How Top Businesses Use Digital Signage (10 Examples)

Digital signage can be a great way for businesses to grow their relationships with their customers in an engaging, cost-efficient way. From digital marketing campaigns to simplifying the instore experience, the future of retail lies in digital solutions.

So, how do the big businesses do it? We've put together a list of 10 big-brand names who use digital signage to optimize the customer experience in their stores, to give you inspiration for your own digital displays. Let's take a look!

McDonalds

Digital menus are now incredibly common across the retail and food industry - so common that you probably haven't noticed that all menus in McDonald's restaurants are now exclusively digital - either in the form of touch-screen menus or digital displays.

Not only do digital menus make it easier for the fast food chain to update their prices and nutritional information in accordance with any changes, but they also create a digital platform where deals, promotions, and new products can all be advertised freely in-store. Plus, touch-screen digital menus allow customers to personalize their orders without waiting in long lines.

Men’s Wearhouse

For new and small clothing businesses, it's not always possible to install an in-store dressing room: not only does it take up space, but it also requires the hiring of additional staff to greet and help customers as they try on items.

Recently, clothing giant Men's Warehouse came up with a cost-effective solution: digital measuring. Digital measuring involves the use of an interactive screen, which takes a number of photographs of the customer, before using digital technology to determine their dress size.

Not only does this enhance the shopping experience for customers, it also reduces the number of returns made due to ill-fitting garments, and frees up space instore for additional displays or products. Win-win!

Disney World

While it is the happiest place on earth, Disneyland is known for its long waiting times. Whether you're lining up for Space Mountain or the Haunted mansion, you can expect a lengthy line of excited visitors in front of you, and potentially hours spent under the hot Florida sun.

To combat this, the company now uses digital signage across the park to enhance and simplify the Disney World experience for its visitors. Not only are digital displays used to indicate the waiting time for each ride, but these screens also serve to entertain those waiting in long lines with short clips and videos.

Adidas

At the Adidas brand headquarters in Herzogenaurach, the sportswear company recently launched their innovative "Adidas Virtual Footwear Wall." This digital display presents various sneakers and footwear products under the Adidas brand, and allows customers to use the screen to view a 360-model of each product.

The interactive interface also allows customers to pick and choose from a variety of colors and sizes, resulting in a personalized shopping experience. While the virtual footwear wall isn't yet standard across all Adidas stores, it gives us an idea of how interactive technology is sure to transform the retail experience in the future.

British Airways

While not technically an in-store example, British Airways' Look Up campaign used digital signage to create an engaging, creative advertising display which turned heads in 2013.

Using airplane tracking technology and hooking the data up to a digital advertising board, the company presented a young boy looking up at - and chasing after - airplanes that flew across London.

The YouTube video promoting the campaign even reached almost 2 million online views, showing just how much engagement you can create with a clever, original digital marketing campaign.

Mac Cosmetics

Shopping for cosmetics instore can be difficult - not only are there certain hygiene risks associated with using testers, but the shade or color that looks great under LED lighting might not look so good at home.

Cosmetics giant Mac came up with a simple solution to this, and created their first ever tech-led concept store in 2020. The store contains digital tester screens, where customers are able to try on products virtually, as well as interactive screens where they can customize shade pallets and even personalize their own packaging.

Lush

Described as the 'retail experience for the global digital age’, Lush launched their first ever digital 'concept store' in Japan in 2019, using digital signage to create an engaging, immersive shopping experience for customers.

By scanning items with smartphones, customers could watch a digital display with information on everything from the ingredients list to how-to-use tutorials.

Other digital displays included interactive walls highlighting new products, as well as 24-hour window display where customers could shop for Lush products, even when the store was closed.

Amazon Dash carts

With the introduction of automated Amazon Fresh stores across the US, Amazon has further simplified the shopping process with their Amazon Dash carts.

Dash carts come with an in-built digital interface, which allows shoppers to import their shopping lists from their Amazon Alexa app, while also tracking their spending instore.

Using motion sensor technology, the cart detects all items placed in the shopping cart, with each new added item being displayed immediately on the screen, with pricing and weight information.

You can even find more touch-screens placed around the store, where customers can check product stock or get instructions on where to find certain items.

Kate Spade

Using technology known as Perch, Kate Spade stores have added an interactive, digital element to their visual merchandising.

Perch is a digital display that uses cameras and sensors to detect when customers move closer or touch specific items, and immediately offers product information via an integrated digital display.

At Kate Spade, these displays show everything from product information to social media posts about the specific product, creating a fully immersive retail experience that drives sales and encourages customer engagement.

Macys

In an attempt to target lucrative younger demographics, Macy’s recently created an interactive floor - nicknamed the "millennial floor" - at their flagship New York store, using digital technology designed to appeal to young shoppers.

Interesting features of the ‘millennial floor’ include their live Instagram feed display, as well as their ‘Selfie Wall’. Shoppers can use the hashtag #LoveMacys to see their photograph added to a large interactive display, or tag themselves in nearby New York landmarks to appear on the selfie wall.

By creating an interactive instore shopping experience while driving online engagement, Macy’s has proven that digital technology isn’t just for online retail or social media.