By Adrian McDermott

Digital displays are part of everyday life. We come across them when we step out of homes. They are getting ubiquitous by the day. Let’s try and understand how interactive digital signage at retail destinations helps both buyers and sellers. No longer are such displays viewed as an attractive or gimmicky marketing tool. Interactive digital signage has some very real and very serious benefits to offer for retailers that are already leveraging DOOH for marketing.

It is human nature to be attracted to something that is interactive as against static. Interactivity offers first-hand experience, it allows us to participate, and facilities decision making.

Interactive digital signage systems such as VODXS faucet-based ad systems in public washrooms can deliver really targeted messaging through interactivity. Such messaging can be made more interesting and attractive through motion activated lighting and pressure sensors.

Interactive digitals signage in retail helps businesses grab attention. Can it be viewed as the first step towards engagement? Interactivity has a huge advantage over static retail displays with respect to capturing viewers’ attention. With interactive displays and interactive digital kiosks, once they have your attention, the chances of you staying back and interacting with the content are very high.

You can engage with your customers through interactive displays in myriad ways. For example, you can get on their social media pages through creative engagement and get exposure. Positive engagement simplifies brand recall. A simple and engaging questionnaire can help you acquire pertinent information that you can use to create a line of discounted products, launch a new product, alter merchandising techniques, etc.

By simply adding a touchscreen to digital signage, retailers can empower customers with respect to the kind of information they seek and the amount of information they want. Interactive solutions are less intrusive than salespersons approaching customers and interrupting to share information.

7 out of 10 women, and 5 out of 10 men consider shopping to be a means of entertainment. People seek to be amused and entertained when they enter a mall. Digital signage is a great tool for providing entertainment and infotainment. A customer in a happy frame of mind is more likely to make a purchase.

Basically, anything that enhances a customer’s experience must be used. And, interactive digital signage is one such tool.

Along with entertainment, information and education play a big role in providing the necessary trust for a purchase decision. From showing features and benefits of products to informing about flash sales, retailers can draw a customer’s attention to many useful things. Data-backed displays on digital signage can be targeted at select audiences to inform about products and services most relevant to them. For example, discounts on baby wipes for young parents, newly introduced software for the visually impaired, new kitchen appliances for working mothers, etc. are examples of how you can used interactivity to sell more.

One of the biggest advantages of interactive retail displays is that they are extremely flexible. You can change data and content in real time. If you sell seasonal products, such flexibility can help you sell more during a short window.