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Brick-and-mortar retailers have just a few seconds to attract—and hold—a buyer’s eye with a window display. In New York City, 10,000 people pass the Macy’s window every hour. That’s nearly 1.7 million people each week!
Your shop doesn’t have to be world famous or located in the middle of busy Manhattan to benefit from a well-designed store window. According to NPD Group research, window displays influence purchases an average of 24% of the time.
The right window display design can engage shoppers enough to cause them to stop, look back, and walk into your store, where your floor staff can help close the sale. Not only do attractive window displays help bring in customers, they also let you display new products, highlight promotions, enhance your brand image, and differentiate your store from the competition.
With increasing competition from ecommerce, and the COVID-19 pandemic keeping shoppers at home, store windows are more valuable than ever. In order for window displays to benefit brick-and-mortar retailers, Mujica says, “it’s important they have a very specific vision for the people they are pandering to.”
Window displays can help your store boost foot traffic and brand awareness, highlight products and promotions, and differentiate itself from the competition.
Window displays preview what’s inside your shop. You can use them to entice customers with products they’ll like and to highlight new arrivals, limited-edition products, or even holiday gifts.
Leverage windows to let customers know about sales. If you’ve ever entered a store after seeing a huge “SALE” sign in its window, then you understand how effective this tactic can be. Synchronize in-store offers with online promotions to increase the impact of your displays.
Let’s say there are two shoe stores in your neighborhood that feature the same shoes in their window. Store A displays the shoes in a creative way, while Store B unimaginatively places each pair on top of its box.
Which store do you think attracts more customers? Most likely Store A. Making an effort with your window displays will help you stand out from the local competition.
They’re great for exhibiting clothes on mannequins and body forms and showing off your store’s interior design. However, open window displays are revealing, making it difficult to hide fixture accessories, like wires.
Closed window displays have a wall or backdrop separating them from the store floor. These displays emphasize the products on view by eliminating distractions from inside the shop. Yet, they block natural light from entering your shop, so you’ll have to compensate with ample lighting on the floor.
Shadowboxes are small, box-like, and most often used to display petite, detailed items, like jewelry, shoes, or makeup. They’re usually only big enough for one or two people to look at at once.
As the name implies, you get a corner window display when two windows come together in a corner, creating a large, box-like display. Corners are optimal for attracting shoppers approaching from any direction and showing off products from more than one side. But, it can be difficult to arrange products in these displays, since they need to look attractive from multiple viewpoints.
Setting up your first retail window display may sound a little daunting. Luckily, you don’t need to have a design background to create a compelling store window display. Even if you don’t have the budget to hire a visual merchandising professional, it’s possible to DIY your own display.
Here, we’ll help you set your fears aside so you can master the art of putting together unforgettable window displays. We’ll guide you through the process of assembling your store window display, as well as offer some window display ideas to get you started.
Use Shopify’s analytics and reporting to make the right merchandising decisions at each of your store locations. Spot seasonal trends, see which products require promotion, measure your promotions’ impact on product sales, and more.
Before you start brainstorming complex ideas for your first retail window display, let’s start by making sure we"ve got the necessary tools to set you up for success. In other words, you don’t want to be halfway through the process only to notice you don’t have a tape measure or another essential tool.
Depending on the design of your store window display, you may need other materials to complete your project. However, these tools will keep the ball rolling and can serve as a skeletal shopping list to start your display design.
When it comes to conceptualizing a store window display, it’s best to start with a pen and paper. Before sketching out your window display ideas, start with a story based on a theme. Yes, your window display design should tell at least a basic story. After all, it"s proven that storytelling can serve as a strategic business tool.
Doing so will help you determine where your focal point should be. The focal point is where you want your prospective customers to look first and concentrate their focus. The central point of your display should be big enough to catch a shopper"s attention, even on the other side of the street.
Start thinking about the arrangement of products based around your focal point. Will you arrange your products on wires or shelves around the focal point? Or maybe set them up in a pyramid? Explore different configurations to see what would work best for your window display.
Let’s be honest: society’s attention span is shrinking to about less than a millisecond, and your buyers are no exception. You can bet that most people walking by your store will either be engaged in conversation with friends, texting, or walking their dogs. So, you’ll need to pull out all the stops to make sure you catch their attention. At the very least, you can create a store window display they’ll want to take photos of with their smartphone and share them with the world.
