Transforming Your Customer Journey with Data-Driven Digital Signage

In today’s dynamic retail landscape, where immersive, personalised customer experiences are fundamental, digital signage has emerged as the next generation of customer engagement, with 84% of UK retailers believing that digital signage generates significant brand awareness.  

However, your digital signage journey doesn’t end once the signs are installed and your content is deployed. Even the best digital signage has limited value if you can’t measure its impact.  

Which campaigns are having the biggest impact?  

Are they reaching your desired audience effectively?   

With the utilisation of customer data, such as touch and voice interactions, NFC technologies, web addresses, dwell time, and movement tracking, you can measure your digital signage and the impact it generates from day one. With this data, you can pivot and adjust your message creation to hone the message and targeting. Making data-driven decisions about your digital signage strategy enables greater personalisation, simpler customer journeys, and a more impactful campaign. 

Power through personalisation 

Consumers will always be more receptive to messages tailored to them and their experiences. By connecting digital signs with data sources like customer management systems or smart devices, content can be changed dynamically based on all available data; including user choices and other sources such as location, the latest news, or surrounding conditions.  

Digital signage, like any other marketing material, is not something you set and forget. While static displays can lose relevance quickly, digital signage can be far more dynamic. Organisations can use real-time data and analytics to keep digital signage up to date with the latest trends, news or statistics, helping to capture customers' attention. Real-time updates also increase ROI for digital signage venues, as they can use this data to identify peak advertising times and charge brands more for these slots. 

Businesses can speed up and simplify this process by harnessing Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) technologies. AI and ML can rapidly sift through data to adjust content based on customer feedback, audience data, or campaign changes, increasing campaign flexibility. These technologies also allow retailers to collect and use data on customers’ behaviour and preferences, enabling them to display content better tailored to them.  

Streamlining the customer journey 

84% of UK retailers believe digital signage significantly impacts brand awareness, signifying its importance in moving customers along the sales funnel. At the start of the customer journey, retailers can use data-driven digital signage to grab shoppers’ attention with inspirational or dynamic content, guiding individuals around physical stores to encourage them to purchase.  

Once the customer is ready to purchase, the checkout can employ digital signage to advertise loyalty schemes, announce special offers, and promote social media engagement. Post-purchase digital signage can help retailers collect customer feedback, encourage registration to loyalty schemes, and recommend appropriate upsells. By showcasing targeted promotions, offers, and upselling opportunities based on customer preferences, retailers can encourage quicker decisions to help make the transaction faster. 

Interactive, immersive experiences 

Enabling customers to explore and actively participate in content through digital signage—whether it’s storytelling, education, gamification, or wayfinding—lets retailers gather more customer data. It also fosters a sense of collaboration between the business and the customer, establishing greater loyalty.  

Signage that lets customers customise a product's size, colour or shape, or guides them to the products they need, can add an element of interactivity and novelty for shoppers, and provide valuable insights into their preferences and the customer experience. To create these customised experiences on demand, retailers must leverage real-time data like location, weather conditions, and biometric scanning technology. 

Digital signage in action 

Every industry uses digital signage to build brand awareness and loyalty, and retailers are leading the charge. They incorporate features like interactive touchscreens and user-friendly interfaces to let customers explore products, access information, and make informed purchasing decisions. Innovations like interactive mirrors are helping retailers reach new heights of personalisation, letting customers design, customise, and virtually “try on” products before they buy.  

In supermarkets, digital signage smooths the customer experience and can save store employees time by directing customers. Digital signage can also measure the duration of each customer interaction to track engagement, which gives brands valuable feedback on their marketing, store layout, and product inventory. 

The hospitality industry is also unlocking value from digital signage. Guests can check themselves into hotels quickly and easily, and digital signage-powered concierges make customers more self-reliant than ever before. By offering digital menus and kiosks, Quick-Service Restaurants (QSRs) can cut labour costs, reduce queues, and promote the spontaneous purchasing of higher-end items. 

By embracing digital signage, you can exponentially elevate your brand and customer experience, helping you stay ahead of fierce retail competition. In today’s fast-moving technology landscape, where consumer expectations are higher than ever, data and digital signage effectively ensure that your customers are not just spectators but part of the story.  

Digital signage isn’t just for standalone screen units; most video conference and meeting room equipment can support digital signage when it is not in use. Having the ability to use these units can help drive employee awareness of campaigns, opportunities and other relevant information, allowing them to deliver a better service to your customers.  

One of the most exciting innovations in digital signage is integrating artificial intelligence (AI) to create a personalised and interactive customer experience. AI can analyse data from various sources, such as facial recognition, sensors, mobile apps, and loyalty programs, to deliver customised content and offers that match each customer's preferences, behaviour, and location. For example, a digital signage system can detect a customer's age, gender, and mood, and display relevant products or promotions that appeal to them. Alternatively, a digital signage system can recognise a returning customer and offer them a loyalty reward, or a recommendation based on their previous purchases. Using AI, digital signage can create an engaging experience that drives brand attraction and loyalty. 

However, facial and emotion recognition can also pose ethical and legal challenges for businesses. For example, customers may not consent to having their data collected and analysed by digital signage systems or feel uncomfortable or discriminated against by the content displayed based on their appearance or mood. Furthermore, facial and emotion recognition technologies are not always accurate or reliable, and they may introduce biases or errors that affect customer satisfaction and trust. Therefore, using these technologies responsibly and transparently and complying with the relevant regulations and standards that protect customer privacy and security is essential.