Best Real-life Examples of Retail Brands Using In-Store Digital Signage

You need to buy a new pair of shoes, but you’ve got only an hour to do it. You enter the showroom wanting to leave, only to be sidetracked by flashy signs and immersive technology. One hour passes by, but you’re still left entranced by the shopping experience.

Modern consumers don’t buy products; they buy experiences. As a retail business owner, you need to make a great first impression and brainstorm ideas to supercharge your customer service.Whether through experiential retailing or value-added services such as free samples, you must create a sense of excitement and help customers navigate through their options.

But how do you do that?

The answer lies in creating a welcoming in-store experience for your shoppers. Top brick-and-mortar stores all over the world are adopting retail digital signage solutions to do this.

In fact, over 67% of customers in a survey said that they often buy products based on the retail stores’ digital signage visuals. This article will analyze six retailers who have mastered the art of creating an immersive shopping experience with in-store digital signage.

6 In-Store Digital Signage Examples That Hit The Mark

The success of any retail outlet is driven by how much it stands out from competing stores. Analyze your competitors and see what they’re doing differently. You’ll find most of them focus on three key elements - product, service, and experience.

Over the past years, retailers have discovered the potential of digital signage as a visual merchandising tool to positively impact customers’ shopping experience. If you’re also looking to level up your customer experience, then the following in-store digital signage examples can bring you some inspiration:

1. Jo Malone Perfumes

Jo Malone harnessed it’s in-store signage displays to create an eye catching and engaging retail experience for customers by encouraging them to combine various fragrances in the store. Instead of overloading their target audience with product information, they used visual language to explain each scent. Customers could simply pick a bottle of perfume off the shelf to see an elegant representation of the fragrance. They could also identify complementary aromas and combine them to create a customized vial.

With its captivating digital signage, Jo Malone was able to -

• Achieve 25% higher product lift and 16X ROI.

• Capture customer attention with the stunning visual representation of different scents.

• Educate prospective buyers on essential oils and aroma compounds used in each perfume.

• Advertise the latest products to drive customers with high purchase intent.

2. Adidas’ Virtual Footwear Wall

This innovative concept was presented in Adidas’s German headquarters at AG, Herzogenaurach. The Adidas Virtual Footwear Wall— that blended digital signage technology and user experience— was launched as a pre-booking campaign for the F50 miCoach football boot. It left customers thrilled with its immersive, virtual product experience.

The digital wall allowed customers to explore the shoe’s 360-degree model with an interactive touch display and an immersive sound experience. They could inspect shoes inside out, rotate, zoom in and analyze every tiny detail. This campaign garnered excellent traction for Adidas’ latest product and ensured a successful launch that hit all sales targets:

• Brand exclusivity was clearly presented by the never-seen-before digital signet technology and presentation.

• End-users could virtually feel the shoes in their exact shape, size, color, and model variations.

• The detailed pre-launch created a tremendous sense of excitement, and Adidas saw sales grow exponentially compared to previous launches.

3. Decathlon Self-service Displays

Decathlon is leveraging interactive digital signage to chip in on the rising popularity of self-service in retail shopping. Large in-store displays offer the same user experience of shopping online: the customers can browse products, add them to cart, and make payments. The store staff can package the products and deliver them to the shoppers while they browse around the store, test-drive the sports merch or simply run errands in between.

Another type of self-checkout PoS system allows the customers to drop their products on an RFID basket. The products are automatically added to the customer’s electronic shopping cart. They can make the payments and checkout with the products.

So, what’s the advantage?

• Self-service lets the tech-savvy shoppers bypass the long queues at the billing counter. Because of this reduced load, people who are not comfortable with digital interactivity can get their orders processed faster.

• The wait time of a customer in a queue is the most unproductive time. With self-service, once the order is placed, the customer is physically free to roam around the store survey more products. A lot of times, this casual product browsing leads to a second round of purchase.

4. Aritaum’s Interactive Displays

Aritaum is a Korean franchise beauty store with a laser focus on skincare and on-trend color collections. It houses several famous brands like Laneige, Innisfree, and Happy Bath. With thousands of stores located in countries like Korea, China, and North America, Aritaum has established itself as a one-stop destination for K-Beauty trends.

Despite this solid offline presence, it hasn’t been able to tap into the market fully. The shops introduced interactive technology to entice their walk-in customers to increase store engagement and brand recall. From a touchable mirror display to AR content, Aritaum pulled all the stops to improve in-store experiences with digital signage.

Customers could get in-depth skin examinations and consultations for free with IOPE Bio Lab’s skin health machine. Several “beauty mirrors” helped customers virtually try on Laneige make-up products with a tablet linked to the brand’s mobile app. They analyzed skin tone to recommend the most suitable makeup products for each customer.

The store is also fitted with photo booths and “digital skincare bars,” which provide product information and reviews to users on the spot. Users can scan a QR code and add it to their purchase wish list to buy the product. This digital signage campaign helped Aritaum by promoting:

• High in-store customer engagement since shoppers could engage with various products and receive free expert advice.

• Awareness of Aritaum’s various brands and offerings.

• Personalized retail experiences that helped Aritaum nurture relationships with its customers.

5. Digital Menu Signage at McDonald’s

When you hear the phrase - “fast food,” which brand comes to the top of your mind? McDonald’s, right? This fast-food brand is loved worldwide and was one of the early adopters of digital signage in the industry. McDonald’s menu signs – which can be found at every store – serve multiple purposes. They are not only easier to see from a distance but offer several benefits over conventional menu boards. These include:

• McD staff can seamlessly update product specifications whenever prices change, or new items are added. This prevents last-minute confusion during order processing.

• Besides the McD restaurants, the brand also installed interactive self-service digital signage kiosks at various spots like drive-thru zones, and malls. It allowed faster checkouts resulting in more sales.

• A study conducted by Iowa State University found that people use images to decide on food options. By choosing a digital signage menu over conventional menus, McD helped its customers leverage visuals to improve decision-making.

6. MAC’s Makeup Simulator

Finding the right shade of foundation or lipstick can be an uphill battle for makeup enthusiasts. Although many brands offer free testers as samples, they aren’t available for all products.

Would you believe us if we told you digital signage could solve this problem?

As crazy as it sounds, cosmetic brand MAC used digital signage technology to create a remarkably immersive experience for its customers. The American cosmetics manufacturer set up an interactive AI-based screen, which allowed customers to get a virtual makeover before purchasing. The simulator was a success because:

• It catered to the customer’s desire to try before they buy by allowing them to explore various products and shades on their face using AI-powered cameras.

• Retailers could cut down costs as it eliminated the need for free product trials.

• MAC was lauded as one of the first brands that used immersive technology to provide unparalleled customer service.

Summing Up

Today, in-store customer experience is a huge driving factor in sales. You can use in-store digital signage displays to send positive brand messages across your retail locations. Some of the world’s biggest retail brands are capitalizing on their digital signage strategies and innovations in a race to provide unique customer experiences. So, what are you waiting for? Reach out to Pickcel to get the ball rolling.