What the future holds for indoor digital signage

With the rapid expansion of digital signage, every market and industry is now making use of it; particularly in the indoor sector. Large and small retailers are using LED signs to provide a better customer experience, improve branding, and simply to advertise. According to the “Digital Signage Future Trends Report”, two-thirds of retailers who participated in the survey stated that improved branding was the biggest benefit of using digital signs, with improved customer service of 40% being the second most significant benefit.

As a result, manufacturers of LED displays are coming up with better designs for improving branding as well as engagement tools for providing a better customer experience.

Improved LED display designs

One substantial shift in digital display trends is from LCD panels to LED panels. With LED displays becoming affordable, everyone can now invest in the more advanced option.

Instead of one giant light bulb in the LED panel showing 8 characters at a time, tighter pitches and closer LEDs are now providing much better image qualities.

In addition to that, there is the direct-view LED display that provides immersive and awe-inspiring experiences to the viewer. These designs are customizable in order to create experiences that encircle the audience. Pixel pitch options range from close-up viewing to distant viewing (at larger venues). With these facilities, LED sign investors are able to provide memorable viewer experience.

Improved tools for engaging customers

Just a good quality LED display is not enough to complete an indoor experience. This is why digital signage manufacturers are including advanced analytic systems in their designs so retailers can obtain insights into customers and better communicate with them. Examples of such analytics tools are face recognition cameras and proximity sensors to figure out if a customer is looking at a specific product or display.

With modern algorithms, other characteristics such as gender, age and mood can be analyzed using facial expressions provided by the camera. Touchscreens can detect which content was touched by the customer and also assess how the advertising campaign performs. By combining face recognition and touch technology, users can figure out how many people reacted to each type of content. Based on this information, targeted campaigns can be created.

Omni channel experiences for engaging with customers is another trend in digital signage. For example, customers can browse through the complete range of products on your display and then purchase it independently or request for help from a sales assistant.

All these upcoming interactive technologies is a drive towards reactionary media – requiring one common element: being able to create, analyze and react in an environment that needs real-time solutions.

Where are we headed?

In terms of indoor digital signage, the industry is expanding with grander displays and innovative software. Now that solutions for engaging audiences are in place, the next major step will be when we start seeing how all the analytics come into one place with vibrant deployments entering the market for large and small companies.