Company News

Digital Signage in Your Supermarket

by webmaster — December 17, 2009

There are two kinds of supermarket signage:

Static Signage – Traditional printed-paper signs that help promote your sale items and have relatively short lifetimes.
Digital Signage – Innovative and eye-catching digitally produced messages that offer video and animation in a dynamic way that is more appealing to the customer.

Thinking about using digital signage in your stores? It doesn’t matter if your plans include a single LCD monitor at the front entryway of your store, or a network of 10 LCD monitors placed throughout your store. Either way, we can help!

Here’s a list of five items you need to consider before starting your installation:

CONTENT – Content is king. This is not a catchy slogan; it’s a fact! Before you spend money on LCD monitors and video players for your in-store digital signage program, make sure that your content is absolutely amazing and spellbinding to your customers. Don’t make the mistake of thinking that an in-store digital signage program is a place to play TV commercials. The most important thing is the user experience, and what your customers gain from watching your digital signage. It’s not about the fancy screen or the latest technology in players–it’s all about the content, which needs to be memorable, interesting and diverse in order to engage the customer.
UPDATE – Your content should include a mix of educational information about your store (brand) and information from outside of your store. We’ve found that news tickers and the daily/weekly weather forecast are among the favorites of customers in grocery stores. One of the most important things we’ve discovered is that customers will begin to ignore your signage if it does not change and stay fresh on a weekly basis. Digital signage is a way to provide your customers with the important and up-to-date information they want to know about, from weekly sale items, to facts about your store that differentiate you from the competition.
PLACEMENT – The placement of the monitors is critical. Don’t “pull a Wal-Mart” and try to hang LCD monitors from the rafters with the expectation that customers will crane their necks upwards to see the screen. The displays must be positioned as close to eye level as possible. The LCD monitors need to be part of the store environment, not obvious “after thoughts” that were installed with no regard to your store’s design concept.
GUIDE – Guide customers to different departments around your store. Sure, it’s great to show steaks sizzling on the grill on an LCD screen in the meat department, but why not also show attractive beauty shots of fresh vegetables, bakery items and other offerings on the same monitor to encourage ideas for a great meal combination? Changing the direction in which people flow throughout the store has been proven to increase purchases, inspiring customers to pick up something they might not normally buy.
INSTALLATION – Hire professionals to install and maintain your LCD digital signage program. Don’t let your brother-in-law handle the installation of your LCD digital signage network, and don’t buy your monitors at an electronics store closeout sale. The components may seem simple (LCD screens, cabling, mounting brackets and players), but choosing the right equipment is paramount to a successful installation. Additionally, working with a company that has done multiple installations will save you headaches in the long run. You don’t want your brother-in-law climbing on a ladder in your produce department when a player isn’t working properly. We have installation partners that are among the largest and best in the world to help do it right. Picking the right equipment and installing it properly is absolutely crucial. Paying for your equipment outright might sound like a great idea in the short-term, but you should also consider leasing the equipment. As technology changes, you want to stay on top, and leasing is a great way to retain working capital and remain at the forefront of technology.

DW Green Company is the leading content supplier for the supermarket industry. If you would like us to mail you a sample DVD of Digital Signage content, please click here.

If you’d like to learn more about using digital signage in your stores, we’d encourage you to spend a few minutes with our Graphic Design, DVD Production and Store Installation staff before kicking off your project.

Filed Under: Company News