Signs of change

Digital signage is changing how businesses adapt and grow

*Content created in partnership with Sign Media and appeared in Sign Media Canada’s May 2022 issue

The lives of consumers have changed. How they work, how they learn, how they unwind, and how they connect with each other. They have also changed their expectations.

So, what does this mean for businesses?

The pandemic has forced companies to adapt and evolve to meet these new consumer expectations. One way in which successful businesses are doing this is by embracing the power of digital signage. For the past two years, digital signage has experienced rapid growth across a variety of industries, including retail, hospitality, and transportation. Now that people have come to rely so heavily on technology for the information and entertainment they consume daily, flexible and reliable digital signage has become more important than ever before.

The role of display technology has expanded to complement more aspects of today’s new lifestyles. In fact, it’s hard to avoid digital signage these days. From the self-service kiosks at quick-service restaurants (QSRs) to animated billboards to adaptive, collaborative screens in modern boardrooms, it has become clear that digital signage is here to stay. With the latest display technologies, people are more informed and connected.

For businesses that want to grow, communicating with their customers in a meaningful way is key. With the right digital signage, they can provide real-time updates with the information that matters most to their customers, such as physical distancing rules, hours of operation, and special promotions. By going digital, business owners will have the peace of mind of knowing that their consumers have the most up-to-date messaging – no matter what.

Here is how digital signage is enabling businesses to keep up with shifting consumer lifestyles and provide an elevated experience.

Rain or shine: Outdoor digital signage is here to stay

In the past, rain, snow, heat, and cold had conspired to make installing screens out in the elements—in a drive-thru lane or on a transit shelter wall, for example—a costly, complicated, and temperamental proposition, but not anymore.

These days, outdoor displays reflect years of engineering designed to make running an LCD in harsh environments as crisp as running an LCD on the reception wall of an office. Outdoor displays are designed to work flawlessly, for years, despite extreme temperature changes, direct sunlight, precipitation of all types, and dust.

In industries like QSRs, the need for reliable outdoor digital signage is almost non-negotiable. Restaurants have come to rely on it to communicate menu items, new products, promotions, nutritional information, rewards programs, and prices.

The drive-thru, in particular, has become a primary destination for outdoor digital signage. With indoor dining restricted in many places during the pandemic, restaurants turned their attention to their drive-thru and take-out offerings, representing a major portion of their business. This is why it became more important than ever to communicate the right information on their outdoor displays.

Unlike static displays, digital signage enables QSRs to reduce their business costs as there is no need to constantly produce new signs. They also provide greater pre-sale opportunities as their audience sits in their vehicle waiting in line and they can speed up the entire ordering process, leading to higher sales.

Just like their vivid screens, the future is bright for outdoor digital displays in this industry as some major QSR companies are already testing order and payment using mobile devices, with walk-up and drive-thru pickup windows. In fact, some operators are using their drive-thru screens to let customers know the state of traffic in the immediate area, potentially warning them off a planned route.

Beyond QSRs and drive-thrus, outdoor digital signage can help all kinds of businesses upsell and attract customers, raise brand awareness, and speed up orders. Digital displays, with static or moving content, are also more attention-grabbing and memorable, they can be updated remotely, and they offer more opportunities for engagement through interactive touch technology.

Self-service solutions for everyone

As customers’ behaviours changed in reaction to health and safety protocols, businesses were forced to quickly adapt to provide them with a safer experience. One of the most popular methods of doing this was to introduce contactless or self-service solutions. Whether it was during the ordering process or at checkout, businesses that offered flexible display technology, such as self-guided kiosks, earned high praise from their customers.

These self-guided kiosks present many advantages, especially when consumers are extra cautious about their proximity to others and the surfaces they touch.

For example, with the right technology, these kiosks can provide fast shopping transactions, which allows operators to speed up their services, improve their order accuracy, and improve the overall experience to secure customer loyalty. Kiosks can also be informative to consumers by delivering on-demand answers about products, pricing, and availability. Finally, and most relevant to these current times, kiosks give customers and staff peace of mind when they are trying to abide by physical distancing and hygiene guidelines.

