Success in commercial property development is about staying ahead of the curve — and the competition. That’s why digital signage should be a priority to any developer hoping to create a state-of-the-art retail facility. Nearly half of shoppers have reported that digital displays can change their buying plans, and 80% have entered a store just because a digital sign caught their eye. That’s just the tip of the iceberg; there are numerous benefits to vendors, consumers, and facility managers that justify the investment in digital signage.

We've taken an in-depth look at the value of digital signage in retail, and put together six of the biggest reasons to include them in your next development project.

Looking for more ways to elevate your retail experience with digital signage? Check out our article, Retail Digital Signage: The Ultimate Guide.

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The benefits of digital signage in retail

High consumer engagement

Data collection

An additional source of revenue

Greater agility at lower cost

More efficient staff

Completing the buyer’s journey

How Vera can make digital signage even better

The benefits of digital signage in retail

Digital signage works in any public environment, from city centers to medical facilities, but its potential to transform retail environments is particularly potent. As the pandemic continues to make consumers wary of venturing into brick and mortar stores, facilities need a strong differentiating factor to make the visit worth the effort. Simply attracting visitors isn’t enough, however; modern customers expect personalized marketing and communications tailored specifically to their interests. Finally, building owners want to diversify their revenue streams to hedge against unforeseen lulls in consumer spending.

Digital signage impacts all of these considerations, and more. 

High consumer engagement

People are used to living in a perpetual state of information overload. This is especially true in retail contexts, where customers are constantly surrounded by dozens upon dozens of different labels, markers, and navigation signs. One of the most immediate benefits of digital signage in retail is the way it can instantly stand out: The combination of a bright, backlit display panel and a dynamic image instantly draws the eye where more traditional signage would fade into the background.

Beyond the basic appeal of a bright moving image, another pertinent reason to consider the use of digital signage in retail is the fundamental appeal of personal agency. Touch screens and voice recognition allow digital signage to react to visitor queries, providing a personalized experience not possible with traditional signage.

The same signs that advertise products can double as the first point of contact for customers who would otherwise need to flag down an employee, answering common questions such as where the nearest bathroom is or whether the stock on the shelves is all that's available. The customer receives the info they need more quickly, and employees are left free to continue their duties with minimal interruptions. Encouraging these sorts of contactless interactions is particularly valuable given pandemic-driven health concerns.

Data collection 

Understanding consumer behavior is crucial in retail environments, and digital signage has a big part to play. Where traditional signage is purely passive, digital signage can provide valuable insight into what promotions attract the most attention, what searches receive the most queries, and even what colors visitors find most appealing. At a minimum, a sign could track which products consumers spend the most time looking at, or the location they're most likely to look for directions to the exit.

Inviting visitors to open links on their phones via QR codes encourages further engagement, and it also presents an opportunity to further learn about visitors via anonymized tracking. The ability to collect and analyze this data is highly appealing for vendors, thus giving your facility an edge over the competition. 

An additional source of revenue

The potential of in-store marketing on digital signage is obvious, but that space can also be made available to outside advertisers to diversify revenue streams. Advertisers are eager to get their products and services displayed in high-traffic locations, and in-store placements complement an omnichannel strategy, especially when combined with online ads. This strategy is becoming so popular that eMarketer has called the rise of retail media a “top five retail trend” for 2022, with the industry expected to reach $41.37 billion this year — that’s a 31.4% growth over 2021! 

Enough potential avenues of monetization exist for digital signage to merit an article of their own, but it's clear that the signs themselves need not be a sunk cost that will only benefit other aspects of the business. With the right partners, your new signs can start contributing to your bottom line with minimal extra investment on your end.

Greater agility at lower cost

Traditional signage may have a lower upfront cost, but hidden expenses begin stacking up the moment it's time to update a location's look. Ordering or printing the new signage is only the first hurdle. Shipping adds significant cost, as does taking the time to put it up on-site. When it’s time to cycle in new messaging, whether you choose to dispose of the old signage or store it, you’re looking at additional fees. Creating and using media is time-consuming, costly, and inefficient.

Digital signage is installed once, and then can be changed as often as needed. New designs can be rolled out to multiple locations simultaneously, with low or zero interaction necessary from on-site staff. This allows for more event-based or seasonal shifts to help keep up customer interest. It also ensures that signage is being displayed correctly and in a timely manner at all locations, something nearly impossible to guarantee otherwise. 

More efficient staff

As the scale of a business increases so too does the difficulty of communicating important information to employees across levels. Each point of separation in terms of both distance and hierarchy increases the potential of messages being diluted or lost, but digital signage can easily be used for more central control of what employees see on a day-to-day basis. Digital signs can also help with training employees by showing tutorials or key reminders exactly when and where they're needed, reverting to their usual messaging when done.

As mentioned previously, interactive displays can field common questions from visitors, freeing up employees to spend more time on their usual tasks. It also allows them to focus on customer concerns that would truly benefit from their personal touch, helping to improve experiences and drive retention.

Completing the buyer’s journey

The online and in-person parts of a business don't need to be two separate entities. Digital signage can bring those two halves of the whole together in a way that enhances the value of both. A digital display could be configured to display a curated list of social media posts from fans, showing off potential new products or services for those who are already in the store to check out next, and making them more likely to engage with the business online in the future.

This particular use of digital signage in retail could also tie in with the more nuts-and-bolts parts of a connected business, such as checking inventory at other locations for items that are out of stock nearby. Those are just some of the many conveniences, monetization angles, and broader benefits of digital signage in retail that businesses which make the investment may be able to capitalize on.

How Vera can make digital signage even better

Installing digital signage is a strong first step in future-proofing your locations, and the next could unify their application with uses far beyond the old ways to use physical spaces. Vera from Resonai provides everything you need to transform your locations into intelligent environments with the power of augmented reality.

Customers can go straight from an eye-catching call-to-action on a local display to seeing AR recreations of limited-time offers right before their eyes, or following personalized directions to the next stop on their shopping list. Visitors can be brought back time and time again by integrated shopping experiences, while their full journey through the facility can be mapped to improve retention and intent to buy at every step. Consumers want more from their shopping experiences, and digital signage is an effective strategy for giving it to them.

Are you ready to learn more? Get in touch with Resonai today and set up a free demonstration.