Bigger Display or More Displays? What National Retail Data Really Says About Driving Sell-Through
As a National Accounts Director, one of the most important decisions you make with retail partners is how to use POP displays to generate the strongest possible in-store sales lift. Retailers want evidence. They want to know whether giving you more space in one location, or allowing multiple smaller placements throughout the store, will create the best return for the category.
Fortunately, retail and academic research provide clear insight into how shoppers react to changes in both display size and placement, and the findings are directly relevant to national retail strategy.
Why Doubling the Size of a Display Often Outperforms Expectations
Increasing the footprint of a single display does far more than expand physical space. A well-known field experiment by East et al. found that increasing the size of a display produced a more-than-proportional increase in sales, meaning the lift significantly exceeded what would be expected based solely on the added area (East et al., 2003). This is exactly the kind of insight retailers look for when deciding how much space to allocate.
A larger display consistently:
Creates stronger stopping power
Increases shopper dwell time
Signals category leadership and authority
Offers room for deeper storytelling and more facings
Reduces stockouts through greater inventory capacity
This evidence forms a powerful retail-facing message:
“A larger display doesn’t simply add square footage; it materially increases visibility and conversion, making the footprint more productive for the retailer.”
For national rollouts, brand launches, and margin-rich categories, a larger, dominant display often becomes a store destination that consistently drives higher engagement.
What Adding a Second Display Actually Does for Sales
Adding a second display in the same store has a different but equally valuable effect. The same research by East et al. showed that a second display generates an additive sales boost rather than a multiplicative one. In other words, each display contributes its own incremental lift, but the two together don’t create a compounding effect.
However, numerous in-store behavior studies - including work by Han et al.- show that secondary placement increases total reach by intercepting shoppers in different zones, such as impulse areas, category aisles, and power aisles. This makes multiple displays especially effective for categories with a mix of mission-driven and impulse-driven shoppers (Han et al., 2021).
Retailers appreciate this approach because it fits into existing planograms and requires minimal space negotiation. Secondary displays often yield significant incremental sales, which is why many chains encourage promotional or seasonal secondary placements when space allows.
Comparing Real-World Performance
Let’s assume a standard display produces a +15% lift in sales. Based on the research:
A Larger (Double-Sized) Display
Often delivers greater than +30%
Creates stronger brand blocking and attention capture
Enhances education and shopper engagement
Performs exceptionally well during category resets or key-item pushes
Aligns well with retailer goals for category growth
Two Standard-Sized Displays
Typically produce ~30% total lift (e.g., +15% + +15%)
Expand brand reach across multiple shopper paths
Capture impulse purchases more effectively
Provide valuable data about zone-based performance
Are easier for retailers to approve because they use flexible space
Industry organizations such as POPAI have reported that one in six purchases are directly driven by the presence of an in-store display, underscoring the importance of having multiple intercept points where appropriate.
Which Strategy Should You Recommend to Retailers?
Choose a Larger Display When:
You need to create major visual impact
The retailer wants to elevate the category or introduce a new line
Education, storytelling, or premium positioning matter
Deep inventory reduces stockouts and increases turns
The store has a high-value location that your brand can “own”
Choose Multiple Displays When:
You want maximum reach across the store
The category relies heavily on impulse purchasing
You’re testing new SKUs, messaging, or pricing
Space is tight and secondary placements are easier to secure
You want to learn which zones produce the best velocity
Final Perspective for National Account Directors
Both strategies deliver strong results—but they deliver them differently.
A larger display amplifies visibility and engagement and often produces more than double the impact when its size is doubled.
Multiple displays increase overall reach and create a reliable, additive lift by intercepting shoppers in different store locations.
Knowing when to recommend each approach—and how to explain the data behind it—strengthens your credibility with national buyers and helps retailers make decisions that grow both the brand and the category.
