Retailers: Are You Making The Most Of Your Digital Displays?

There are few companies that haven’t embraced the shift to digital signage in recent years, but are you making the most of the LED displays in your retail outlets, or are they something of a wasted asset because you’re not using them to their full potential?

One of the great things about LED screens is the ability to customise exactly what’s shown – and to change your messaging throughout the day with minimum hassle.

However, for some retailers these kinds of displays can be an afterthought, and that means they’re missing out on valuable opportunities to interact with shoppers and encourage them to make a purchase.

A recent article for Digital Signage Today highlighted some of the top things you can do to make best use of the digital signs in your store.

Encouraging customers to interact with your signs is one of the top things retailers can be doing, the news provider noted. It cited the example of the Cruise 1st shop in Manchester, where people can choose and book their next cruise.

Because holidays are predominantly booked online, the outlet has gone all-out in terms of providing interaction for all of those who come inside. To draw people in, it has a video wall showing 4k video in the window.

Once people enter the store, they can choose their perfect break on interactive, touchscreen kiosks, which mean that every member of the family can get involved in selecting a holiday.

For more traditional retailers, another top tip is to introduce beacon technology. This allows consumers to interact with your signage. Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) beacon technology enables those in your store to communicate with your signage via a mobile device.

The other advantage to introducing BLE beacon technology is that you can “deliver highly targeted promotions based on location as well as control digital signage playback from a mobile device”, the news provider stated.

It’s no secret that social media plays an increasingly important role in our lives, and utilising that to create engagement is another thing retailers should be doing in their stores.

The website highlighted Vegas EXP as a great example of how to do this well. The store in the US features an interactive display in the centre, where customers can see the local weather forecast, view notable Instagram feeds and even have fun taking selfies in front of famous Las Vegas landmarks when they interact with the screens using their mobile phones.

While many retailers may worry that they need to move their operations online to appeal to the younger generation of consumers, this may in fact not be the case. Research published by Criteo earlier this month revealed that the majority of those in Generation Z actually enjoy shopping in real stores.

65 per cent of those surveyed said that they prefer to see and touch items in store before making a purchase, but convenience was cited as the main reason why they turn to online retailers.

However, using interactive displays, carefully considering store layout and being more innovative in how they showcase products are all ways in which retailers can attract this generation of shoppers.