Digital signage means business

Digital signage means business
Tags: Digital Merchandising, DOOH Advertising, Hardware, Retail
February 3, 2012 - Jeff Hastings

While economic growth has slowed, it hasn't stopped. People are still buying; they just want to make informed decisions and want more value for their money. To meet these needs, no other marketing tool is as effective as digital signage for instantly delivering new, targeted messages at the point of purchase.

According to a recent ABI Research report, the digital signage industry will experience a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) 0f 18.5 percent from 2011 through 2016.

Proven sales lift is driving the adoption of digital signage. A grocery chain saw a 100 percent increase in sales from an end-cap digital signage installation, but just 25 percent from a similar printed sign. A clothing retailer had three times as many shoppers sign up for discounts on a daily basis when SMS texting was used on their in-store digital signage.

The good news is that for customers who choose a solid-state digital signage solution, the cost for deploying digital signage is no longer prohibitive.

Priced significantly lower than PC-based solutions, solid-state players also cost less to operate since they only require about 3-5 watts, compared to 70-90 watts for an average PC, and completely eliminate PC issues such as high maintenance costs and system crashes. And with no moving parts to fail, solid-state players built solely for digital signage deliver increased reliability.

Installation costs are significantly lower as well when a complete, ready-to-use solid-state signage solution is chosen that includes hardware, software and networking capabilities. This all-in-one approach eliminates hardware/software compatibility issues and software licensing fees. Potential buyers should also compare software features and ease of use. Today, there are applications that feature intuitive templates and tools to make creating, updating, managing and monitoring digital signage displays so easy that even non-technical users will excel without any assistance from IT support.