Hi Tracie
That’s a good question actually – counter displays vary widely in terms of size because there are so many factors that go into the design.
You have to first start by understanding the two primary levels of retail. What I call the “Small Arc” and the “Large Arc” - in the small arc you are selling into small retailers, boutiques, mom & pops, ..… They really don’t care as much about the specifics of a display since it is much easier for them to find room on the counter for it. That makes it easy on your end, because you have a lot more latitude in the design. The down side is you will sell a few thousand units a year on the small arc, so there isn’t as much money to be made.
On the large arc however, it’s all about the revenue produced by the display. In the end, the large arc buyer doesn’t care what you sell as long as it sells. To figure this out, many retail buyers calculate the footprint of the display (say 12 x 12 inches) divided (/) by the number of units on the display, times (X) the profit margin per unit. This makes the goal to get as many units on the display as possible, and to take of the smallest footprint on the counter. By this time I bet you guessed that since the retailer has a limited amount of counter space, they look for the highest “profit per square foot”. The good news is on the large arc you are going to normally sell 100’s of thousands of units per year and make significantly more money.
All that being said, there are some basic guidelines for a counter display.
- If you have product on both sides of the display it should rotate
- The overall height of a display should not be taller than about five feet from the floor
- The display should have some form of information header
- The display should hold as many units as possible
- It should have as small a footprint as you can make without being unstable
As for your color questions….I’ll give you a hint. All colors evoke emotion, a quick Google search and you will find sites that outline the different emotions evoked by the colors of the packaging. …start there and then go to a retailer and look at other packaging. You will see trends in color and design that may help you drill down a final design for your product.
Good luck with your display, I hope this helped.