The Power of Digital Signage

As a retail consultant, I need to stay on top of lots of things: first and foremost, consumer behavior. From new forms of loyalty programs to the balance of rational and emotional drivers, shoppers are hit with thousands of messages before, during and after their store shopping experience.



One thing to look out for is digital signage. It holds great potential for retailers to provide much more infomation in stores where you are trying to make an informed decision, it can also provide fun, entertaining atmosphere, too.

Every client I have worked with in the last several years is very interested in figuring this out. Digital signage holds great potential to make the shopping experience more robust. Consumers can get the right amount of information they want when they want it. Retailer and brand marketer can integrate out-of-store media and there is significant opportunity to reduce operational costs and create new effeciencies by centrally controling content.

Look at what Sears and Kmart are doing in test stores in Richmond Illinois and Cincinatti, Ohio. They have installed several approaches to integrate digital signage, media content and their websites. Also, and this may seem obvious, look at what Nintendo is doing in NYC. Their NintendoWorld store not only provides lots of robust gaming experiences, but the screens, when idle, rotate brand and product messages.

There seems to be a gap, though, between the hardware people and the store people. I think we in the retail design industry need to go to school on time-based graphic communication, put it in the hands of the talented designers and see what they can do with it.