Your products are great, but they are getting lost on busy store shelves. This means competitors with better visuals are grabbing your customers' attention and sales every single day.

The best way to choose a retail display is to match it to your product's size and weight, your brand's style, and the store's environment. A successful display must be structurally sound, easy for store staff to assemble, and visually appealing to attract your target customer.

Choosing a display can feel overwhelming. There are so many options, from small counter units to large, free-standing floor displays. But it doesn't have to be complicated. With my 16 years in this business, I've learned that the right choice always comes down to a few basic principles. If you focus on your product, your customer, and the person who will actually build the display, you're already on the path to success. Let’s explore how to make the best choice for your brand.

Which display will attract the most customers?

You have a display in the store, but customers seem to walk right past it. It's frustrating to see your product ignored while others fly off the shelves nearby.

Displays that attract the most customers use bold graphics¹, unique shapes, and clear messaging. A display with an interactive element² or a striking color palette that matches your brand perfectly will stop shoppers in their tracks and pull them in for a closer look.

In my experience, color is one of the most powerful tools for attraction. But getting the color right is a technical challenge. A customer's brand color might look perfect on a computer screen, but reproducing that exact shade on corrugated cardboard is difficult. Standard printing can lead to disappointment, with colors that look dull or inaccurate. This disconnect hurts brand recognition³. That's why at my company, we invested in an advanced color management system⁴. It allows us to profile the exact printing press and material we're using. We can then precisely match your brand's specific Pantone colors. I remember a client with a vibrant orange in their logo. Their old displays looked washed out. After we corrected the color, their display became a beacon in the aisle, leading to a noticeable increase in engagement.

What are design displays for retail stores?

Thinking a display is just a cardboard box to hold products is a common mistake. This simple view leads to boring displays that fail to stand out, costing you potential sales.

Design displays are strategically engineered marketing tools, not just containers. They are custom-built structures⁵ made to highlight a specific product or brand, create a unique shopping experience, and ultimately persuade a customer to buy.

A truly effective display is born from a thoughtful design process. It begins with an idea, but it quickly moves into technical planning. At lddisplay, we use CAD software to build a 3D model⁶ of every display. This isn't just about how it looks; it's about structural integrity. Will it hold the weight of the products? Can it withstand being bumped by shopping carts? We choose the right grade of corrugated board and design internal supports to make sure the answer is yes. For a beverage client once, we designed a floor display to hold 50 lbs of product. The first prototype looked great but wobbled slightly. We went back to the CAD model, added an interlocking support beam, and the final version was rock-solid. A display has to be both beautiful and strong to do its job.

Here is a look at the typical design and engineering process:

1. Client Brief: Understanding the product, brand, budget, and retail environment.
2. Concept Sketch: Initial visual ideas and brainstorming.
3. 3D/CAD Modeling: Creating a digital blueprint that defines dimensions and structure.
4. Material Selection: Choosing the correct cardboard flute and paper weight for strength.
5. Prototyping: Building a physical, unprinted sample to test structure and assembly.
6. Final Artwork: Applying graphics and ensuring color accuracy before production.

Which example describes a good retail display⁷?

You've seen thousands of displays, but it's hard to pinpoint what separates a great one from a bad one. You might be approving designs that look nice but don't actually work.

A good retail display⁷ ships efficiently, assembles in seconds, perfectly matches the brand's colors, securely holds the product, and clearly communicates its value. It solves problems for the brand, the retailer, and the shopper all at once.

Let me give you a concrete example of a recent project. A snack company was launching a new line of chips. Their main concerns were shipping costs⁸ to their overseas markets and ensuring store staff would actually set up the displays. We designed a floor display that shipped flat-packed on pallets. This method, palletizing, groups many units together securely, which protects them during transport and makes them easier to handle. Every shipment also underwent our standard waterproof test to guarantee it arrived safe and dry. The real innovation, however, was in the assembly. We engineered it to be pre-glued and folded. A store employee could take it out of the box and pop it into its final 3D shape in literally two seconds. No tools, no confusing instructions. This solved a huge pain point for the brand and ensured their products got on the sales floor fast.

Who sets up store displays?

You've invested in a fantastic display, but it arrives at the store in a flat box. If the person on the floor can't build it quickly, your entire investment is at risk.

Store displays are almost always set up by busy retail employees who have many other tasks. Sometimes, a brand's own merchandiser or a third-party service will do it, but you should always design for the store employee.

You have to design for the end user, and in this case, the end user is often a teenager working part-time or a stockroom manager who has five minutes to spare. They don't have time for complex instructions or a bag of screws. This is the core philosophy behind my work. I once had a new client who was getting terrible results with a display from another supplier. The displays looked great in photos, but less than 30% were ever being set up in stores. We found out they took 15 minutes to assemble. We redesigned it as a simple, pop-up unit that took seconds. Their setup rate jumped to over 90% immediately. We also have to think about what happens before assembly. A display that arrives damaged is useless. That's why we design protective shipping elements⁹, like reinforced corner cards for 3D shipments, to ensure the unit arrives in perfect shape, ready for that quick, easy setup.

Conclusion

Choosing the right display means focusing on attraction, smart design, and easy setup. When you solve these practical challenges, your display will work harder for you and help your sales grow.