So, when creating your retail window display, don’t be bland. Be bold with colors, shapes, and props. Think outside of any cookie-cutter colors and opt for more eye-catching hues like fuchsia, orange, or electric blue. Just remember to exercise your best judgment and keep everything consistent with your brand.
With all the window display ideas available for you to use as inspiration, it’s easy to get carried away and create an overly complicated display. However, too much clutter is likely to repel and overwhelm potential passersby, rather than draw their attention. Don’t try to do too much or you’ll just end up with a busy, unfocused display.
Always keep your goal in mind: ultimately, you want to draw attention to your products and help customers quickly understand why certain products are grouped with others. That also means keeping your display clutter-free and being able to justify why each component of your display is included.
When you’re creating a display, you’re going to have small and large objects, dark and light colors, lights and shadows, and so on. It’s important to balance the different elements you’ll be deploying in order to create a pleasing aesthetic.
Typically, you’ll want to place larger, darker items near the bottom, and items that are lighter and more colorful at the top. This arrangement will prevent your display from looking top heavy. Similarly, if you place all the large items to one side and all the small ones on the side, you’ve got an unbalanced window display. Imagine you’re balancing items on a scale, which means doing things like balancing a large item on one side with lots of smaller items on the other.
Trust your judgment and get a sense of what emotion your display is evoking. With a balanced display, you’re more likely to create feelings of happiness, excitement, and joy, whereas an unbalanced display may signal anxiety or instability.
When it comes to creating an effective window display, lighting is often an afterthought, or something to consider if you’ve got the budget for “extra costs.” But lighting can be a crucial component in getting people to stop and notice your display.
Lighting can create moods, highlight certain products over others, and establish a dramatic setting for your store window display. Being strategic with lighting can pay dividends in helping you get your focal point right on and directing onlooker’s eyes to where you want them.
We don’t recommend lighting displays directly from the top, as this can lead to unattractive, harsh shadows. Instead, consider lighting displays from the sides and front. This technique will bring out the 3D quality of the display. Plus, you can really have some fun when you have light coming at it from different angles.
Once you’ve got all the pieces where you want them, make sure to take a look at your window display from every possible angle. Very rarely is a person going to only notice a display when they’re standing right in front of it. Walk up to it from different directions and check things like your focal point, how visible your signage or calls to action are, and if it all appears balanced.
Your audience will impact the products you choose to display, colors you use in it, and the stories you tell in your windows. Keep your ideal customer at the forefront of your strategy.
When you design your windows with a target audience in mind, you’ll draw those people in and make them excited to shop with you. If you try to create a display that appeals to everyone, you’ll end up watering down your design and appealing to no one.
It’s a well known fact that grocery stores display cereals for kids on lower shelves and cereals for adults on higher shelves. Why? Because this is where these customers’ eyelines land, and therefore, where their attention will be.
Keep window shoppers’ eyelines in mind while building external-facing displays. If you own a children’s clothing boutique, for example, you could display products that would appeal to kids, like toys, low enough for children to see, and more practical products at parents’ eye level.
Beyond considering eyelines, it’s important to remember that you’re designing a 3D display and not a flat one. Make sure that products and props can easily be seen—and look good—from various angles.
According to McKinsey, technology will help retail double its profitability. Interactive technologies like augmented reality, touchscreens, and QR codes help give a new meaning to the term “window shopping.” Embrace them to engage passersby and influence purchasing decisions.
Augmented reality (AR) technology enhances real-world objects and settings by placing virtual objects over them. AR lets shoppers try on products, like makeup and jewelry, virtually. This technology helps customers make purchasing decisions, even when your store is closed.
When placed within a window, touchscreens help customers learn more about the products on and off display. They also make it easy to entice window shoppers with coupons in exchange for contact information, which opts them into your email marketing efforts.
Touchscreens are best for stores that sell valuable, high-consideration items (i.e., electronics, furniture, or vehicles) since they can be used to share product specifications and details. They’re also commonly used in the real estate industry to show listings that aren’t featured in the main display.
Quick response (QR) codes are bar codes that open up a link, share a phone number, send an SMS, or share a plain text message when people scan them with a smartphone. Follow the example of Rose City Goods and put them in your window display to link to your ecommerce website, product pages, and more.
QR codes make it easy for window shoppers to make purchases even when your store isn’t open. They’re also cheap and easy to implement through a QR code generator.
