GE Lighting Brightens Aisles, Raises Consumer Awareness

When it comes to light bulbs, consumers are often uneducated and easily overwhelmed, especially since its not unusual for one store to merchandise 350 different SKUs of light bulbs. "We had to do something at the point-of-sale to educate the consumer. No one does a good job of it, including us," admits Joe Sbrocco, manager of packaging and merchandising for Cleveland-based GE Lighting.So the folks at GE Lighting decided to take matters into their own hands. Rather than waiting for retailers to request or suggest educational materials, GE Lighting conceptualized and developed the Light Location, a separate department within the store "to get the customer into the area to educate him or her, give information and create an atmosphere," Sbrocco says.The Light Location can be easily spotted from many locations within the store. The prominent entrance to this area features a vinyl banner that spans the aisle and connects the endcaps on either side. The banner accommodates differing aisle widths via plastic tubes on the top and bottom, which "telescope" to cubelike extensions above each endcap, Sbrocco explains. The banners may also be hung from the ceiling.The plastic cubes which each feature a large, circular GE logo, step out to provide a dimensional look. Signs touting Light Location Specials measure 48 by 9 inches and call attention to the endcaps, which can be stocked any way the retailer desires.Passing through the entrance, the consumer is met by organized and attractive shelving stocked with GE light bulbs. Slide-in signs, measuring 18 inches by 9 inches, highlight 13 different categories of GE light bulbs, including spots and floods; halogen; specialty; decorative; appliance; and soft white longlife. Typical applications and the type of light each category provides are also listed alongside visuals of the packaging and a light bulb. The signs were also designed with overstocking in mind. They may be unhooked and flipped down out of the way, providing store personnel with easy access to the top shelf, which is normally hidden by the signs.White channel strips alert consumers to the product located directly above, in addition to listing "three or four bullet points," Sbrocco explains. The area immediately below the channel strips is left vacant, allowing the retailer to slide in its own data, such as stock numbers and UPC scanner information.In addition, GE Lighting developed plastic sidekick displays available with shelves, hooks or a combination of both. This versatile unit may be attached to the side of a gondola, function as a freestanding display, or cross merchandised outside of the Light Location. These units highlight one particular lighting category and may be stocked with a selection of the retailer's choosing. The sidekicks may also be easily adapted to hold literature.Since retailers didn't specifically request the new Light Location program, GE Lighting is quite conscious of the fact that the supermarkets, mass merchants and home centers it is targeting may not like the concept. The Light Locations are currently being tested in nine stores. "We're trying to show [retailers] a better way of merchandising light bulbs," Sbrocco says. He considers the Light Locations to be prototypes "to see what increase and take-away we may get."If retailers don't like it, we may not do it," he admits. But then again, "if Kmart wanted [the program] in 2,000 stores, we could be there in six to eight weeks." Other retailers may like bits and pieces of the program. "Accounts may use it as is or incorporate it into their own scheme," he says. "The important thing is that they are using the information we're providing." Take-one literature not only helps the consumer in his light bulb selection, but aids store personnel in selling the bulbs.Sianato Design Group, Cleveland, manufactured the Light Locations according to GE Lighting's design.

GE Lighting Brightens Aisles, Raises Consumer Awareness

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