Building the Store of the Future Today

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By Richard Slawsky | Contributing writer, Digital Signage Today

Retailers who focus on creating the “store of the future” need to be careful not to overlook the technologies that are available for deployment today.

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There’s no question that the retail industry is changing. Companies are facing increasing competition from online merchants, the shopping mall is falling out of favor and labor is an ever-increasing challenge.

To address these and other concerns many retailers are busy planning for the “store of the future,” bandying about terms such as “omnichannel” and “customer experience” as the focus of this store new model.

It’s important to note, though, that getting to the future means being able to survive today. It’s not enough to wait for new technologies to be developed to make a retail operation more profitable and easier to manage. Many of the technologies that will accomplish those tasks already exist, and savvy operators are using those technologies to lower costs, increase sales and create the “store of the future” experience today.

In addition, it’s important not to deploy technology simply because it’s new and flashy. That technology needs to improve the customer experience.

“The store of the future is really about the shopper of the future, and that shopper is here today,” said Stuart Armstrong, group president with New York-based ComQi, a global leader in the development of cloud-based customer and staff engagement technology.

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By Richard Slawsky | Contributing writer, Digital Signage Today

Building the Store of the Future TodayRetailers who focus on creating the “store of the future” need to be careful not to overlook the technologies that are available for deployment today.

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“The consumer needs to be the central consideration,” Armstrong said. “Retailers have to look through the lens of the shopper and it should be all about the shopper and their experience.”

Some of these technologies can be deployed now include:

Digital Signage

Nearly all the technologies retailers have at their disposal to improve communication with customers are rooted in digital signage. While a few decades ago digital signage was based on CRT televisions and the time-and-temperature signs on the side of the local bank, today’s customer-facing screens include flat-screen LCD displays and hi-resolution LED screens that can be built as large as the deployer desires.

Digital displays, video walls, touchscreens and sensors in stores are a great marketing and branding tool. They can be used to showcase all in-store promotions and can updated in seconds from the corporate office, with content localized by region or even by individual store. They create brand stickiness among shoppers by re-enforcing the brand and consistent messaging across various platforms.

Although the numbers vary, deploying digital signage in a retail location has been demonstrated to result in sales uplifts of a few percent to as much as 24 percent or more.

Window Displays 

In its early days, digital signage was restricted primarily to the sales floor, where ambient light wouldn’t interfere with screen content. As digital technology has developed in recent years, though, improvements in screen brightness mean those screens are taking the place of printed signage in window displays, even in locations that spend much of the day in full sunlight. The latest LED displays in particular offer extremely high brightness at a resolution rivaling that of an LCD screen.

Window displays help increase foot traffic. They are the first thing that any shopper sees and they need to make an impression. Screens help do that. They are easy to update with content that showcases in-store promotions and adds to the overall look and feel of the store.

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Interactive Displays

For years digital displays were a one-way form of communication, with those screens passively showing the latest promotion to customers. With the increasing popularity of touchscreen displays, though, that communication is becoming a two-way affair. Much of that growth has been prompted by the popularity of smartphones and their tap-and-pinch screens.

A 2017 report by Research and Markets projects the global touchscreen display market will grow at a 9.7 percent compound annual rate over the next decade, reaching $110.3 billion by 2025.

Interactive screens are a great way to bring the online experience in-stores. They help with consistent messaging. Retailers can close the loop at point-of-service and customers can avoid check-out lines. They also allow retailers to offer a broader range on inventory with “endless aisle” options offering home delivery and/or next-day pickup in-store.

RFID-based Tap-and-Teach capabilities

Interactivity doesn’t only include the touch of a single finger. It also includes the same multi-touch capabilities already present on smartphones as well as Bluetooth communication that can prompt digital displays to show targeted content when a customer walks by.

Interactivity also includes the radio-frequency identification tags retailers use to thwart shoplifters. RFID tags placed on a product can be used to trigger digital signage content when a customer picks up that item, or a sales associate can “tap” a product to have the display show information about the features or technical specs.

