In-Store Signage Examples You Aren’t Using (But Really Should Be)

The retail store environment is dramatically changing as more companies begin to incorporate digital signage strategies alongside their existing traditional messaging. Retailers are quickly beginning to realize that digital signage gives businesses the flexibility to update content instantaneously, whereas traditional print fails to do so. This immediate messaging from digital store signs allows businesses to reach their potential customers with new content faster than ever before.

At Freshwater, we understand that navigating and creating a new digital signage network can be daunting, so we’re here to give you a quick overview of what you should expect and consider. In this article, we’ll look at some of the different approaches that help make an in-store digital signage strategy successful and achievable for your retail business.

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What Makes for Effective Digital Signage?

Before implementing in-store digital signage, there are several important factors that you should consider. Firstly, you should ask yourself what I am trying to achieve with my digital in-store signage strategy? Are you hoping to inform your customers of promotions or service offerings? Perhaps you’re trying to engage and inform your employees in a break room with company memos or events. No matter what message you are trying to communicate, or what audience (customers, employees) you want to reach, these are questions that should be answered before moving forward with any significant investment or strategy.

The Right Hardware for Retail Signage

Once you have a general idea of who your target audience is, the next step should be choosing reliable hardware that is built to be used in a commercial setting. While using a standard television has less upfront cost, a few important differences between a consumer and commercial display should be understood before making a decision.

The biggest advantage of utilizing a commercial display is that they are built and intended to run upwards of 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Conversely, retail displays are not meant to withstand this demand and are often voided of their warranty if used outside of their designed operating times. This gives commercial displays an advantage as it allows your target audience to see messaging continuously at all hours of the day. Additionally, commercial displays oftentimes have a SoC (system on chip), a powerful multi-core processor mounted inside the enclosure of the display. This allows you to push content directly to the display without the need to purchase an external media player device and additional cables.

At Freshwater Digital, we can help you navigate and choose the best hardware that helps to fit your exact business needs and budget. This includes sourcing the displays and mounting equipment needed that will work best for your retail space. We can even support with installation and the necessary requirements needed to ensure your screens ADA compliant.

Content Management and Retail Store Signs

Another equally important consideration for your digital signage is how you will manage and update your content. Imagine, coming into a breakroom daily and seeing the exact same static messaging on a display. Eventually, this content becomes stale, and the targeted audience is no longer interested in the messaging being played. Keeping content relevant and fresh is imperative to successful execution and should be a top priority for your digital signage initiative.

Choosing a CMS (Content Management System) that allows you to schedule and manage content remotely from the cloud is one way to ensure that your content can be updated at any given moment. It even allows you to schedule content ahead of time so that you can plan for future messaging strategies.

If you simply don’t have the bandwidth to manage and update your network, Freshwater Digital is here to help by providing content management as an additional service. To take your digital signage content even further, Freshwater can integrate any existing accessible data source so that your content is updated in real-time.

Imagine, you have a digital menu board with pricing and caloric information that needs to be revised regularly. Instead of going into your CMS to edit this information manually, you can rely on a software intermediary that allows applications to talk to each other, known as an API, to make sure your content is updated seamlessly.

Digital Signage Concepts to Consider

Now that we’ve discussed some of the considerations you should think about before investing in your digital signage network, let’s look at some examples that might help inspire your retail in-store digital signage design.

As mentioned above, data can help drive your digital signage experience and can even assist in decision-making when helping to run your business. This includes anything from pricing, sales, and even inventory management. Think of a retail grocery store that sells perishable items that expire. By linking your inventory management data with your digital signage network, you can have the ability to run sales on items that are set to expire or remove items completely when that item is no longer in stock.

What about giving your customers a unique interactive shopping experience that allows them to learn more about a product? For one of our retail grocery clients, Freshwater created a lift and learn solution that allows customers the ability to place a product on a sensor that triggers content to play on a nearby screen. This gives customers the ability to engage, inform and educate themselves about the different product offerings without the need to interact with a store associate.

Craft an In-Store Digital Signage Solution with Freshwater Digital

Many components contribute to having a successful in-store digital signage experience. It is important to remember that establishing a strategy before investing in a solution is crucial to the success of communicating effectively with your customers and employees.

For more information on how Freshwater Digital can help you create an in-store digital signage solution to meet your business needs, contact us today at [email protected] or by taking advantage of our convenient online form.