How Digital Signage Solutions Can be Turned into Data Machines

3 min read
Published April 29, 2020   |  Last Updated March 23, 2024

Your store’s digital signage content should always engage the customer. But if you want to turbocharge the customer experience, then add interactivity to your content. That interactive content will not only help your digital signage solutions have 

more impact, but will also give you the ability to glean information about what your customers want when they’re shopping with you. Using this data, you can personalize the shopping experience so customers will want to come back again and again.

Where to Use Interactive Content

Interactive content, where the viewer can actually influence or change the content on the screen, is commonly used in several different applications inside of digital signage solutions. One of the most familiar instances to customers is wayfinder signage. Interactive wayfinder applications let customers use the screen to locate products and departments within the store.

The interactivity gets more sophisticated when combined with additional technology. For instance, screens with integrated video cameras are able to change the content based on how many people are looking at it at any given time. Facial recognition technology can also use those cameras to recognize where someone is in a store and push personalized offers to them on their cell phone if they’ve already opted into the loyalty program. 

All of this data can also be captured and then used later to make modifications to the content you’re using on your screens.

Improve Today’s Customer Visit

Interactive signs can be on the front line of your customer service efforts. Customers are used to using wayfinder screens to find their way to the departments and products they’re looking for. In fact, many shoppers prefer interacting with technology instead of asking an employee. Interactive kiosks can be employed to answer questions about products, help the customer decide which product to buy, and even point out complementary products that will increase their enjoyment. If the customer needs additional assistance, interactive screens can put them in touch with a live team member.

Can’t find what you’re looking for in the store? Interactive kiosks in the store can also allow customers to order the products that they couldn’t find and have them delivered straight to the store for pickup. Retailers can also mine the kiosk data to get an idea of what people are searching for that’s not available.

And, again, all of this is data that you can use later to better determine what products you should be stocking or what items you should merchandise differently.

Improve Future Visits

It’s every retailer’s goal to provide such an enjoyable experience that their customers return again and again. The easiest way to do this is to ask your customers what they want. With interactive screens, you can use passive or active methods to query your customers.

Camera-enabled screens can gain demographic information, such as the age range of your shoppers, and determine traffic patterns through the store. This will give you valuable information like which products shoppers linger at and what customers look at before buying. Combine that data with demographic information and you can start creating detailed customer profiles.

To actively survey your customers, set up interactive screens at the exit to ask about their shopping experience. An interactive survey right before they leave the store lets you catch them while the experience is still fresh in their mind and they’re likely receptive to answering some questions. This participation can even be incentivized with savings on the next trip. You’re likely to get more responses than if you ask them to go to a website that's printed on the bottom of their receipt or call an 800 number to complete the survey.

Customers are generally receptive to sharing information with retailers. Even though, according to Salesforce, 63% of consumers say they are worried about a security breach compromising their personal information, 80% say they’re still willing to share information for a more personalized in-store experience.

Whether you’re using signage to improve the customer experience during today’s shopping trip or collecting data to personalize the experience for the future, interactive digital signage can help you better engage customers and make them want to return.

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