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At least 40 percent of my time is spent on the road attending and speaking at conferences, meeting with integrators and visiting their customer sites. It lets me see firsthand how they’re using our digital signage products and services. It also gives me an opportunity to listen to their questions; their wish lists and their visions of tomorrow’s systems and solutions.

What we’re hearing is businesses are stressed economically and would like to do more with less. Here’s how digital signage can help.

* Virtual Salesman – a digital signage solution can also be used to reduce–or even to replace–the need for hiring expensive employees as it can act as a well-informed sales representative. Interactivity such as bar code scanning of an item which triggers an in-depth review of the product, RFID, buttons, touch screens (product finder), etc. all put the power in the customer’s hand during the sales process, but lets retailers drive their decision with well-thought-out messaging.

* Dual Personality – businesses can dual-purpose their signage to train employees. Corporate communications can be sent to the signage for employee meetings during off hours.

* Affordability – with the price of LCD screens going down, digital signage is more affordable than ever before. According to WitsView, panel makers have experienced a consecutive decline in sales through the past three quarters and can only hope to maintain production by reducing costs and selling off inventory. And to drive these screens, digital sign controllers are required. By selecting a platform that is all-inclusive offering the hardware to actually run the presentations, software to create the presentations and networking to conveniently deliver them, high-quality digital signage becomes accessible to virtually any size business. In addition, by selecting a non-PC solid-state platform, you can easily save on deployment costs, licensing costs and maintenance cost due to their high reliability. Not only that, they’re green as well since they run on just 3-5 watts compared to the 70-90watts to run the average PC.

* Scalability – Integrators and resellers can use basic solid-state digital signage solutions to meet their customers’ current display needs while keeping their costs low and giving them the flexibility, the scalability, to add to the solution as their business and our economy grow.

The Bottom Line – Increased Sales
According to the Commerce Department’s final report on the growth in goods and services in the second quarter of 2011, the U.S. economy expanded at 1.3 percent, compared to the 0.4 percent increase for the first three months of the year. The increase was led by a pickup in consumer and construction spending; however, most analysts expect the recovery to be slow.

For businesses that are strapped for resources (both financial and human), this news reinforces the need for affordable, value-added digital signage that is also reliable, easy to deploy and easy to use – especially in the highly competitive retail market where visual messages are vital. Much more than a stagnant sign on the wall, digital signage has the power to move the viewer from engagement to action – the ultimate goal for a signage solution. Our retail customers report in-store digital signage quickly pays for itself:

* A 30+ percent increase in sales when non-interactive presentation digital signage is used for promotions.

* A 100 percent sales lift on a specific product using interactive end-cap signage promotion1

* 3 times as many shoppers signed up daily for discounts when SMS texting was employed on in-store digital signage1

* Cross- promotions can be easily used, i.e., if users select one item, your signage can “suggest” another item as well that happens to be on sale.

* Coupons, deals, etc. can be offered/integrated with mobile devices to help consumers feel they are getting a good deal.

Visuals Sell – Shoppers get the message more quickly if it’s visual. Clean, crisp photos of the products and minimal informative descriptions let the customer select the product and size they want. When you put the customer in control, it usually results in increased sales. The resilience of the retail industry is driven by two inherent characteristics that will help digital signage integrators and resellers in their sales efforts.

First, to remain competitive, retailers still need to reach their customers, enhance their shopping experience and promote their products; and no other marketing tool is as effective as digital signage for instantly delivering new, targeted messages at the point where the buying decision is made.

Second, for most retailers, the fourth quarter provides a major part of their revenue for the year. The recently announced turnkey portable digital signage tower is ideal for delivering targeted messages because it enables retailers to place their displays on merchandise tables, shelves, desktops and check-out counters. Since these free-standing, plug-and-play towers don’t require a PC or any external power or wiring, retailers can instantly set up eye-catching displays that fit almost anywhere and can be easily moved from place to place as needed. Portable, stand-alone and network-enabled players can also be used to generate additional income by selling time on the displays to promote other businesses and services.

Interactive Control – The sporting goods supplier wanted to put the customer in control and at the same time do a better job of educating and assisting the consumer in making the right selection. This interactive kiosk allows the customer to learn everything they want to know about the product and choose the one that best meets their needs, resulting in better customer satisfaction, fewer returns. Although challenges may be easier to spot than opportunities these days, the integrators and customers we’ve been meeting seem to know that one does not exist without the other. Anticipating what the integrators’ customers will want/expect in the future is an ongoing challenge, but it is important for me to keep a pulse on their needs to bring to market solutions for the opportunities that are there–today and the future.

1 Data from National Retail Federation session presented by Walmart and creative partner Studio Squared