5 Ways Digital Signage Can Help Retailers Reopen

Digital signage has been enhancing the way customers shop for years, but in these turbulent times, can digital signs be leveraged to offer a safer, more sanitary, and overall better shopping experience?

The answer is a resounding yes. However, the right approach must be taken in order to ensure they’re used to their fullest potential. In this article, we’re going to list off the top ways you can use digital signs to provide better protection against coronavirus at your retail store while still providing an enjoyable shopping experience in the process.

Businesses reopening with the help of digital signage

As businesses around the world are reopening, it’s more important now than ever to put strict protective measures in place. After all, customers will expect high standards from your facility or store so that they can keep themselves and the ones they love as safe as possible.

Mitigate the risk they take when visiting your location by taking advantage of all the features that your digital signage can provide. Here are five ways that retail digital signage can make your store safer when reopening.

Workflow automation

Automation is playing a significant role in limiting person-to-person contact. Any and all tasks that can be automated, should be. From automating various daily duties for your employees, to touchless payment processing for customers and everything in between, identifying and replacing the things that could be automated is a vital first step toward making your store safer for everyone.

Not only that, workflow automation saves time, reduces errors, and increases efficiency. Digital signage software can play a major part in that.

Collaborative software for effective workplace communication

Likewise, workplace communication can all be under one easy to use cloud-based software. All you need is the right software provider.

Content approvals, collaborative workspaces, and organizational features allow you to remotely manage your teams from one interface. You can even incorporate custom features and functions specific to your business. That way, you have everything you need in one cloud-based solution. And, you’ll be able to retain a sense of community as people work remotely. They can interact with each other in a water cooler channel that promotes company culture and keeps everyone level-headed during these stressful times.

Displaying safety guidelines

When customers enter your store, they should know two things: what they can and can’t do in order to abide by your store’s safety policy, and what measures are already being taken to protect them. This way there will be no ambiguity about how your store is doing its part to reduce the spread of coronavirus.

They’ll be informed about your social distancing policy and any other measures you’ve taken before coming in. Also, customers will feel safer knowing exactly how your employees have ensured the safest shopping environment they can by seeing it written out at the entrance.

Your retail digital signage can reflect all of that and much more. You can even weave in promo and sale information, hours of operation, and anything else your shoppers need to know. Just make sure your signs aren’t missing anything important if you decide to use them for a wide array of information.

Finally, content overrides allow you to create notices that pop up on your screens. This is useful for delivering urgent information to those who need it, when they need it. Pre-made messages can automatically show up on screens throughout your store, or be created on the fly and sent out with the tap of a button.  

Employee facing screens to instruct and guide

Customers aren’t the only ones who need to be reminded to observe social distancing and other safety measures. Things like cleaning schedules and other duties can be shown on internal screens to make totally sure that no one slips up or forgets anything.

Communicating with staff is best done with large, hard-to-ignore screens that deliver concise messages quickly. Things like policy updates and any important information they might need can be consumed at a glance while they are making use of their hands. That will keep the ball rolling, even when things are busier than usual.

And for back office workers, the TelemetryTV Desktop app enables them to perform all of the necessary functions remotely—even communicating with your on-site staff through your internal digital signs. Workplace communication can be more efficient than ever with a comprehensive cloud-based system that can be accessed from virtually any device.

Communicating with customers

Delivering information to customers doesn’t get easier than with digital signage. Its attention-grabbing yet concise nature suits shoppers best as they peruse your store. It can also help reduce touch points by instructing customers about new procedures. All of the ways your store has reduced contact points throughout the premises can be detailed so that the customer knows the ways they can avoid making physical contact with objects and items.

Digital menu boards and digital bulletin boards can assist customers in making their selections. Some can even be used through an easily downloadable smartphone app.

Things like managing queues and directing customers upon arrival with digital wayfinding can also easily be integrated. So when a shopper arrives at the entrance of your store, they’ll know exactly where to go, reducing the amount of wandering in departments they’re not interested in. This will reduce the amount of people walking around in the store and help keep everyone safer while still encouraging them to check out the products they might want.

Lastly, communicating new or altered services is easiest with retail digital signage at the front of your store. Any services you don’t currently offer or offer differently can be communicated efficiently right off the bat.

Getting started with retail digital signage

All you need to get started with a digital signage solution for retail is the hardware and a CMS (content management system). Once you have the media players and a set of commercial screens, you can get a digital signage provider for FREE.

Although not all features will be offered with the free version of TelemetryTV’s digital signage solution, it’ll be functional and will enable you to provide a safer experience for your staff and customers.

If you’d like a more comprehensive option, try a 14-day trial of our paid option for free, no strings attached.