And because detailed product information can be available at the tap of a finger, sales associates won’t need to spend hours poring over manuals and brochures to commit that information to memory. That saves training time while ensuring the customer receives the

best information possible.

Fitting Room Experience 

In the past few years retailers have begun deploying “smart mirrors” in their fitting rooms that combine a normal mirror with touch-capable digital displays and RFID tags. The mirror can leverage RFID tags attached to clothing to keep a running tab of the customer’s selection, while showing similar items in the store’s inventory and even suggesting add-on items.

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If a customer is trying on a particular pair of pants, for example, the mirror can list the store’s availability of that same style of pants in different colors, while also suggesting a matching pair of shoes. The customer can summon a sales associate with a tap of the screen, having additional products brought to the fitting room. And once they’ve made their selections, they can pay for their purchases via the display.

Social Media Integration

Promoting a brand’s social media efforts via their digital display is a great opportunity for retailers to connect with their customers, get social media influencers involved and create a more engaging experience. Some retailers are using those displays to show customer-generated content in the store (with that content going through a moderation process, of course).

Community Table/Gamification

Sooner or later a retailer is going to encounter a situation where customers will be waiting in line to check out or speak with a sales associate, and the last thing those retailers want is for shoppers to get bored and abandon their purchase. Adding digital displays featuring games or other interactive content can help reduce that risk.

In fact, a 2015 study by Lavi Industries, a provider of queue management solutions, shows that digital signage can cut perceived wait times by as much as 35 percent.

Employee Communications

Let’s face it: Deploying an effective digital signage network can require a substantial investment. As such, it’s important to get the maximum benefit from that network. That includes leveraging those screens for uses other than displaying promotional content.

Not only can screens be used for in-store promotion during the day, they can be used for store operations and training during off-hours. Company-wide meetings can be conducted via the displays, with every location participating no matter where they may be located. In addition, on-demand features can be used to display employee training materials, shortening the on-boarding process and getting new hires productive quickly.

Leveraging what’s available today

To engage customers, grow sales and remain profitable, retailers need to leverage every tool that’s available to them. They need to find ways to get customers the products they

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desire at the lowest cost possible, provide the best experience they can and make the brick-and-mortar store a place that engages customers and makes them want to visit the physical store.

In addition, it’s important that these tools be easy for a retailer to manage. Most of the technologies that have been developed in recent years to improve the customer experience have their roots in digital signage. As such, when considering a digital provider, retailers should look at both the content management as well as the device management aspect of the network deployment. It’s important to pick a unified CMS that can meet all these needs.

ComQi’s EnGage CMS is such a system and should be a top consideration when deciding on a platform. EnGage was built on a decade of industry experience and technologies, providing an unparalleled breadth of functionality necessary to deliver the right message, at the right screen and the right time. It is a true cloud-based platform that is entirely web-based, with an open architecture and the industry’s most intelligent content management engine.

As a full systems integrator, ComQi is a one-stop shop that can not only design and deploy the networks but also maintain and provide on-going support.

Retailers have nothing to gain by waiting for new technologies to make their jobs easier. The tools they need to create the “store of the future” are already available. The future is now.

About the sponsor:ComQi, an AUO company is a global leader providing a cloud-based Customer and Staff Engagement Technology that influences consumers at the point of decision, in-venue, using all digital touch-points: digital signage, mobile, video, touch, web, social networks and Internet of Things (IoT) capabilities.

ComQi is an end-to-end provider of digital signage. Our services include content creation, network launch and management & ongoing support. The company is headquartered in New York with offices in Toronto and London. We have more than 16 years of industry expertise and an install base across every continent.

Our mission is to deliver end-to-end solutions that are tailored to engage consumers by optimizing communications and marketing strategies that provide the best ROI. Our technology is designed to deliver the right content to the right place at the right time to the right audience, in order to stimulate a change in the consumer’s behavior all at the lowest total cost of ownership.