News

Signs of the times

Digital displays have the potential to revolutionize the customer experience.

March 29, 2005

In the movie "Minority Report," John Anderton (played by Tom Cruise) is hurrying through a shopping center. As he strides along, he passes one advertising display after another-and each speaks out to him by name, with a customized message, as though he is the only consumer in the world.

Though the film is set in the future, retailers today are nearly within grasp of  such one-to-one marketing power. LCD and plasma displays might represent the ultimate rec-room luxury to consumers, but to businesses they are an entirely new way to communicate with customers.

"Retailers have spent the last 15 years applying technology in the back office for purposes of operational efficiency, inventory management, etc.," said Linda Ferguson, Public Relations Manager for Planar Systems. "We are at the start of a large trend towards investment in store front display-based technologies, where customer-facing display systems are critical to attract, interact, and transact with customers."

Just a few short years ago, the idea of handling in-store signage electronically was far from practical. After all, screens of any sufficient size came attached to an equally massive box. Not the sort of thing you want hanging on the wall or over customers' heads.

The flat screen display, in its various forms, has changed all that. While price still remains a barrier in some environments, the fact that digital displays are now thin enough and light enough to hang on a wall makes them a gateway tool to an entirely new way of designing retail and customer experiences.

The sci-fi results in "Minority Report" can be easily achieved using RFID tags on a customer loyalty card. When the customer walks by a display - with the card in his pocket - the software engine behind the display reads the customer's ID, pulls his buying history, and dynamically offers a discount on a product or service that the customer has purchased before. Has it been six months since that person bought a store brand? Offer an instant "come back" discount. Or a customer who is curious about a tagged DVD can take it to a display that recognizes tags to retrieve information about the product.

The Writing on the Wall

For retailers, digital displays represent an exciting new era in store design.

"The most exciting prospect is the ability to have displays and signage with targeted messages in multiple points throughout the store," said Nick Daddabbo, senior product manager for Hand Held Products.

"Instead of one display or message, retailers can have many spots throughout the store where they can send a variety of messages. Since messages can vary by location, retailers are given the ability to target customers shopping in a particular section of the store."

Area-specific marketing is not a new idea - grocery store managers have always known to put ads for this week's special near the milk and bread and other high-traffic areas. But the dynamics of digital signage make it possible for much more inventive campaigns.

"A customer in the furniture section can receive different messages than a customer shopping in the clothing section," Daddabbo said. "This makes the customer feel like they are in a live environment with personalized messages that are targeted toward his or her needs."

Many stores that have embraced digital signage are building their layout based on the new lines-of-sight that the displays create. Wall-mounted displays cause people to look up and around more, opening up new possibilities beyond "eye-level marketing." Bright displays are magnets for eyeballs, and can be placed throughout the store to draw browsers from one section to the next.

Digital displays also promise the end of outdated signage - provided, of course, that the assets are properly managed and maintained. Digital signage does require a logistical back-end to determine which assets are displayed where, and when. And that system might be more complex, and require more initial planning, than a system that drives a paper ad rotation. But once properly put in place, that system becomes an automated framework for the store's internal marketing plans.

Adoption of digital signage has not been speedy, because the cost is prohibitive to many smaller retailers. Quality digital displays run thousands of dollars, and a small store may find it hard to justify such an expense over traditional paper ads.

Now About That Content

The finest, high-dollar digital display won't do a retailer one bit of good if they don't have quality material to drive it. For many businesses moving into digital displays, that means the Herculean task of getting their digital assets under control.

Brian Ardinger is the director of business development for software developer Nanonation. He says asset management is one of the most important aspects to consider when choosing a software solution for digital signage.

"Too many solutions force clients to use proprietary tools to create content and are limited in their ability to leverage existing content in existing formats without having to re-render or re-encode every time a change needs to be made," he said.

The convergence of the kiosk and the digital display, which promises to be one of the most useful applications for the displays, makes compatibility and interchangeability of digital assets more crucial than ever.

"I see the kiosk world converging with the digital signage world," Daddabbo said. "We're beginning to see the same types of messages and applications on personal devices as you now see on larger digital signs and screens. With the convergence, retailers have multiple ways to pass messages to customers."

That convergence offers new life to existing content, as well: if rollout and launch are handled wisely, businesses will find that their existing kiosk and Web content can be repurposed for delivery to a digital display.

Once all of those assets are organized and plugged into a working system, one of the primary strengths of digital displays comes into focus: remote management of assets.

"Because we know where each sign is on the network," Ardinger said, "we can target content based on a variety of data feeds specific to that region, store, time of day, etc."

The manpower saved here alone is worth a look; no more will employees have to prowl the store, replacing ads on end-caps. Managers can change any number of displays from their desk; create rotations of ads with transition effects and custom timing; and program specific content for specific locations at specific dates and times.

And this inter-department traffic doesn't have to rely solely on huge, wall-mounted units. Smaller, more TV-sized units are finding homes on end caps, atop merchandise carts, and at the checkout counter.

"This technology is giving the customer the ability to control his or her shopping experience," Daddabbo said. "As customers become more technologically savvy, they are more amenable and adaptable to new gadgets and technologies that provide more power during the shopping experience, ultimately allowing them to better enjoy that experience."