Digital signage: when store dramatization supports sales

In constant growth, communication at the point of sale is very popular with consumers and tends to be massively digitized. “Today, nearly 15% of brands worldwide equip themselves with dynamic displays every year” [1] Building on its success in fast food and thanks to the evolution of technologies, the phenomenon continues to grow. Because the brands have understood it well, it goes beyond the simple advertising function. The process should not be confused with DOOH (Digital Out-Of-Home, digital outdoor advertising). Digital signage makes it possible to improve the customer experience at the point of sale and to make it a unique moment, to convey an identity and values ​​to give meaning to its positioning, but also to promote the act of purchase as the additional sale. It is also intended for companies that use it to strengthen their internal communication. Digital signage is therefore a tool that is not limited to one field of activity and makes it possible to increase the performance of brands in particular.

An increasingly privileged channel, an infinite field of possibilities

If digital signage is gaining more and more followers, it’s because it has a range of advantages. The first being that it is particularly effective: for example, 75% of consumers remember a dynamic display, compared to 44% of a static display [2]. Its ability to capture attention also makes it a more attractive medium, helping to reduce the feeling of waiting at points of sale. The major strength of digital signage lies in its universal character. It can in fact be used in all sectors of activity (from bakery to health, via car dealerships or even racetracks and swimming pools which are equipped for retransmissions), whether one belongs to a network or that we are independent, for external and internal communication. While emails inundate us a little more each day, a visual channel will indeed allow information to be pushed more effectively. At a point of sale, with the help of new technologies (flexLED to dress curved walls or pillars, transparent LED for shop windows, unstructured walls, 3D or even augmented reality, etc.), dynamic displays will not have the same objectives depending on the location assigned to it (on the front, in the window, on the shelf or at the checkout). What’s more, it has the ability to combine several types of message: products, trends, corporate, promotional offers… It is thus gradually replacing traditional POS tools, at the same time eliminating the indirect costs and possible risks of accident related to their installation. Better still, it allows in a few clicks to disseminate information in real time thanks to remote control. Exit therefore the obsolescence of content! In addition, one hour of training is enough for a communication officer to know how to use the solution. Another advantage and not the least, in addition to being dynamic (vs static), the content is customizable: the screen can be arranged in several completely independent zones and thus multiply the animations. In addition, it is possible to recover external elements to enrich the layout. Digital signage is therefore much more than screens. It brings together ideas, features and services giving rise to differentiating messages that will contribute to enriching the customer experience.

A performance lever with multiple benefits for points of sale

Dynamic display makes it possible to switch from one-to-many marketing to one-to-one marketing. It thus meets the new expectations of consumers looking for a personalized and more immersive experience. Thanks to its multitude of facets, knowing that 50% of purchasing decisions are made at the point of sale, it will significantly increase the turnover of a business. Many experiences bear witness to this, particularly in fast food through the promotion of a product. Indeed, well located in the customer journey, digital signage becomes a strategic point of contact, because it can trigger the act of purchase or generate additional expenditure contributing to increase the average basket. Placed in the window, it will exert a phenomenon of attraction — 29% of French people enter a store because of the attractiveness of the window [3]. It is also used to boost the sale of “abandoned” products. This approach, with supporting evidence, does not lead to product cannibalization. Any decrease caused is largely compensated by the action of the dynamic display. More broadly, it can support sellers who are sometimes overwhelmed in times of rush, or even provide additional information to promote responsible consumption. It also represents a significant time saving thanks to the real-time broadcasting it allows. Exit the delays linked to the traditional POS and all that they can imply (delays which make communication obsolete, budget started unnecessarily…). The interactive digital signage, meanwhile, can act as an order screen for buyers, who can select an item, pay for it and collect it in stride, thus streamlining the customer journey.

Digital signage is powerful because it can affect consumers differently depending on their location and the content displayed. This explains why the market is booming with a size that expected to reach $27.34B this year, the most demanding countries being the United States, Canada, Germany and Japan. Far from having yet reached its limits, with the GDPR as a safeguard, it will evolve towards ever more interactivity and personalized content (recognition of the gender of the person, detection of facial expressions to go even further in the board…).

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[1] Samsung Smart Retail Barometer in partnership with LSA.

[2] IPSOS survey.

[3] Samsung Smart Retail Barometer in partnership with LSA