By speeding up transactions, more consumers can be served, which requires businesses to hire more staff to cook food or manage inventory or stock shelves. The technology also allows managers to reallocate staff to other duties so the business’ overall efficiency and experience for customers is improved. The rise in popularity of self-guided kiosks has been particularly apparent in the QSR industry, where consumers have quickly adapted to reviewing the menu and promotions and selecting their orders using this technology. Top-of-the-line kiosks even boast payment pads, card readers, receipt printers, QR/barcode scanners, optional near-field communication (NFC), and Wi-Fi.

Recently, St-Hubert restaurants in Quebec installed touchless interactive kiosks that allowed customers to order their meals without having to physically touch the surface of the screen. Instead, the kiosks’ cutting-edge AIR TOUCH® technology can read their gestures mid-air from 50 mm (2 in.) away from the screen. Moreover, Aisle 24, a fully automated, cashier-less grocery store, recently introduced Samsung Kiosks at several of its locations to elevate the in-store experience. Now, customers can pay for their groceries quickly and easily with an intuitive, all-in-one payment system.

These are just two examples of the endless possibilities self-service kiosks can provide businesses. With so many options, such as tabletop, floor-standing, and wall-mounted variations, or screens that are shatter-resistant, it’s no wonder so many businesses have embraced this technology and customers have come to expect this kind of convenience from their shopping experiences.

The Workplace Reimagined

Now that many employees are working remotely or in a hybrid arrangement where they only go into a physical office periodically, businesses have been tasked with finding ways to connect their teams in a seamless and collaborative way.

This is where digital signage comes in.

Technology will drive how these revamped workplaces operate, with digital signage informing, guiding, and motivating staff — on displays at desks and everywhere from lobbies and common areas to high-density seating areas. As workers will only be visiting the office on a part-time basis in these hybrid arrangements, it’s more important than ever for businesses to create an atmosphere that is conducive to productivity and collaboration.

To do this, workplaces need to introduce the right tools and communication technologies to help their whole team understand their updated operations and where they need to be. To inform, recognize, and inspire their teams — and keep them engaged — digital displays and monitors play a critical role in ensuring success.

In a physical office, high-definition video walls, which are now one of the fastest-growing subsegments of audio/video (A/V) displays for corporate use, and indoor LED signage can offer transformative ways to communicate, whether installed individually or as part of a seamless, large-palette LED screen.

For boardroom meetings, employees connecting remotely will feel more included with remote conferencing tools and digital displays, such as collaborative whiteboards and interactive screens that offer a smooth pen-to-paper-like writing experience and allow individuals joining from anywhere to share information and notate in real-time. Larger meeting rooms might benefit from the use of a full LED video wall to improve team communication and display compelling visuals while smaller rooms might prefer fixed-size LED bundles or large flat-panel LCD and QLED displays.

Other popular tools include integrated videoconferencing display solutions that can be customized so workers can initiate meetings on their mobile device and push the content to office displays. On-screen support for multiple operating systems and security solutions allow employees to use their own devices, IT-approved software, and peripheral equipment.

As workers gradually return to physical offices, digital signage in entryways, hallways, and other common areas can provide them with peace of mind by promoting new health and safety guidelines and reminding employees about critical protocols and information. Digital displays can also provide contactless wayfinding and issue alerts in the case of an emergency.

The possibilities are endless, but what’s clear is consumers both welcome and expect screens as part of their daily interactions. The businesses that recognize this and embrace it will be the most successful in the long run because they will be well-equipped to adapt to consumers’ and employees’ evolving lifestyles and needs.

—

A seasoned enterprise business leader, Mary Peterson is Vice President, Enterprise Business Division for Samsung Electronics Canada, where she shapes the strategic vision for the company’s commercial digital display solutions in Canada. Throughout her extensive career in the technology industry, she has led successful business divisions within the Canadian operations of some of the world’s most respected technology companies.