5 Examples of Supermarket Digital Signage
Supermarkets operate in a competitive industry, and for that reason, they need to be proactive in their marketing to differentiate their brand from their competitors. One of the best tools for marketing, as well as for internal communication, is digital signage.
With the dynamic technology of digital signage, supermarkets have a tool from which they can derive almost countless benefits. Of course, simply employing digital signage does not mean that a supermarket will automatically see a noticeable return on investment (ROI).
Supermarkets must learn how to use digital signage effectively so that they can get the most out of this powerful technology. In this article, we go over many of the benefits that grocery stores can get from digital signage.
Then we shift to 5 concrete examples of supermarket digital signage. These examples are not meant to be exhaustive, though an application of any of them will surely be beneficial for your business.
However, it is important to keep in mind that with technology as dynamic as digital signage, there are countless ways that it can be creatively put to use. So, we hope that upon reading this article, you will take away some concrete ideas for the implementation of digital signage in your store and that it will set your imagination spinning with other ideas of how to best utilize digital signage for your specific purposes.
What is Digital Signage?
Digital signage refers to the use of a digital signage solution (which includes digital signage software and digital signage hardware) to display content on digital screens. The type of content that you can work with and display with digital signage is virtually limitless.
You can display video walls, interactive app functionality, images, text, animations, real-time social media feeds, daily specials, customer testimonials, digital menu boards, wayfinding directions, and so much more. Moreover, the types of digital displays that you can use are also plentiful.
You can use interactive touchscreens, digital signage kiosks, consumer-grade televisions, commercial-grade televisions, LED walls, tablets, and even billboards. As you can see, digital signage is highly dynamic, allowing supermarkets to employ the technology in many different ways to achieve a variety of different results.
Some of the primary benefits that supermarkets can get from digital signage are elucidated below:
Benefits of Supermarket Digital Signage
1. Draw More Foot Traffic into Your Business
People are so used to seeing bland traditional static signs, that they don’t do anything to distinguish one business from another. This is a problem because the signage outside of a grocery store is like the first impression of the store in its entirety, and first impressions can have a large impact on the rest of the shopping experience.
Luckily, with digital signage and its ability to show eye-catching and visually pleasing graphics, grocery stores can not only create signage that is perfectly consistent with their brand identity, but it will also catch the attention of far more people and draw more people into the store.
2. Optimized In-Store Marketing
Drawing people into your store is just the first part of the customer journey. Once customers are inside the store, you can use digital signage to create high-impact in-store marketing. With digital signage, you can upsell and increase impulse buys, increase customer dwell-time, increase point of purchase (POP) sales, increase the number of customers joining loyalty programs, and generate more revenue from your in-store cafe or bakery.
3. Improved Customer Experience
With digital signage, you can make navigating the store much easier for customers. With interactive wayfinding digital signage, customers don’t need to stress about going through every aisle in search of the product that they want. This can greatly improve the customer experience. Moreover, digital signage can be incredibly entertaining, so digital signage can reduce customers’ perceived wait times while they are standing in line. No one likes to wait in line, so why not make it easier for your customers? They will surely appreciate it.
4. Increase Customer Engagement
There are several features available for digital signage that can greatly increase customer engagement with your store, both while they are in the building and online after their shopping experience. Using social media and related tools, customers are apt to enjoy the experience of your store more and are more likely to become loyal customers.
5. Efficient Employee Communications
Digital signage has revolutionized the way that employers interact with their staff. Digital signage for employee communications is often far more effective than alternative methods of communication. This leads to happier and better-informed employees which in turn improves the overall customer experience.
6. Make More Sales
What all of the benefits discussed above have in common is that they ultimately lead to more sales. Digital signage can work on many different levels, and for that reason, it is one of the best tools for driving sales available to supermarkets.
Now that we have gone over the benefits of digital signage, let's look at some concrete examples of how you can creatively use digital signage to drive sales in your supermarket.
5 Examples of Supermarket Digital Signage
1. Get Your Customers Engaged With Social Media Feeds
One of the many types of content you can show on your digital signs is social media feeds. Displaying social media feeds on your in-store digital signs has many benefits, and one of the biggest benefits is that it increases customer engagement.
When customers see that people are posting about your store, they might be encouraged to post about your store as well. This is a great way to spread brand recognition. But there are other ways that you can foster engagement too. If, for example, you regularly post polls and quizzes about things related to your store, then this can create a fun way for people to directly interact with your store.
For example, you might have a poll asking which item your customers would like to go on sale the next month or what their number one item that they would like to see on your shelves is. In this way, customers are directly participating in how the store operates, and this kind of engagement is the type of thing that helps foster a loyal customer base.
