Being a digitally advanced retailer today requires change and innovation throughout the business. According to recent research to realise long-term and lasting benefits, retailers should continue down the remediation path they began at the onset of the pandemic.
In fact, 2023 offers opportunities to restructure outmoded supply chains, right-size inventory management, review pricing, recalibrate promotional cadences, and reinvent the physical store.*
This will require major transformational thinking and long-term commitments from retailers, but these efforts could forever shift the way retailers conduct business.*
Where does digital signage fit in?
Businesses have rapidly become customer-centric, which has shifted the focus of marketing efforts firmly onto improving the customer experience through technology.
For technology to make a real difference to a retailer, technologies that are easily integrated with internal systems need to be used to support a customer’s purchasing journey. This is extremely crucial when it comes to the implementation of digital signage.
Here are 3 Digital Signage Insights Retailers Can Use to Reinvent the Physical Store
1. Supply Chain Digital Signage
Future supply chains need to be robust, transparent, agile, and sustainable – but above all, they must be digitally enabled and continually supported by your providers.
Intuitive digital signage platforms can be integrated with multiple internal software platforms to display vital delivery information onto one screen. Not only that a cloud-based digital signage platform can then display this information on several screens throughout the world from one central location.
Imagine if you were a large retail chain with 600 screens in warehouse locations across the UK and you needed your warehouse team to plan deliveries and increase efficiency on every site.
Here is one supermarket chain that installed a large-scale digital signage project for their retail warehouse locations.
2. Physical Storefront “Touch and Feel Again’ Digital Signage
Digital signage platforms continue to play a leading role in the omnichannel customer journey, for example, a unique customer experience could be by using interactive experiences such as ‘lift and learn’ where the content on the screen changes whenever someone physically picks up a product or touches it. This technology displays clearly on the screen, instead of the customer having to pore over the small print on the packaging.
The interactivity and on-screen information help customers make an instant decision to purchase a product. One of the great features is that retailers can track the interaction with any product so, every time someone is examining it or looking at it, they lift it up or place it on the pad you know that product has had some interest in. The digital signage device can record the interactivity data and this information is available to the retailer.
A spring 2022 survey indicates these leaders are seeing an increase in their in-store traffic activity. Nearly 69% of respondents said the pandemic’s impact on consumer behaviours led to an uptick in in-store shoppers looking to “touch and feel again.” More than half (54%) of those respondents described this phenomenon as major.**
Imagine if you were a flooring specialist and had hundreds of products to show a customer. Using flooring samples and an interactive playtable helps the customer visualise how the flooring might look in their home. Here is a flooring specialist who installed a place and learn interactive digital signage playtable for their retail showrooms and retail stores.
3. Digital Signage to Give Great Customer Service & Increase Customer Loyalty
It’s no secret that in retail customer service is key and in a recent report, this area is an opportunity for retailers to reset by looking to invest in a workforce for the future that focuses on technology and automation and relies less on physical labour.*
ICS chief executive Jo Causon says: “Many businesses are already struggling to deliver consistent levels of service hampered by staff shortages, supply issues and geopolitical upheaval”. However, more than a third of customers said they would pay more to guarantee excellent service.
Intelligent digital signage platforms not only reduce perceived waiting times but can also cross-sell and upsell at the point of sale by displaying important marketing messages associated with a specific product or service so that employees can best serve the customers as they may not have time to promote products at that given moment.
For example, using intelligent digital menu boards, combined with engaging content and impressive in-store execution will see all the upselling and cross-selling being done automatically.
In addition to boasting huge upselling opportunities and improving impulse purchases at point-of-sale digital signage in restaurants and bars can help to promote specific products at peak times and seasons. Launch exclusive new products for a limited time only or share seasonal offers and as a result, which will encourage an influx of sales.
Signage can often be used to persuade customers into making a purchase decision through direct advertising or offering in-store discounts. Integration with back-end systems can help with stock control by pushing certain SKUs where there is a surplus for meeting in-store sales targets.
Imagine if you were a coffee house with over 2000 screens in 300 locations with in-store and external attention-grabbing displays all powered by a cloud-based digital signage software platform. Your design team was in full control in managing all of the content and bespoke creative work, automatic scheduling based on factors such as time of day and even weather conditions that significantly boosted the store’s presence – ensuring an even more personalised, relevant, and visually engaging experience for customers when they visit one of your brands’ locations.
It’s no wonder, with all of this interactive and intelligent digital signage technology, given a whopping 84% of consumers said they’re seeking out-of-home experiences in 2022.*
Intrigued about any of the technology in this article to help you reinvent the physical store? Call our customer support dedicated helpline on 01135 313636 or email us at info@signstix.com.
If you liked reading this blog then check out the How to Give Great Customer Service Using Retail Digital Signage blog.
* https://www2.deloitte.com/content/dam/Deloitte/us/Documents/consumer-business/2022-retail-industry-outlook.pdf
** https://resources.industrydive.com/meet-your-retail-customers-where-they-are-and-on-the-go?