The Display Chef’s Guide to Shipping Displays

Retailers have three primary options when determining how they want to ship their displays.  It is critical to decide on the preferred method up front, since the display structure will be highly dependent on the decision.

PREPACK

This is clearly the easiest and most reliable way to ensure the successful installation of your display program at retail.  Not unlike the decision to dine out at a restaurant, everything is fully prepared and served to you.  With prepacked displays, the retailer simply removes the fully assembled and stocked display from a carton.  At most, the retailer will need to insert a simple riser card.  While this is the most costly of the three options, implementation is nearly guaranteed. 

NEAR-PACK

This option is like going to your local market and buying already prepared foods that just need re-heating; all of the hard work has been done.  With near-pack displays, the retailer simply takes the product out of a kit and places it on the display.  This method works particularly well for heavy or delicate product which would require increased engineering to ensure product protection during transit.

KDF/FLAT SHIPPING

Knocked-down flat (KDF), or flat shipping is the most efficient and least costly method for shipping displays.  Shipping flat is like going shopping for all the ingredients for your meal and then cooking it yourself.  This method does require that a field rep or a retail associate does the assembly.  At times, the decision is made to bring a third-party merchandiser in but this increases costs substantially.  There are many industries (e.g. spirts or snack foods) where field reps are readily available for and experienced in, retail assembly.

Donald Budnick
Display Chef, Founder and CEO
Ardent Displays