The term digital signage is used to refer to a number of technologies that are rapidly replacing traditional retail signs that have been in use for years. Instead of their message being featured on static billboards advertisers and retailers are using electronic signs to disperse engaging content and targeted messages in an engaging, interactive way.
Liquid Crystal displays, plasma panels and electronic scrolling message boards are some of the more commonly utilized devices in retail stores.
In a retail setting, dynamic digital signage can be used with great effect to grab a customer’s attention and influence their purchasing decisions right at the exact point of purchase, making it even more effective than adverts the same customer might see at home on their own televisions. An image or advert for a product that catches their eye on a digital in store sign is of course right there and easily within the consumers reach. This of course encourages the kind of profitable “impulse buying” that any retailer big or small wants to achieve with their advertising. Even if the display is at a cash register and the customer is watching while waiting to be checked out, it is very easy for them to go right back into the store to purchase the items they have just seen.
Another way that retailers can make extra income from their digital signage displays is by selling advertising space to their suppliers.
Many larger retailers are placing signs all over their stores, often advertising products that are available several aisles away, often ensuring that a consumer visits parts of the store that they may not have intended to. For instance, in a large retail store such as Walmart, a customer may have been only intending to visit the grocery aisles to do the weekly food shopping, but an advert in bread aisle for a new DVD offering may very well have them visiting the electronics department they had intended to bypass.
Making the investment in a good digital signage system is not the most inexpensive form of advertising by any means. But with good reliable equipment, engaging content and proper placement within the store the initial investment can pay for itself very quickly. In a world dominated by video games, computers and blu ray movies the kind of interactive and engaging advertising that can be achieved using a good digital signage system may very well be the future of retail advertising.