With the crush of Black Friday behind us, it’s a good time to reflect on ways that digital signage can positively impact brick-and-mortar retail operations. These operations have been getting ready for the holidays for 12-18 months, and many are already starting to plan for the NEXT holiday season, so it’s important to start exploring how digital signage may make for better customer and employee experiences now, before many impactful decisions have already been made on how to handle the years ahead.
With online shopping so attractively easy, getting customers out and shopping in physical store locations only becomes more difficult each holiday season. There has to be a very good reason to get shoppers out of their pajamas, and out into the cold, and doorbuster sales aren’t always the incentive they need, especially when items aren’t unique or are subject to MAP pricing. At that point, the big difference will always be how you make the customer feel when they are in the store. Do employees make them feel appreciated? Is the experience stress-free and enjoyable? Does being in-store create some sort of value proposition for the customer, outside of “low, low prices!”? If the answer isn’t a resounding “YES!” to all of the above, then the odds are that the organization has some work to do, and digital signage can play a significant role in changing the retail environment for the better.
Take digital video walls. These are prime examples of a way to create a highly-impactful environmental change at retail. They both communicate, entertain and even educate. They can tell customers about sales, show product demonstrations that are relevant to the holiday, play videos of Christmas music or reinforce how a brand gives back to the community by playing video of charity events or showcasing good works by employees. All of these things set the tone for how the customer perceives the store and their experience in it.
Digital signage can also be incredibly helpful during the sales process, from the time the customer enters the store, until they exit after checking out. Digital signs that welcome customers at the store entrances and display specials and their locations within the facility close to the entrances can be helpful in getting visitors off to a positive start. Making these signs touch-screen capable of POS connectivity so that customers can search for desired products within the store and ensure availability is even better.
Digital signs that provide product information throughout the store can assist both employees and visitors with product education. Once customers select items to purchase, it’s easy to make a so-far excellent experience go quickly downhill if no one is there to help them at the cash wrap. Adding sensors to checkout displays that are able to alert employees that customer service is needed extends the positive experience and eliminates the customer’s potential frustration of having to wait for someone to find or see them. At store exits, displaying digital signage that lets customers know that they are valued, and thanks them for their business lets visitors carry the good feelings generated by their visit out into the world. This last bit may be one of the most important. In a world where online reviews can make or break a business, it’s imperative that customers leave the store happy. Using the information presented here only increases your business’ odds that visitors will do exactly that.
While digital signage and digital video walls are a not-insignificant investment, they can provide many different opportunities to increase positive consumer engagements at retail, and the process of deploying a program does not need to be as difficult or complicated as it may first seem. The key to success is partnering with an experienced, vertically-integrated digital signage manufacturer like RedyRef. Contact us today at (800) 628-3603 today or request a quote online and we’ll be with you every step of the way to ensure that your digital signage meets every one of your company’s unique needs.