographs in the northeast. It just wouldn't connect with customers.
Each Retailer
Every shop you work with is likely to have its own set of style guidelines and sizing constraints. That indicates you've already made changes to the display, and your budget has increased. You could print a unique design on each of these displays without the need for printing plates, making them more appealing to the clients that shop there.
Unique Designs For Each SKU
Perhaps you're creating a separate display for each SKU to properly color code the displays. If you utilize the same design on all of your displays, they won't appear to be separate items. A blueberry drink, for example, should be dripping with rich blues, whilst a strawberry display should be a vibrant red that looks as delicious as the drink itself. Don't let a single graphic restrict your sales potential.
Digital no longer means short run. It actually means sustainable (in our minds). So you should dig deep into the printing process and learn more about it.
Tip #2 Try Different Materials
Some retail displays are made out of sturdier materials when they don't need to be. Or there are tons of efficiencies that can be found during the redesign process.
Your display may be using too much glue due to the design needing to hold so much weight. Adjusting the design and quantity could reduce the glue needed.
Or perhaps you are using a sturdier build because of a large and heavy header graphic that is permanently attached to the display. To reduce the weight, look into creating smaller headers that can be swapped out at retail.
There are so many ways to create a retail display, and finding the most efficient is what we at Bennet do best.
Tip #3 Produce Less Waste
Less waste means a smaller carbon footprint and less money spent on disposal fees. Look at the design of your displays and see if there are any elements that aren't being used or could be modified to create different components.
Sometimes, the display is created to be easily disposed of when it should be created to last longer. That way, you can order less and keep less in inventory.
And to bring up Digital Printing again, we've helped reduce customer waste by up to 24%. This is possible because we can easily optimize the printing sheet now and no longer require printing plates.
Use Less Resources
Water, power, and other resources will be used in every Display you buy. However, with Digital Printing, you may save up to 18% on your purchase.
Telling the consumer what you're doing to help reduce your impact allows those actions to become another arrow in your marketing strategy.
Less Time To Manufacture
Digital printing does not add time to your production, but it does reduce the number of presses required. To run the drawings independently in a standard printing situation, you'll need additional equipment and staff for each hue. Bennett's Digital Printer allows us to print all colors simultaneously on a single press!
Shipping costs and waste disposal costs add up over time and can easily eat into your bottom line.
If you analyze your entire supply chain, there are probably a myriad of ways to produce less waste. Task your team with finding them all, and decide which are the most possible to start today.
Tip #4 Create A Longer Lasting Display
A longer lasting display can mean a lot of things to a lot of people. This all depends on the type of display you are creating. But if you need to replace the display less at retail stores, then less is getting recycled, thrown away, and shipped.
For example, we can make Digitally Printed Dump Bin Displays with two machine passes instead of three or four. That's thanks to our Jumbo Die Cutter. It allows us to make a one-piece Dump Bin instead of a two piece. Making it sturdier, and much greener.
- Switching to a design that looks less "shop-worn"
- Order thicker board material
- Switch to a one-piece design instead of two
Customers also see a huge difference in the life span of their display when they make creative changes. We're all about reducing waste and reusing materials, so using materials that can be reused/recycled makes us very happy inside.
Tip #5 Order From A Better Manufacturer
Not all Retail Display Manufacturers are created equal. Some will simply take your order, others will walk you through the design process to make something truly special.
When you have business goals to become more sustainable, you need to find a business partner that has those same goals. Otherwise, how will you hit them?
Not to toot our own horn, but at Bennett Packaging, we work hard to have more certifications and work with more organizations to be even greener. We were one of the first manufacturers in North America to buy a High-Speed Digital Press, and are the only one with 2 Printers in the same facility.
That's because we are always looking to innovate and be at the forefront of what the market demands. We don't want to be behind the curve, so we work hard to ensure we’re ahead of it.
Create A Sustainable Retail Display Today!
Sustainability should be a goal for all businesses, not just retail displays. There are many ways to make your business more sustainable, and we've outlined five of them in this article. If you're looking for more tips or want help implementing these changes, contact us today.
Our team is dedicated to helping businesses become more environmentally responsible and reduce their carbon footprint. Let's work together to create a more sustainable future!
