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Most digital signage providers are focused on developing tools to empower retailers to deliver focused messaging to their customers as they make purchase decisions throughout the store. However, in today's business it is vital to tap into the data resources that exist in in-store systems. These systems are vital to the success of the store and house critical information about their customers and their products. Driving the customer message with information extracted from customer loyalty systems, available inventory or POS data empowers the retailer to deliver a focused message that will allow customers to make purchase decisions as they walk through the store.

Digital signage providers who cater to the retail industry are focused on empowering retailers to create and deliver relevant content to their customers as they walk through the store. Research has shown that approximately 50% of customers who enter a store make purchase decisions as they walk through the store. This reinforces the goal of most digital signage networks to influence the customer by delivering the RIGHT message, to the RIGHT person, at the RIGHT time, at the RIGHT location. This dynamic messaging characteristic is clearly the unique power that digital signage brings to the retail industry today.

What most providers overlook, and leave to the expertise of the in-store IT/Marketing organizations, is the integration of their digital signage network into existing in-store systems such as: POS, Inventory Management, Retail Back Office, Mobile Point-of-Service and Human Resource Management. These systems and others are integral to the operation of the retail environment and implement critical functions such as in-store Marketing Strategies, Promotion Management, Inventory Management, etc.

By integrating their digital signage network with their in-store systems, retailers can control pricing, plan and deploy promotions, and encourage participation in in-store loyalty programs by delivering relevant messages based on the intended audience.

As stated earlier, in-store retail systems are vital to the successful operation of any retail environment. In-store systems control promotions, manage inventory, deploy marketing strategies, and train employees, all to create a better shopping experience for the customer. By tapping into these data sources and linking them to the content displayed on in-store digital signage networks, effective and relevant messaging can be delivered to meet the demands of the customer and the strategies of the retailer – happy customers produce higher revenues for the retailer and a better ROI.

Loyalty Cards and Customer Shopping Habits

As a customer enters a store, a scan of their loyalty card can result in learning a great deal about the shopping habits of the customer. Focused ads and promotions on in-store digital signage screens can be triggered from this information and display products and services of interest to the customer.

Consider Amazon.com! When you visit Amazon's online store and login to your account, Amazon presents you with products that relate to your previous purchases. Also, as you purchase an Amazon product your screen displays interesting and related products, encouraging the opportunity for an up-sell purchase. They make it very difficult to purchase only one product when you're presented with additional interesting and related products.

Much the same as the Amazon example, this can also be true for a big-box store like Barnes and Noble. Customers who present their loyalty cards are presented focused promotions and a discount based on the knowledge of that shopper's buying history. Inventory and Promotions Management Integration Now consider the digital signage network integrated to the in-store inventory system with its inherent knowledge of the quantity and description of products available.

By combining the customer's shopping history with known inventory data, a store can present promotional opportunities based on the customer's interest and the available inventory of related products. In addition, by adding technology such as RFID tags to products, specific promotional ads can be triggered to display at the point-of-sale. Let's consider another scenario where a C-Store is running a promotion on Coca-Cola®. Screens in the store and on the pump-top are encouraging customers to take advantage of the “buy one get one free” promotion. However, halfway through the planned promotion you learn through your inventory management system that your stock of Coca-Cola is quickly running out – what's a retailer to do! The answer is playlists of intelligent content already exist on the content manager server or the player for a myriad of other products. When the digital signage system is triggered from a link to the inventory management system the promotion is then changed to Sprite® and the remainder of the planned promotion can continue. While I realize this is a simplistic view of managing promotions, it does demonstrate the ability to make dynamic changes to your digital signage network to enhance your product sales.

Point-of-Sale Integration

Retailers have long used end-caps and other static in-store signage to generate excitement for special offers. Issues arise when the distribution of the signage is not compliant with the demands of the corporate marketing department and promotions are ineffective because the supporting signage were never displayed in the store. In-store digital signage gives the retailer much more power and flexibility with these campaigns, driven by three key capabilities: Campaigns can be centrally managed and distributed, campaigns can be localized to specific stores or regions within the store, and campaigns can be targeted based on time-of-day and day-of-week.

More timely messages can also educate customers about products or services of interest, if only they knew about them. If a retailer has a food court or coffee shop, it makes sense to let shoppers know that a fresh batch of coffee was just brewed or the rolls just came out of the oven. Remember the excitement created by Krispy Kreme® bakeries when they advertised a new batch of fresh donuts were available to customers. That kind of time-sensitive delivery is simply not possible with static signage; if anything, it replaces the intrusive and annoying habit of the loudspeaker announcement.

Most digital signage providers are focused on developing tools to empower retailers to deliver focused messaging to their customers as they make purchase decisions throughout the store. However, in today's business it is vital to tap into the data resources that exist in in-store systems. These systems are vital to the success of the store and house critical information about their customers and their products. Driving the customer message with information extracted from customer loyalty systems, available inventory or POS data empowers the retailer to deliver a focused message that will allow customers to make purchase decisions as they walk through the store. The bottom line is a happier customer, increased revenues and better ROI for the retailer.

For more information on how Starmount can help you integrate your in-store environment contact This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .