Horizon Retail Marketing Solutions
Omnichannel Strategy to Enhance In-Store Shopping

After a year of stay-at-home orders, quarantines, shop closures, and restrictions, shoppers are finally emerging from the comfort of their homes and returning to retailers for the ‘try before you buy’ experience. However, the growth in online shopping has put immense pressure on businesses to keep overheads low. Additionally, global lockdowns have also affected the number of retail employees present at the store at a time. With the in-store retail industry bouncing back, shoppers demand more hands-on in-personal services as well as guidance and customer care. However, with personnel shortages, this has proven challenging as not every employee knows all of the products and how they compare to similar items on the market. Evidently, there is a need for a system that can assist sales associates in meeting the needs of a consumer a need rightly fulfilled by Horizon Retail Marketing Solutions (RMS).

For over ten years, Horizon RMS has been developing and delivering innovative and pragmatic retail POS and display systems for world-class brands and retailers. The company collaborates with clients from concept to design, print, manufacturing, installation, and compliance, thereby bringing in-store campaigns to life. In contrast to other, more modest store footprints, Horizon’s solutions can be category-based and span 10-50 metres, allowing shoppers and store workers to evaluate items and ultimately make an informed in-store choice. With an award-winning design team, Horizon can build incredible in-store experiences that always have a clear set of priorities. “Our designs are geared to be self-contained or the ideal prompt for a store employee while simultaneously providing the customer with an added value experience without requiring them to depend on internet searches,” says Andrew Moss, Managing Director of Horizon RMS. Additionally, if an internet search is necessary, Horizon will provide a QR code that can direct them to the most relevant website for the product in question.

Horizon’s innovative solutions enable stores to sell more commodities and provide better retail experiences for their customers. Horizon RMS also provides a return on investment (ROI) that entails increased revenues while lowering outlay. On a more technological front, the company has also embraced the smartphone era by leveraging video, audio, lighting, and interactivity to allow customers to enjoy the best of both worlds. “We use technology in a way that each display adds real value to a product and can assist with even the simplest purchasing decisions,” says Moss.

Horizon’s ability to address all the challenges its clients face stems from a team of retail experts with a deep know-how of the investments required for a successful retail in-store. For instance, the company might advise a brand to decrease the number of targeted stores to fund ongoing merchandising and compliance inspections. Although this decreases turnover in the short term, having fewer better-performing locations has proven to be an advantage rather than having many underperforming stores. This long-term planning approach that ensures customer success and higher ROI truly sets Horizon RMS apart from its competitors in the retail marketing space. “It takes maturity to give the customer what they need, not what they want, which is ultimately beneficial for all,” says Moss.

To emphasize the competency of Horizon, Moss cites an instance in which the company assisted Circut, a well-established crafting brand from the United States recognized for its flagship cutting machines, tools, and accessories. When the brand initially debuted in Europe three years ago, it had little to no recognition in the market. Essentially, Horizon was handed a blank sheet of paper against which the company creatively comprehended the client’s aspirations and provided a modular solution that could be scaled up as the brand gained traction. Through research, Horizon RMS determined the kind of visual stimulation that could engage buyers with the client’s products and offerings. The company deduced that the best course of action would be to display a range of finished fixture samples and a step-by-step procedure on how the entire fixture was created. For this project, categorizing the samples was critical greeting cards, personalized phone cases, names on water bottles, designing t-shirts, and so on all of which generated massive hardware and accessory sales. With the assistance of Horizon RMS, Circut and its products can now be found in retailers across Europe, ranging from electronics to craft experts.

With such a track record of success, the company launched Horizon Europe in Holland, which later collaborated with a German company in the DACH region. Over the following 12 months, Moss aims to consolidate both of these territories through expansion and greater equity. In terms of technology, large format LED and bendable LCD panels are becoming increasingly widespread; Horizon intends to incorporate this technology into more fixtures and storefronts.