Digital Signage Pays Off Big for Retail SMBs

By David Salisbury, VP of Sales and Marketing, Star Cloud Services

Digital signage has been around for almost 25 years but with technology greatly advancing execution and capabilities, the complete host of benefits is now coming into full view. For retailers in particular, digital signage is especially effective. As the world of retail continues metamorphosing into a complete digital experience, business owners are capitalizing on digital signage to help increase sales and customer experience.

For retailers, having a well-designed and well-executed digital signage strategy means being able to better interact with shoppers and even encourage more in-store trips; at a time when e-commerce continues gaining momentum, getting shoppers in the store is crucial. Combined with shopper data obtained from digital receipt data, loyalty cards, or even beacons, digital signage presents retailers with innumerable possibilities to stimulate new growth.

The Power of Digital Signage

The way consumers shop is vastly different today than it was a decade ago. With the convenience of online shopping and millennials’ different brand expectations, the shopping landscape has been greatly altered. In order to be successful in today’s market, retailers need to keep consumers engaged and happy. Digital signage can be a decisive first step in doing so.

Shoppers are no longer ever alone. With their mobile device a hand’s reach away at all times, they are now constantly accompanied by their music, email and 1,000 closest Facebook friends. Retailers that capitalize on this knowledge can use it to better guide their digital signage strategies. By doing so they will be able to create more tailored messaging and personalized marketing, which will in turn result in increased sales.

The Value of Shopper Data

Retail has changed dramatically in recent years. Continuous advances in technology coupled with emerging technology trends have led to a massive restructuring of the relationship between retailers and shoppers. As mobile devices solidify their stake as shoppers’ number one companions and brand messaging comes less so from companies than from consumer-generated content, it is obvious retailers are at risk of no longer owning the relationship with shoppers.

Although these changes might seem like cause for alarm, they are in fact helping usher in great advances in the retail, including digital signage. Retailers already have a massive amount of shopper data at their disposal, which if leveraged with digital signage strategies can be used to help increase basket size, determine shopper sentiment and identify low-performing products.

When retailers use shopper data to its full potential they can identify new insights or emerging trends and act accordingly. For instance, if transaction data demonstrates that a specific product is underperforming, the retailer can decide to execute a digital signage promotion to boost sales. Similarly, if data indicates that a digitally promoted product is selling well at specific times of day, but not at others, they could alter the product that is promoted at “peak times” to determine the impact of this change. This could in turn inform other promotions going forward.

Star Micronics subsidiary, Star Cloud Services was built to bring IoT solutions to retailers by enabling the more than six million Star Micronics POS printers in stores today to become cloud-connected devices. Star Cloud Services has the unique ability to transform shopping receipts into valuable digital transaction data. With that data, retailers gain deeper insights that help them better engage, activate and retain shoppers.