6 Ways to Use Digital Signage for Retail

Retailers of all sizes—from mom and pop shops to massive department stores—are beginning to utilize digital signage in order to gain a variety of benefits. And it’s no surprise because retail and digital signage are the perfect match for each other.

The reason? Well, in short, a network of screens can provide stores with a much-needed competitive edge—whether it’s improving the overall shopping experience, to simply boosting a store’s bottom line. Put simply, retailers need to know how to leverage digital signs to their advantage and the benefits will undoubtedly follow.

6 uses for digital signage in retail

That said, we’re going to run down the list of top uses for retail digital signage. Here’s how you can use digital signs to get the most out of your retail business:

1. Wow window shoppers

One of the biggest keys to success for any retailer is—obviously—getting as many customers as possible into the store. You can’t sell someone a product if they aren’t actually seeing it in the first place., can you?

Digital signage for retail provides a great opportunity for increasing foot traffic into your store for one simple reason: it’s eye-catching to the point of being nearly impossible to ignore.

At the end of the day, you’re never going to win over every shopper on a given day, but having flashy screens displaying your products is definitely enough to make a difference to your business’ pocketbook.

Just make sure your front-of-store screens are showcasing your products in a super-appealing way, whether that means creating engaging product videos or simply showing images of a product line.

2. Digital signage advertising

On that same note, sometimes shoppers need a little push to get them in your door and buying your products.

The number one way for retailers to do this—which will come as no surprise—is by using digital signage advertising for big sales and promotions. Digital displays at the entrance of your store can do just that. You shouldn’t only broadcast your current sales and promotions and simply call it a day. Take your signage a step further.

For example, you could highlight future sales so your shoppers are more likely to come back to your store again. Or you could advertise special loyalty programs that give customers access to exclusive promotions.

Whatever you do, always incorporate calls-to-action (CTAs) in your corporate communication strategy. The best CTAs create a sense of urgency and scarcity, which in turn puts ‘the fear-of-missing-out’ in customers minds. It’s impossible to understate the power of FOMO to move a person to action.

3. Create a corporate communications strategy

Studies show today’s shoppers love authentic brands that interact with them in a personal and meaningful way and that attempt to make a positive impact on the world.

Coming off as genuine is a tricky tightrope for many brands to walk though. A corporate communications strategy is key, if your customers are going to buy your sincerity. Good thing for you though, digital signage for retail can make all the difference in communication best practices. How? Well, it will allow your brand to have a bigger and more noticeable voice, which—when used correctly—will empower your brand to tell its story in a meaningful way and execute on your corporate communications strategy.

What better way is there to create meaningful impressions in the minds of your customers than by letting them see the human side of your brand?

You could do this by creating content for your screens that tells the background of how your brand was built, the way it gives back to the community, or perhaps detailed profiles of the workers who keep your business running smoothly. 

4. Improve customer experience

By improving customer experience your retail store will see an increase in dwell time. Dwell time is essentially the total amount of time a customer spends in your store. Most retailers try to maximize and improve dwell time because—put simply—it leads to higher sales. The longer someone stays in your store, the more likely they are to be tempted to buy something.

Digital signage can improve help to improve customer experience by giving customers engaging, informative, interactive, and entertaining content to take in while they shop.

Your main goal when creating a corporate communications strategy to improve dwell time is to use your screens to create an environment that is pleasant to be in for an extended period of time. This especially needs to be the case near check-out lines and the lines for dressing rooms.

5.  Digital presence and brand awareness strategy

We’ve already mentioned that your retail digital signage needs to be interactive, but today, it also needs to blur the line between the physical and digital. Your digital presence needs to be connected to your brick-and-mortar presence as much as possible.

One way to do that is by using touch screen kiosks to increase sales in your store. These interactive displays will allow your customers to do things like browse your online store, follow your brand’s social media feeds, and sign-up to receive email notifications about sales, promotions, or new product launches.

6. Point of purchase advertising

Point of purchase advertising isn't just a great way to entertain customers while they wait in line, but they will also generate higher sales numbers.

How? First, they allow you to upsell shoppers into buying more of your goods while checking out. Even better though, point of purchase advertising is a great way to entice customers into making repeat visits to your store. 

Running content like highlighting future promotions, loyalty programs, and best-selling products will give shoppers even more ways to engage with your brand before leaving your store. This leads to more purchases in the long-run and garners brand loyalty, increasing the likelihood of them becoming repeat customers. 

Getting started with digital signage for retail

Ultimately, retailers need to use every available avenue to get a leg-up on the competition. Retail digital signage—when armed with brand-boosting content that informs, wows, and engages—can do that and much, much more.

We can work with you to develop a plan that fits your retail locations perfectly. Give it a try risk-free with a 14-day free trial of TelemetryTV’s dynamic cloud-based digital signage solution.