Clip Strip FAQs
Published: 15th June 2022
What is a Clip Strip?
A clip strip is a flat hanging point of sale (pos) display solution which can be made from plastic or card and allows products to be hung outside the traditional on shelf position.
The most powerful element of a clip strip is that it allows product to be cross-merchandised alongside in category shelved product to attract an additional basket sale.
Cross-merchandising is where synergistic products that would normally be displayed in different parts of the store, are merchandised together; for example, paper straws displayed on a clip strip, hanging in the soft drinks isle, or herbs next to meat/fish. This helps the consumer by introducing interesting impulse lines and links, and helps the retailer gain additional basket sales.
Clip strips can be temporary. For example, if made from card, they might be in store for the length of time it takes to sell the product it holds, which depends on the rate of sales. A semi-permanentclip strip made from plastic can be reloaded multiple times, or permanent clip strips can be regarded as part of the fixture e.g. scorpion strips which are screwed into the fixture in Pets at Home.
Clip strips are also sometimes referred to as clipstrips, display strips, hanging strips, hanging hooks, merchandising strips, sell strips, selling strip, hanging shelf strip, or hanging POS solution.
When should I consider using a clip strip?
Your product will need to have impulse appeal and to have forecasted sales in line with the respective retailer and category sales and margin hurdles.
More broadly, key drivers for clip strips include:
• Cross-Merchandising: as above, where sales link between related products on the shelf and clip strip
• Pure impulse lines e.g. batteries, tissues
• Seasonal product introductions such as BBQ skewers with BBQ pre-packed meats, mulled wine kits with red wine, Easter confectionery, tanning mitts with self-tan to suggest a few.
• An item has ‘stand alone novelty value’ and will simply sell if given multi-sitings where attention is drawn to it because it’s on a strip.
• New product introductions without planogram/fixture changes, e.g. test marketing.
• Product range enlargement, extension and development
• Tactical marketing and special promotions
• Multi-siting of products from low footfall merchandise sections to increase sales
This is not an exhaustive list and creative buyers and brand owners will certainly find and develop new consumer offers through impulse sales opportunities.
Is my product suitable for a clip strip?
Generally speaking the product size and weight must comply with market standards and individual retailer guidelines, and we can guide you through this – please contact our friendly team for more information.
Do not rule out items that you may consider being unsuitable for clip stripping, for example if there is no Euro slot present, because Lighthouse’s innovative design team have solutions and are often able to create specialist clip strips and bespoke clip strips and design solutions to hang even the most unusual products.
The images included demonstrate the breadth of product that can be merchandised on a clip strip. Lighthouse Display has over 500 different types of clip strip, and will work with you to develop a solution for your product.
Lighthouse can find the best clip strip solution for your product and provide rapid prototyping of the proposed ‘retail ready pack’, which will bring to life the solution ready for submission to the retail category representative for evaluation.
How and when are the clip strips loaded with product?
There are two ways, via:
1. Merchandisers who either load product onto clip strips in store or take preloaded clip strips into store, or…
2. The clip strips are pre-loaded with product and are sent into retailers via their normal supply chain distribution routes
The route is often determined by the respective retailer, either way we can help guide you through this process and the respective guidelines as appropriate.
Lighthouse can offer co-packing support, for preloading the clip strip, where brand owners do not have their own in-house capabilities or approved co-packer, alternatively we can support your factory or co-packer to help ensure our clip strips are loaded in the most cost-effective way.
If the product is preloaded, this can either be done by hand or by using our semi-automatic Clip Strip loading machine which you can see here.
Where do I start, I have never used clip strips before?!
As the original pioneer of the Clip Strip, our expertise and experience in this particular field of POS is second to none, spanning over 25 years creating a large back catalogue of designs and intellectual property. We are one of the UK’s leading suppliers of clip strips and as such we have set the market standards, are the custodians of many retailer clip strip guidelines and help support brand owners and retailers with challenges relating to compliance. Please contact our friendly team for advice.
Are the Clip Strips recyclable?
Yes, our clip strips are primarily made from polypropylene (PP) and in some cases PET, both of which are widely recycled.
Our unbranded clip strips are embossed with the mobius loop recycled symbol, for example PET is No 1 & PP is No 5. This means that they can be identified at ‘end of life’ and recycled according to the correct recycling stream.
To understand more about Lighthouse’s commitment to sustainability please take a look at our Eco Credentials or read more about our approach.
Other key features of Clip Strips
The integral price holder section (SEL holder) allows the shelf edge label (SEL) to be attached to the clip strip without the need for an additional barker.
Options for hanging the Clip Strips include s-hooks, scorpion clips and dolphins – see more on our accessories page.
We also have solutions including clip strips with integral slots for a sucker, which allow the clip strip to be positioned on a smooth glass surface, for example, on the side of chiller cabinets.
Many Lighthouse clip strips have an integral head-flip feature which allows the clip strips to be attached to an additional header, which is particularly relevant for brand awareness, messaging and education of the consumer. We have many examples so please contact our team who can send you more information and examples.
Branding a clip strip, to increase its presence in store as the product is shopped, is allowed in certain retailers. Our team can advise you on this further and our in-house graphics team and on-site printers at our manufacturing head office site in Nottingham can help to produce it.
My product is sourced and packed in the FE, how can I avoid double handling?
Lighthouse display works closely with our approved FE partner, so that once we have helped with the initial stages of the project, for example helping to find the most suitable clip strip solution for your product, we then hand over to our colleagues in Hong Kong so they can deal directly with your FE supplier or factory.
What if my product isn’t suitable for Clip Strips?
In the unlikely event that a clip strip is not suitable, Lighthouse can offer their services for other Off Fixture Displays (OFDs) and Point of Sales (POS) alternatives, please follow the link to our 3D Display Units.
Would you like to hear what our customers are saying?
If you would like to discuss your clip strip or POS requirements, please contact our sales team.