The customer journey has changed. The retail industry has various challenges for the future, and if retail companies don't start to utilise new tools and improve the customer experience, many companies will have a tough road ahead.
As customers want a good deal, they often demand extended service and greater experience, and they increase the pressure on prices. The retail industry must follow the trends to meet customer needs. Digital signage is one of the many tools David-Andersen has used in order to improve interaction with their customers, both online and in stores.
Databeat went to the shopping center CC-Vest to meet David-Andersen’s CEO, Finn Martinsen.
Finn Martinsen has been looking at different digital signage solutions for several years but was not satisfied with the options he found.
Finn says that - "It is important that the screens do not go black and that the software can work at all hours of the day," customers today expect high standards and we must work actively to create an attractive and customer friendly environment. Often, customers want to experience "a little circus" in the stores. We know that the number of visitors to the physical stores are decreasing. Therefore, it’s important that the physical stores can offer an improved and unique customer experience.
It was only when he got an insight into DatabeatOMNI that he dared to take the leap on digital signage.
"The screens help to activate and create an improved experience in our stores. We utilise many tools and we were one of the first in Norway to use scented aromas in the stores to create a better atmosphere. Today, customers want to feel at home in the stores, and they also want something to happen. With the screens, we can create a curiosity - increase the focus on some products and we can use the solution as a bridge builder between our e-commerce store and our brick & mortar stores.
The customers recognize images, videos and other graphic elements that make them feel more comfortable in the store and it creates a curiosity that makes the customer want to know more about our products.
Customers will stop and look at the screens, which are elegantly decorated with gold frames and match the style of the interior.
"It's about integrating the display into the interior so that it looks like a picture frame and the expression is aesthetically beautiful - our customers expect to see more than a just simple solution. We also observe that the interior design concepts are constantly being upgraded at a higher rate than before, and the lifetime of interior concepts have minimised the advantage of upgrading to new store concepts in order to increase customer experience.
With digital signage you can make quick changes and change your content whenever you want. Loyal customers buy more, more often, and they can be our company's most powerful marketers. They are also the ones who expect a unique shopping experience and high quality because they know our brand. The service in the stores is important, but so is also the quality of what we show. We have therefore chosen DatabeatOMNI as a preferred solution, to satisfy our customers’ wishes, Finn says."
As of today, three stores using digital signage - there are screens inside the stores, as well as outward-facing ones that communicate to the larger public spaces and people passing by.
"We want to introduce screens in all stores over time. Currently, this has been a proof of concept. Printing high-quality images on posters, as we have done in the past, is costly - the ongoing operating costs are now used on content for digital signage. We make videos among other things, and we are now focusing on creating more engaging and dynamic content.
In addition, our employees give the customer a more personalised and greater service.
What started out in the retail industry has evolved into countless industries, now utilising technology to display content for their audiences. Colorful images or videos with motion and eye-catching impressions guarantee sales. Studies suggest that digital screen surfaces can increase sales by 49% compared to static advertising.
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Return on investment
Most business executives know that it is return on investment, or ROI, that is in focus when setting aside money for marketing, but it can be difficult to measure display publishing without running campaigns. As an example, the target yield can be as simple as measuring an increase in sales of a particular product in the promotional campaigns.
How do you actually measure digital signage?
The use of QR codes on the screen to see the number of buyers may be helpful. Another tried and tested digital signage testing method is to include user interaction by using a "call-to-action". If the goal of digital signage is to drive more people to your site, you can promote a unique URL on your photos. The number of people accessing your site from this URL gives an indication of the effectiveness of the content on digital signage. You can encourage further participation by offering discount codes or promoting other "giveaways".
Today, metrics such as ROI are often not the main motive for acquiring screens, but rather creating an attractive and inviting environment that draws the customer to the store. We humans are drawn to screens and live images, as it creates curiosity.
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Tell your story - create engagement
"Being able to work with vivid images targeted at new and existing customers to increase the visibility of the products and as well bring out the wonderful stories behind how the product is created is something we at David-Andersen are diligently working towards.
We work with short-lived and sustainable products where it is possible to have videos of, among other things, a goldsmith at Egertorget, a craftsman who creates jewelry. The customers can see the videos on our screens and this is how we provide a unique and better customer journey and experience. It's not every day you can see the products we want to buy, being handmade. We help create and control part of the customer journey by providing this exclusive insight into our processes. We must think outside the box and get the customers into the store, with digital signage we are on the right track," says Finn Martinsen
Time management
With DatabeatOMNI you can control your content, i.e. display different content at different times and you can decide when the screens should be online. The new displays available today are intelligent displays. That is, they can transform the image quality into more intense colors, placed in direct sunlight and be active 24 hours a day.
Finn says that the screens that are exhibited towards the public space are live 24/7, and those who are inside the store are timed so that they are only showing content during opening hours.
Partner stands for engineering and sales
JohNet is a Databeat partner and has had David-Andersen as a customer in their portfolio for a long time; therefore, they were the natural choice as a partner when David-Andersen chose to use DatabeatOMNI as their digital signage solution. Publishing content on the screen with vivid images such as a video has become more relevant, especially within retail. The customer is attracted by movement and is used to see digital signage in their customer journey.
A Databeat partner - Robert Aaslund Langerud from JohNet
"David-Andersen was there when JohNet celebrated their 30th anniversary and they got to experience DatabeatOMNI. They already had plans to create more excitement in their placement and marketing - and they wanted to optimise their stores but could not find the right solution.
"The timing was great for the gathering of customers that we had, where we promoted DatabeatOMNI as the leading digital signage solution,” says Robert.
"When we (JohNet) showed Finn Martinsen from David-Andersen DatabeatOMNI there was no doubt. With DatabeatOMNI they could streamline and optimize their messaging and brand.
"We had a workshop with David-Andersen on how they could fully utilise all the features that DatabeatOMNI has to offer - even though it is easy to use, we often show the customers all the features so that they can get more ideas as to how they can utilise DatabeatOMNI and improve their business.
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