Digital Signage Portal

It is surprising to see what how different businesses apply their content in the retail digital signage market. Not surprisingly, a very high percentage of digital signage applications focus on advertising - how to best create the most impact on promoting a sale. Depending on the nature of the business, the location of the screens and the intent of the campaign, this can prove to be a very effective strategy.

The other day I walked into a department store looking to pick up some outdoor gear. In the heap of trying to figure out what is best to buy, a digital signage screen in the middle of the aisle was playing short clips on some of the gear on how to use it, as well as offering useful outdoor tips. It was just like watching one of those "Infomercials" on outdoor travel.

It wasn't till a few minutes later that it hit me - user experience. A strategy for making customers feel assured in their decision and comfortable of what they are buying, and bringing them back to the store. Now this is a different feeling that you walk away with compared to that of "I just scored a bargain!"

It will be interesting to find out what measures the store has in place for tracking sales made against the duration of the digital signage being played.

What will be even more interesting is to be able to track the number of sales made against the number of people entering that aisle looking for outdoor gear. In the wake of technology today, there are many tracking systems out there that do just that - track people's presence, eye motion, and even human behaviour. But that is a different topic all together!

By the way, I ended up walking out of the store with over $200 in gear!

Wow it looks like the content really got the job done for you. So what part of the content really set your mind at ease the most about buying the product? Did the content show the product in use?

My final decision of choice didn't come down to price this time (as in most of my cases) but rather features of the product - explanations of the components to illustrate the different grade of materials, product specific advantages such as how to use it properly and its compatibility with other products in the same brand, etc. all of these are hidden information to the buyer.

I think this should be an avenue worth exploring by businesses who are implementing digital signage, rather than focus purely on sales advertisements.