Why Use Digital Signage For Retail – 14 Reasons

The world of retail is constantly changing. Businesses that have traditionally used printed point of sale (POS) to get their messages across, are increasingly starting to use digital signage to highlight specific products, attract passing footfall and simplify pricing updates. 

There are many reasons to use digital signage for retail. We list the top 14 reasons that retailers are switching to digital signage, and how they’re using it.

Transform your retail environment

1. Make messages more eye-catching

By its very nature, digital signage is eye-catching and draws people’s attention towards it. It can direct attention to the most profitable products and areas in your retail environment and encourage people to aspire to and emulate what they’ve seen on screen.

2. Improve consistency between different sites

When high-quality imagery is shown on a digital screen, it doesn’t just become a primary focal point, it ‘lifts’ the interior that it sits within. Franchised retail outlets of different shapes and sizes can therefore all brought into line with each other and have the same high-quality look/feel, simply by adding digital signage screens and showing the same high quality content.

3. Keep your retail spaces feeling fresh

Digital signage can keep a retail outlet’s interior feeling ‘fresh’ for longer in the eyes of your customers because the content is constantly changing and attracting attention, making it harder for the retail space surrounding it to appear ‘tired-looking.

Campaign Delivery

4. Instant marketing campaign delivery

Once digital signage is installed, your promotional campaigns can be introduced immediately across multiple outlets simultaneously using a content management system (CMS) software platform. Withdrawal can be scheduled at the same time or done at the touch of a button.

Because most good CMS software (like our own SaturnVision) automatically resize content for the relevant screen size (but not different aspect ratios – you can learn more about this here), it removes the delay, cost and logistical issues associated with printed POS (point of sale).

This immediacy of campaign introduction and removal also means that tracking results from your promotional campaigns is easier.

5. Much more promotional space

Unlike printed POS materials, which have a static message, digital signage can display as many different messages as you deem fit in a single day. This volume of availability creates the opportunity for you to sell advertising space to third parties, creating the potential for new revenue streams.

6. Tailor messages by time/location

Different types of customer have different needs. Digital signage is dynamic so different messages can be scheduled for different times of day, or in different areas to target different types of customer. Seasonal campaigns can quickly, easily and cost-effectively be implemented.

Some retailers will have different needs for different outlets, for example with fewer product lines or different pricing than other stores. A good CMS (e.g. SaturnVision,) will enable you to put different sites/stores into groups and allocate content and/or pricing information accordingly.

7. Simpler pricing updates

Signage can be integrated with other systems – e.g. EPOS – so that content displaying price information is automatically updated. Furthermore, digital signage is available for shelf-edge displays, removing the need for your staff to manually adjust pricing.

8. Encourages innovation

As it is so dynamic, digital signage makes the introduction of pilots and the testing of new campaign or customer engagement ideas very simple. An idea that works well in one store or department can quickly be replicated elsewhere – or, where results are disappointing, removed, improved upon, and reintroduced at little expense.

Increase operational efficiency

9. Instant customer feedback

Digital signage can be used to generate instant feedback from customers, via touchscreen for example, asking them how positive their shopping experience was, and asking for more detail on the feedback where appropriate. This enables businesses to identify and tackle any issues important to their customers immediately which encourages long term brand loyalty.

Alternatively you can use your digital signage to generate real-time useful data.

10. Improve wayfinding  in large stores

Customers that feel lost in your store and can’t find what they want will spend less and are unlikely to return. Digital signage can be used to display wayfinding information, helping your customers to find all the products they might want to buy. It also aids efficient movement around a store avoiding bottlenecks, even at busy times. Digital signage screens can also be used to display key information such store opening/closing times.

11. Display health & safety advice to customers

All too often health and safety messages are pulled together on the spur of the moment, but a message scrawled on a flipchart or portable whiteboard that’s been hastily dragged onto the shop floor from your meeting room will devalue your brand. A library of branded, high quality stock health and safety messages can be created and stored within a CMS for use when required, for example warning customers to be aware of the possibility of slippery floors in wet weather. If new messages are required these can quickly be created, uploaded and published so they are visible on screens within the store, and given increasing profile depending on the level of risk.

12. Offer flexibility

Many retailers invest in easily transportable, mobile totems, or A-boards which can be plugged into plug sockets or be battery powered. These portable screens are controlled using the same content management system as other screens and can be used in a variety of places and situations as and when required, for example tasting events, product demonstrations or used for standard promotional messages. These can easily be re-purposed to display health and safety messages as and when required (e.g. to highlight a risk of slipping on floors after heavy rain)

Branding

13. Franchise

It can be easy for franchised, retail businesses to lose control of how their brand is presented, and which products are promoted, when and how. Because digital signage can be managed centrally and user permissions controlled via the CMS, it enables the franchiser to control the content.

Furthermore, screens can be repurposed for staff training before stores open or in staff-only areas, and used to reinforce best practice and company culture. Because each screen can be individually controlled, content can be scheduled to appear prior to the individual store’s opening time, making it a convenient way to reinforce desired behaviours and create consistency in service delivery across different retail outlets.

14. Immersive brand experiences

It is harder than ever before to impress and wow customers, and their expectations are continuing to rise. However, there are lots of ways to use interactive digital signage to excite and engage customers.

Motion sensors can be used to display additional product information or a demonstration video when a customer points at a product, walks past or lifts a display item.

Interactive screens with cameras can be used to simulate virtual try-ons – for example enabling a customer to see what an item of clothing or make-up would look like on them, without actually trying it on.

Getting started

Digital signage has so much potential and is rapidly growing in popularity with retailers around the world for the reasons outlined above. It has vast potential for retailers like you who want to differentiate and attract customers to their stores, BUT, get it wrong and it can simply become expensive ‘wallpaper’.

Great content on the wrong size screen or in the wrong position won’t deliver results. Lacklustre, poor quality content in a great position can devalue your brand. There are multiple considerations and more ways to get it wrong than people realise, but get it right and it can yield a surprising number of benefits.

The best way to get it right is to find a good digital signage consultant who will learn about your business aims, any recurring issues your retail stores experience, and assess the space you have. They can then identify the specific types of screens, enclosures and content you need to address the specific challenges your business faces.

Success with digital signage comes from careful consideration, getting the right tool for the right job and evolution, not simply installing a screen and putting some marketing messages on it.

Approach the subject of digital signage with an open mind, and speak to an expert who cares about your business’s long term success, and you’ll be amazed by the results your retail business can achieve.

If you’re interested in using digital signage for retail, why not take a look at some case studies

• AO stores
• SEAT

If this is your first digital signage project, why not check out some of our articles on getting it right first time? 

• Finding a good digital signage service provider
• Getting a good digital signage ROI 
• The top 20 most common digital signage mistakes businesses make

If you have a retail digital signage project in mind, why not speak to our team and get some advice and a competitive quote? Call us on 0161 222 0706 or use the form below.