Signs of our time
Measuring distances, counting customers, and guiding them in the right direction: Digital screens in retail offer numerous advantages during the COVID-19 pandemic. Through this new application, retailers are constantly getting to know their customers better.
The customer is standing in front of the store: Can they just walk in, or is it too crowded inside? Rules that are constantly changing during the COVID-19 pandemic—and aren’t the same everywhere—make them hesitate. However, retailers can do a lot to welcome their customers right at the door. «A lighting system signals when they can enter the store, and storefront screens provide them with important information about the hygiene measures,» says Simon Lütenegger, Chief Consulting & Sales Officer at the digital signage provider JLS in Lucerne.
Lütenegger implemented such a concept for a pharmacy chain. Screens in the storefront inform visitors not to enter if they have symptoms of illness, but to call an emergency number instead. «The correct local numbers for over 100 locations are displayed automatically,» he explains. All it took was producing a single ad spot. According to the JLS manager, this solution has been well received: «Especially during lockdowns, measures sometimes changed again within just a few days. So the ability to quickly distribute new content at the push of a button was, of course, a major advantage.»
Indoor signage also helps customers inside the store: Digital displays at hand sanitizer stations, for example, remind visitors to maintain a safe distance and give them the opportunity to sanitize their hands. Simone Bächle, General Manager at Westiform in Niederwangen, has also noticed high demand for such solutions: «It’s becoming increasingly important to communicate transparently with both customers and employees about the measures being taken to protect their health.» Especially since the onset of the pandemic, systems for analyzing visitor flow have been in high demand—systems that also display general information on social distancing and hygiene, as well as company-specific content regarding safety protocols. Westiform offers its own solutions for this purpose, such as hand sanitizer stations with screens or the Clean Air Tower air purifier. «We combine hand sanitization, access control, and air purification with the clarity of digital signage,» says Bächle, describing the offering. This allows companies to ensure that their visitors aren’t overwhelmed by conflicting and confusing information on numerous signs.
Personalized Content
With this information, companies not only fulfill their duty of care—they can also communicate with customers in a personalized way. The data on customer behavior, which is collected by visitor flow analysis systems, lays the foundation for displaying relevant offers at the point of sale. «This ranges from suggestions for uses, combinations, or add-ons to recommendations, product availability, and personalized simulations—for example, with clothing,» says Bächle.
The challenge: Due to the risk of infection, standard touchscreen applications are no longer the first choice for accessing information in stores. Irene Stutz, a partner at the signage agency Signito in Zurich, says she never believed in touchscreen kiosks to begin with: «Customers who interact with a public screen don’t want others to see what they’re looking for,» she explains. «On top of that, nobody wants to touch something that someone else has already touched.» But Stutz sees a way out of this dilemma: «If the information can be transferred from the screen to the customer’s cell phone—their personal device—the customer has it with them and can save it there and access it from anywhere.»
In such scenarios, technologies such as Near Field Communication (NFC), Bluetooth beacons, and QR codes are used to connect display stands to smartphones. This allows customers to interact not only with display stands on the sales floor but also with screens in the storefront window. Fabio Vareni sees this as the future. «Flexibility is the buzzword of tomorrow,» says the managing director of Frontwork in Wallisellen. He expects that many companies will increasingly invest in innovative, digitized window display and in-store communication concepts in the future. «This will allow them to advise their customers remotely as well,» explains Vareni. «Information is delivered across various channels and seamlessly integrates with one another.»
When the Robot Gives Advice
Providing advice while maintaining the necessary social distance—robots can do that, too. The Wepro agency in Wolfhausen has launched its own signage robot, Chiara. She moves around the store independently and addresses visitors in Swiss German. She displays promotional videos on her screen to draw their attention to the latest special offers. If it’s raining outside, for example, these might be umbrellas, according to a press release from the agency. Using facial recognition software, Chiara also collects data on consumer behavior and visitor numbers and supports staff in the sales process—including by directly showing customers the location of the advertised products. She also assists staff by alerting customers if they are not wearing a face mask. Chiara is already in use at the TopPharm pharmacy on Zurich’s Europaallee. New signage concepts are also finding their way into communication with employees. New-work concepts have long played a role in modern companies. The COVID-19 pandemic has further reinforced this trend. The focus here is on how to best communicate in new workspaces, both on-site and from home. «Office spaces are being repurposed as hubs for collaboration, and remote work—whether from home or elsewhere—opens up new opportunities,» says Frontwork CEO Vareni. For him, digital room signs are an essential part of the setup—for example, those that allow workspaces and meeting rooms to be booked flexibly, or that indicate whether a room is available, occupied, or has just been cleaned.
Vareni also points out that modern—paperless—communication is made possible by screens that can be connected to laptops or freely movable interactive whiteboards, which can be used for presentations or online meetings: «Data dashboard displays visualize current company figures and KPIs on large screens for everyone to see,» he says. This also puts an end to the paper clutter in offices. It’s certainly more hygienic and sustainable.
Digital Signage: The Most Important Trends
- Effectively managing visitor flow: Digital signage provides clear information on current instructions and helps prevent customer confusion.
- Data reading: When collecting data on visitor traffic, indoor signage systems not only fulfill their duty of care but also create new opportunities for personalized content at the point of sale.
- Touchscreen? No, thanks! Because people are reluctant to use public touchscreens these days, personal devices must be incorporated into the process of conveying information.
- Networking Despite Working from Home: New Work concepts with digital signage: They enable employees—whether in the office or working from home—to view the same presentations.
Away from the touchscreen
If information can be transferred from the screen to the customer’s cell phone, the customer has it with them, can save it there, and access it from anywhere. In such scenarios, technologies such as Near Field Communication (NFC), Bluetooth beacons, and QR codes are used to connect the display stands to the smartphone.
