There are many places for a digital display in your store, but some locations hold more value than others in certain contexts. The storefront, for example, is the most important when it comes to obtaining new customers. It invites people in, and without new visitors, other in-store digital signage can’t do its job successfully. The in-store digital signage, meanwhile, will have a greater impact on overall satisfaction and ensure this newbie becomes a loyal customer.
With that said, let’s take a look at the five most important locations for digital signage in any store. As you go through each, keep in mind how it applies to your own store. This general guideline path is based on the steps of the customer journey.
The storefront
The storefront is the first visual contact between your store and the visitor. Its primary task is to persuade a person walking on the street to step inside. This is a place for your creativity to shine and deliver a heartfelt invitation to anyone who walks by. Whether you do this through a creative ad for a must-have product or a fun tagline, it doesn’t matter. All that matters is that it’s appealing and gets the consumer off the street and into your store!
Take a look at some tips for storefront digital signage design to ensure it does the job right!
The store entrance
A step deeper into the customer journey, the store entrance is the beginning of the in-store experience. This location creates the first impactful impression the consumer gets of your shop.
Welcome prospective customers with your in-store digital signage here. With a little help from digital signage software, customize the messaging to change and fit the time of day or a particular theme at the time of the year. The store entrance is also fitting for ads, but perhaps more-so for products in stock rather than third-party products outside of it. This way, you already transmit the idea of purchasing a certain product to the customer right away, increasing the likelihood they’ll make that purchase later on.
Of course, remember that the store entrance is a transient place. It creates the first impression upon entering. You don’t want to send too many messages at once, lest you overwhelm the visitor.
The product floor
As your customers navigate the product floor, many opportunities emerge to deploy a digital display and make their experience that much better.
Deliver product information for new items, on-sale items, or products which are more complex and commonly require more information before purchasing. Electronics, for instance, usually involve several questions from the prospect before making the purchase. Set up an interactive display allowing the user to browse through the specifications of the product(s) they are looking at. For clothing, this can include information on variations of color or available sizes.
If your store is big enough and you find it appropriate, use digital signage as a tool for navigation. You could use interactive tablet stations for this, where the user can search for the location of a specific department within the store and find their way. This is also useful in informing a new visitor of which departments exist within a large store.
The queue
Any queue is an opportunity for in-store digital signage. The check-out register is one location where a queue happens and people wait in place for a brief amount of time. Dressing rooms are a similar location. Even if there isn’t a queue of people waiting to try out an outfit, it’s quite common for people to wait in front of a dressing room for their shopping partner to change. Fruit/vegetable stations or cheese or meat counters are similar locations. Even if they’re the self-service type, the consumer spends a bit of time in one place.
These waiting locations are ideal places for in-store digital signage to broadcast entertainment to shorten perceived wait times in a queue or to advertise. You may also want to create a healthy mix of the two types of content and balance entertainment with profit-based content.
Point of sale
The check-out is the most important part of the customer journey, not just because it’s the place of the transaction. The check-out is the perfect opportunity to make the final and lasting impact and is, thus, the ideal spot for a digital display. Here you’ll more easily up-sell and make a special offer to the consumer. Membership perks or rewards for repeat purchases can be displayed here as they’re more likely to influence the buyer at this point in the journey.
It is also quite common for stores to attempt to sell discounted items at check-out. Digital signage can be a modern way to make the experience more appetizing!
Other locations
The perfect location for your in-store digital signage arises with the content type. Let’s briefly go through some additional examples.
If there is a large selection of sale items, summarize them on an interactive display, either at the product floor or by the store entrance, to make the shopper aware. Similarly, clearance sections in retail stores will welcome an interactive display which allows users to browse through the products faster. If you want to collect feedback, the store exit is the perfect spot!
Speaking of browsing items, consider merging your in-store digital signage with your e-commerce offers. A customer may find a product they like to be currently unavailable in the physical store, but they could be given the choice to order it online. This opens up an entire new road of possibilities when it comes to customer loyalty, memberships, rewards etc. The sky’s the limit.
Your in-store digital signage can also be used purely for decorative purposes, especially during the holiday season. This type of content can be applied to almost any display in your store at any given location.
You have every possibility, but don’t let them intimidate you! A bit of patience, persistence, and a helping hand from digital signage software and you’ll be well on your way to establishing a rich in-store digital signage network. If you haven’t already, try out OnSign TV digital signage software with a free 14-day trial, no strings attached!