Another example would be to simply highlight your social media feed. If your company is regularly posting engaging content, such as the dates of upcoming promotions and deals, then people who see this on your screens are far more likely to follow your accounts than if they hadn’t seen it on your screens. As more people follow your accounts, so too does your ability to market to people online increase.
2. Boost Sales at Your In-Store Cafe or Bakery with a Digital Menu Board
Digital signage in the form of digital menu boards is sweeping through many of the most successful restaurants and cafes. There are many good reasons for this, and supermarkets should take note. The in-store cafe or bakery can be a great source of revenue for a supermarket both directly and indirectly.
It directly increases revenue through the sales of its ready-to-eat foods. And it increases profits indirectly since a supermarket with a good cafe will draw people into the store to eat their breakfast, lunch, or dinner, and while they are there, they are likely to buy other products as well. For this reason, it is critical to make the in-store cafe or bakery experience as good as possible for the customers.
Digital menu boards can improve sales and improve the customer experience. Firstly, digital menu boards have the advantage over traditional menus in that they can feature videos, animations, and images. So, you can draw people to your cafe or bakery by displaying mouthwatering pictures of your food. These signs will be sure to draw increased attention.
Additionally, digital menu boards can be updated easily. Instead of printing new menus each time something changes, you can simply update your digital menu board through your content management software on your computer. You can also schedule your digital signage playlist so that different menus show depending on the time of day and what you are offering.
Finally, digital menu boards are potentially far more entertaining to look at while customers wait in line. No one likes to wait, so by entertaining your customers, you can effectively reduce the perceived wait time.
You will likely also reduce the real wait time because the increased visibility of the digital menu board will mean that many customers will know what they want to order before they reach the register. This means less time spent deliberating, which in turn, creates a faster-moving, more efficient line.
3. Inspire Your Customers and Drive More Sales with Recipes
Often people come to the grocery store not knowing exactly what they want or what they need to buy. That's one of the main reasons that this marketing strategy we are about to talk about has proven to be incredibly effective.
Supermarkets can use their digital signs to display delicious recipes with all of the ingredients required and where to find them in the store. This can be an absolute delight to customers who may return again and again to the store to see the fresh new recipe being displayed and all the ingredients that they will need to buy.
In this case, both the customer and the supermarket win. The supermarket makes money from the goods that the customer buys, and the customer wins because they get to try out a new delicious recipe. A big plus for the customer shopping experience!
It's important to remember that if you are employing this marketing strategy, it is crucial to regularly change up the recipes displayed. People will get bored if it's the same recipe over and over again each time they come to the store. Digital signage content should feel fresh and exciting, and if it achieves this, the rewards for the store are great.
4. Upsell at the Point of Sale (POS)
Impulse purchases at the point of sale constitute a great source of revenue for supermarkets. When people are waiting in the checkout line, it is almost irresistible not to take one of the candies or useful items that are within arm's reach. Digital signage, however, can further capitalize on POP sales.
Digital signage is great for conveying powerful calls to action. If you have a particular product that you are trying to upsell, featuring it on the digital signage as the POS is a great way to encourage the impulsiveness of customers and generate lots of sales.
5. Generate an Alternative Source of Income with Advertisements
Digital signage technology is an incredible tool for driving sales with its many uses for in-store marketing. This is becoming well known. What is lesser known is that digital signage can help degenerate an alternative source of income for your supermarket. By displaying advertisements from other companies or businesses on your digital signage screens, you can make a good deal of money.
And if you are skeptical about being able to find businesses that want to advertise in your store, you shouldn’t be. Businesses know that they can reach some key demographics at grocery stores, so many are eager for a chance to advertise inside them.
Of course, it is quite unlikely that this will happen if you do not have a digital signage system in your store. Businesses interested in advertising know that traditional signs are unlikely to garner much attention. However, they also know that digital signage is great for getting the attention of potential customers.
Thus, you can do marketing on some of your digital screens and you can advertise on others. There is a lot of money to be made this way. Moreover, if you go with a high-quality digital signage solution like that offered by Loop TV, you get the digital signage hardware and software for free. They even have advertisements pre-downloaded that you can get money for by displaying them on your screens.
Level Up Your Supermarket
As you can see from reading this article, there are tons of benefits to be gained from integrating a digital signage system into your supermarket or grocery store. We’ve given you 5 great ways to take advantage of this technology, but just remember that you can employ digital signage for grocery stores in so many different ways with so many benefits on various levels.