In retail environments consumers are surrounded by all kinds of promotional materials and mediums, competing for their attention. There are many different points of engagement, but in this post I want to focus on shelf edge displays where it is easy to cross over the automatic barriers that shoppers erect against too many messages, making sure you get heard.
We all know that in big cities in particular everyone is on the go and haven’t the time to pay attention to everything that is going on. As a result commuters and consumers have a natural tendency to block out what they perceive as unwanted noise. Of course digital signs that are well placed and display carefully planned content easily skip this hurdle, but how?
There are many applications for digital signs, and right now I want to look at the scenario where a shopper is browsing a retail environment. Signs are context specific, which is an important factor when rolling out a digital signage campaign however large or small. What do I mean by that? Well, simply that we must be sympathetic to what a viewer is doing at the time they see our messages.
In the process of deciding what content to show, first we have to consider what the viewer wants, how we can send a message that resonates with their desires and in so doing make sure that they are receptive to it. In the case of our retail environment we have a lot of context information available, and knowing that we are deploying shelf edge displays we can consider various options that might fit with predefined goals for in-store advertising and marketing activities.
If our shopper is looking to buy something, then we can use shelf edge digital displays to show them images and video of how good a particular product looks, or how good they will look with it on etc. Knowing that a shelf edge screen like the 10″ Display from Digital View is quite small and will sit on a shelf, we can be certain that the viewer will be quite close to both our screen and the products. This is a great opportunity to communicate brand messages and product benefits in a manner that will help the shopper appreciate the products better, understanding them more and being better informed to make a decision. Of course this is also an opportunity to make the sales pitch, and these decisions must be weighed with company guidelines on how to best look after customers.
To sum up, shelf edge displays can offer a personal and engaging experience for shoppers and certainly fulfill a niche part of the digital experience that marketing departments can offer. Considering both the company’s goals and the customer experience can lead to the design of campaigns that will greet the viewer with a message they are receptive to and in so doing improve the buying experience as well as sales objectives. Just don’t forget to put metrics in place to track how well you did!
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