For its Hallucination campaign, Gucci extended the technology to its window displays by installing classic artworks reimagined with characters dressed in designer clothing. What makes this display unusual is that most of the mannequins are facing away from the window, as if they were visiting an art gallery.
An experiential window brings products to life and attracts passersby to immediately interact with your brand. Inviting buyers to download an app on the spot encourages in-store sales and future online purchases, while giving you access to these engaged customers for marketing purposes.
Toronto apothecary Leaves of Trees unveiled a window display featuring oversized tubes of its skin care products suspended upside down, with cascades of dried roses, grapefruit, and lavender “pouring” out.
The display is striking not only because of the scale of the props, but also because it explicitly highlights the natural ingredients the retailer uses in its products.
Leaves of Trees’ unique window displays attract a lot of walk-ins, but this wasn’t always the case. When the shop opened in 2014, its displays featured colorful florals made from paper, but none of the brand’s actual products.
Founder Roohi Quereshi soon discovered that people were stopping to look but didn’t know what she was selling. The shop was mistaken for a restaurant, a juice bar, and even a pot dispensary.
Since we started incorporating our products into the window and aligning that branding with promotions and social media strategy, we’ve seen an increase in walk-ins from our target customer. And, almost every walk-in has led to a sale.
Creativity in any window display is important, but for smaller retailers, it’s crucial that products be clearly presented, not only so passersby know what you’re selling, but to target the right buyer.
Known for its elaborate window displays, Saks’ collaboration with French design collective Vetements did a complete about-turn by featuring nothing but a pile of old clothes.
“It was something vastly different than [Saks] had ever done,” says Mujica. “No one has ever put trash in a window and made a statement, and it was all about a good cause.”
While many walking by did a double take assuming the display was a work in progress or even a mistake, it enhanced Saks’ image as a retailer with a conscience.
Highlighting a good cause in your window display can help boost your brand image. Also, putting something in your window that is unexpected will grab the attention of passersby.
Fashion retailer Alice + Olivia highlighted its playful side in New York by setting mannequins in front of a giant backdrop of sugary cereals and salty snacks.
The goal of this window display wasn’t so much to attract a new audience to the brand, but to tap into the nostalgia of its existing young buyers who grew up eating Frosted Flakes and Corn Pops.
According to a study in the Journal of Consumer Research, people are more likely to spend more when they’re feeling nostalgic. To tie in the product with the display, the clothes were carefully curated to match the color grading of the boxes behind.
By combining nostalgia with bright colors, the Alice + Olivia window invokes a positive emotional experience for buyers. The overall effect is poppy, fresh, and fun.
A bright and well-lit window display is always eye catching, especially at night. “By lighting it properly, you avoid negative shadows that can make garments look small or dowdy,” Mujica advises.
In order to woo and impress its wealthy buyers during the holiday season, luxury department store Bergdorf Goodman spends upward of six figures on its window displays.
While Bergdorf’s resources exceed the budget of most high-street retailers, this window display makes a very strong statement about its brand and the high-end products it sells.
“You would never see fast fashion in a Bergdorf window. It’s not their customer,” says Mujica. “No one has done anything like this before or since. It took everyone’s breath away.”
Putting extra resources into your window display at certain times of year can really pay off. Holiday windows attract extra foot traffic, and, according to NRF research, holiday spending has reached an all-time high.
Tiffany & Co. has been famous for its window displays ever since the brand was immortalized in the film Breakfast at Tiffany’s. So iconic is the retailer’s window that several people have chosen the location to pop the question.
The retailer’s window displays are most notable for their simplicity. Unlike Bergdorf Goodman, whose windows are a targeted celebration of decadence, Tiffany’s creative is often quite minimal.
One recent window featured nothing but seven mousetraps and a mouse holding a canary yellow diamond. Set against the brand’s signature blue background, it showcased just a single item.
While it can be tempting to fill up a window to maximize the space, cramming too many items into a display can devalue your products by making them look cluttered. Focusing only on one item communicates to passersby that it’s special.
Carvers from Japan’s Okamato Studio sculpted holiday-themed blocks of ice while wearing designer jumpsuits, gloves, and scarves. The live-action demonstration set to music not only highlighted products found in-store, but also grabbed shoppers’ attention for an extended period of time.
This window created exclusive content that people then uploaded to Snapchat and Facebook Live. Putting people in a window is risky, but by creating a one-of-a-kind experience, it created huge engagement.
