They are many reasons why you should use digital signage in your retail shop – to attract customers to come in, to easily manage time and site-specific promotions, and to improve the POS (point of sale) experience are just a few examples – but how do you do it? Here we take a brief look at how to set up retail signage solutions.
The building blocks of retail signage solutions
All retail digital signage solutions have the following basic elements:
- a display or displays,
- a digital signage player that connects to the display and delivers the content to it,
- a digital signage content management system (CMS) – a platform that controls what content appears on your displays, when it appears and when it’s updated.
The elements will differ depending on what you want to do, for example, you will need a touch screen if you want an interactive solution, or you will need a special bezel-less (border-less) display if you want to stick multiple displays together to create a video wall. You will also need to add sensors if you’re planning an IoT (Internet of Things) retail signage solution.
Designing your digital signage retail project
Planning a digital signage project involves decisions about what content to show, where to show it, when to show it, duration of what you’re showing and what screens to use. The options will be different depending on why you’re using signage. Let’s work through a few examples.
1. To increase brand awareness
According to a Samsung UK Retail Digital Signage Survey, 84% of UK retailers believe digital signage creates significant brand awareness. You can use digital installations to grab attention and make a store fun to visit.
To fulfil this objective, you need great content. Video is naturally more engaging than static images and gives you the chance to tell your brand story or show the lifestyle that your products fit into.
The location of your signage could be your shop window, and the screens you want to use should be the largest within your budget to make the biggest impression. You also need to consider screen brightness to make sure your content can be seen in sunny conditions.
The beauty of using your shop window is that you can advertise even when you’re closed. If you can have signage running for a significant period, consider this when choosing your displays, they should be guaranteed to operate for long hours, which rules out using consumer TVs.
2. To easily manage time and site-specific promotions
Unlike static ads, with digital, you can program your signage to show different adverts at different times, and in different locations, when and where they are most relevant.
Retail is especially sensitive to external triggers like weather, events, time of day, date of payday. Digital signage content management systems let you plan for these and be ready to respond as conditions change.
The content for your time-specific promotion should be attention-grabbing and it should include an obvious call-to-action. Thinking about duration, it should be on-screen for long enough to be read, but not so long that it becomes invisible.
Where to show these messages depends on where your customers are going to be. Are they already in-store? Do you use signage to create an attention-grabbing display next to the products on offer? Are they walking past? Or are they elsewhere, perhaps in another part of a shopping centre or the high street? Maybe you can consider signage that’s outside of your property, if you have budget to buy space from an outdoor advertising network.
3. To improve the POS experience
Adding digital signage to your POS has multiple benefits. Firstly, if you use it to manage a queue – for example, directing people to the next open till – it can reduce checkout time, or perceived checkout time (by as much as 35 percent, Digital Signage Today) and make customers happier.
You can also use signage near a queue to advertise products that customers might have missed and might be receptive to. The considerations for content here are the same as for a time-specific promotion.
You can choose simple displays for this, or you might want to look at specialised POS terminals which include a screen. In this type of digital space, during your last chance to engage with your customer, you could remind people to sign up for your loyalty club for discounts, or promote upcoming in-store events.
Cenareo helps many customers create easy-to-manage and effective retail signage solutions. For more information or advice on your project, whatever stage you’re at, contact us here.
