Digital signage has been a popular addition to the business world for some time now. The initiation was through some savvy business owners, who let their creativity drive the idea of using large televisions for display at the storefront back when VCRs were newly introduced versions of media players. Today, it’s an immersive method to establish the communication thread inside the most urbane brick & mortar store.
Retail is subservient to the transitioning economy, people behavior, and preference. The expectations never subside, and now that the consumers are spearheading a digital-first economy, this people-centric industry demands brands to be purposeful in their endeavors. They prefer to appear inside physical retail, still the essential sales channel for providers, compelling visitors to stay put.
There has been an ardent need for physical stores to reform how the initial interaction begins. From the first impression formed at the window display to arriving at the store threshold, the overarching need is technology in a digital-first world. The conventional brick & mortar has to fit the idea of phygital right inside the two-dimensional store space.
As people go deep into the attention recession zone, the need for experiential moments reaches its pinnacle. Brands must identify a strategy to match the retail experience with the product and marry both to create impact & value across consumer touchpoints simultaneously. With the new dawn for digital signage needs to reassume its role in-store to establish a better line of communication.
Going beyond in-store advertisements
When physical retail is in question, design has to pave the way for strategy, and digital signage compliments what the brand has in store for visitors. Only certain things could be visible on roadside billboards. Digital signage must go beyond flashing discounts and deals. There is plenty of content if the strategy devised has no loose ends. All brands must do is be ingenuine with their thoughts to utilize digital signage.
Digital displays are more than just a means to showcase new brand launches and advertisements in-store. It can accentuate new features and bring in-demand changes at the forefront, making the physical interaction comprehensively unique and keeping things interesting for the consumer to continue their journey. Ushering in a new era of creative content display inside the store, retailers must find ways to stand out and provide modern consumers with a distinct reason to choose their brand.
The physical shopping experience seeks the development of brand perception that can build on consumers’ emotions. People no longer want measurable outcomes but flexible and tailored experiences that resonate and feel relevant. The flexibility needs to come in with technology taking center stage and creating new dimensions to what people see on the digital signage inside the store.
To keep the brand’s perception fresh every time a consumer leaves to return, the conventional signage practices have to transmute into something better than the typical check-out ad displays.
Redefining the Digital Displays to a Better Content Medium
A customer’s journey inside the store consortium decides whether to move from point A of discovery to Point B of purchasing. The void between A & B is where they divert their path to better, more interactive experiences. When digital signage offers the accessibility of centralized content control, why not get the best out of it by reinforcing technology? Here is how brands could get creative:
Wall of Videos
Digital advertisements are a good way of engaging the audience. But consumers already see many of those, and it is only fair for them to completely disregard the technology when they see another offer or discount at the check-out point. That’s why it is sensible to get a few creative heads from a retail design agency involved who would know how and where to develop a video wall for a much more extensive experience. When your store is such a big canvas to experiment with, why not enlarge the digital display size for seasonal and aesthetical content display?
Self Checkout Kiosks
Kiosks are a tremendously useful in-store concept giving a nice touch to promotional activations. Gluing in a more innovative idea, the kiosk becomes a self-checkout kiosk with digital signage integrated into it. It would enable consumers to purchase a product on their own without the intervention of a sales desk.
Smart Mirrors
It sounds like an interactive gadget for engaging children, but it’s more of an engagement for awareness. Several interior design firms are now opting to implement digital signage as smart mirrors inside retail stores, where the technology is a two-way mirror that seemingly appears as regular mirror to the user. Still, as they begin to interact, it would show weather updates, widgets and more to make the brand-consumer interaction more immersive.
Also, with the integration of RFID technology, the products displayed could become self-explanatory, enabling consumers to know what they are up for buying. Depending on what other features are added to the technology, the immersiveness could double down.Â
For brands to sustain and be more futuristic, the magnitude of change has to become more robust and synchronized with the expectations and demands of consumers. Advertisement is just one part of the equation; retail needs to become more dynamic with the innovative treatment of the signage technology, where brands enter into new territory, becoming more vulnerable to risks yielding results.
