Tabletop and Counter Displays That Get Noticed

Counter and tabletop displays are the least glamorous fixtures in a shop and among the most effective, because they sit exactly where people already are.

Angle matters more than size

A card lying flat on a counter is largely invisible — it is read at an extreme angle and it competes with everything else on the surface.

A tabletop easel raises the item to somewhere between 15 and 30 degrees from vertical, which is close to perpendicular to the line of sight of someone standing at a counter. That change alone does most of the work.

Height on a counter

A counter is about 36 inches. Something on a 9-inch tabletop stand puts the centre of a small card at roughly 42 inches — below eye level but well within the natural downward gaze at a counter.

Taller than about 15 inches on a counter starts to obstruct the view across it, which staff will quietly resent.

One message per display

A card carrying three offers communicates none of them. If there are three things to say, use three stands in different places, or say one thing and change it.

The test: can it be read in the time it takes to walk past? If not, it is a leaflet, not a sign.

Change it regularly

Displays become invisible to regular customers within a couple of weeks — and to staff even faster, which is why a sign for a promotion that ended in March is still up in June.

A fortnightly change is enough to keep a display noticed. Put it in a calendar, because it will not happen otherwise.

Where to put them

• At the till, where people wait. The single most-read position in any shop.
• At the entrance, at the point where people pause and orient themselves.
• Beside the item itself, for anything needing explanation.
• In the window, angled towards the direction people approach from — not parallel to the glass, which nobody reads.

Window displays and light

Sunlight fades printed material quickly, and a south-facing window will bleach a colour print in weeks. Either accept replacement as routine, laminate with a UV-resistant film, or design in a colour scheme that fades gracefully.

Heat also warps foam board in a window. A rigid board holds its shape better.

Materials for counter work

Wooden tabletop easels look domestic and warm; metal ones look neutral and modern. For a bookshop or a gallery the wooden ones generally sit better with the stock.

Whichever, check the tray depth against the thickness of what you are displaying. A tray sized for a card will not hold a framed piece.

Buying in sets

Tabletop easels are usually sold in packs, which suits shop use — matching stands across a counter look deliberate, where an assortment looks accidental.

Keep a couple spare. They get borrowed, dropped and used for something else.

For book and gallery displays specifically

Face-out display sells books that spine-out display does not, because people recognise covers rather than titles. A small easel per featured title, changed weekly, does more than an extra shelf.

For artwork, a stand rather than a wall hook lets a piece be moved to the light and turned to the viewer — which matters more than it sounds when someone is deciding.

Browse our Tabletop Easels, sold in packs with the quantity in each title.