A creative window display that is completely different from what your competitors are doing not only attracts eyeballs on the street, but also extends the reach of your content through social media sharing.
The juxtaposition of high with low end “made the brand seem more approachable to passersby,” says Mujica. “It drew shoppers into the store like a carnival game.”
Themes have included under the sea, typography, and an entire window dedicated to a single children’s book. Each theme is the brainchild of “craftician” Kalpna Patel, who creates much of her work using simply paper and glue.
One winter window display paid homage to hygge, the Danish word for comfort, and featured books on crafting and cooking, with each nestled inside Nordic-style houses.
Created on a modest budget, TYPE’s unique window displays consistently lead to an increase in foot traffic. There’s no couture or Swarovski crystals, but by honing in on a specific theme, TYPE Books attracts the attention of both new and existing customers.
In fact, so many people enter the store asking about a specific title that the retailer set up a special display inside featuring all the books found in the window.
Hermès did the exact opposite in one of its stores, perching silk scarves around an oversized juice cup with a giant straw. By making the art the central point of this window, Hermès ensured an eye-grabbing experience in which the product was almost an afterthought.
The prominence of the color orange ties in well with the brand’s signature color. In fact, WindowsWear was so impressed with this display that it named it Best Orange Window of 2017.
Color is a key component of visual merchandising and can help influence buyer behavior. If you’re looking primarily to attract customers, using red and orange in your window display will draw the attention of passersby.
Philadelphia-based sustainable fashion brand Lobo Mau could teach a master class on how to ensure passersby don’t just browse window displays, but shop them.
“When the pandemic caused all non-essential businesses in Philadelphia to close, we had to think of a way to keep people engaged with our brand and to also make it easy for people to shop the store,” says co-owner and Designer Nicole Haddad. Co-owner and CEO Jordan Haddad “came up with the idea of using QR codes in our windows to allow customers to view the products and then order them straight from our website.
I pushed all the products in the store to the four windows and created small QR codes stuck directly onto the inside of the glass. Customers only had to scan the QR codes and they could purchase the product in the window and also schedule a local pick up or free shipping.
“Our boutique is situated on a corner, and it has four big windows. It’s prime real estate for window displays,” says Nicole. “When building out the store we asked our architects to create modular displays that we could constantly update and change around. One week we could have a sweatshirt hanging in the window, and then the next week the same window can be all shelves to display our ceramics.”
“We start[ed] using QR codes [in our windows] to provide visitors with context to our exhibitions,” says Art Center Program Manager Meg Wachs. “We want to allow any passerby on the sidewalk a chance to learn about the work on display, even if our space isn’t open in the hours that they may be passing.”
“Due to COVID-19, we had a gap in our Window Gallery exhibition calendar at the holidays that seemed best optimized by adjusting the work on display to products from our retail space” that are featured in the organization’s holiday gift guide, Wachs explains. Wachs also configured “the QR [code] to lead to our [digital] Holiday Gift Guide. Even within a retail space, we try to educate the public beyond what their experience with glass is.”
Take a page out of UrbanGlass’ book and use your window display to educate customers, in addition to selling products. For example, you could link your QR codes to landing pages that explain the process behind how you create your products.
Window displays are a powerful sales tool. They draw customers in, keep them engaged, and help initiate sales. By getting creative with your displays, and enhancing them with technology, you’ll convert passersby into customers.
With Shopify’s mobile POS, you can serve customers anywhere in your store, banish lineups at the checkout counter, and speed up your checkout. Use any smartphone or tablet to process returns and exchanges, accept payments, and check out customers wherever they are.
New York City’s Macy’s is the quintessential example we think of when we think window display. With gigantic windows across their flagship store give them the perfect space for building some of the world’s most creative window displays, especially during the holidays.
To create a unique and eye-grabbing window display, you’ll first want to spend some time brainstorming creative ideas first. Then start gathering the merchandise and materials you’ll need and bring your window display idea to life.
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Widespread vaccination has allowed more and more retailers to open their doors again, and return to more normal customers services and practises. But the COVID experience has caused what are likely permanent changes for retail operations – such as how goods are promoted and merchandised, and how shoppers interact with retail staff.
Many different technologies are being applied to drive digital transformation, but a key component in almost any digitally-driven bricks and mortar store is display technology.
We’ve all seen them on shopping trips in the past year and more – paper signs taped to door windows and dry erase marker boards dragged over to store entry areas to make shoppers aware of health safety rules for the store, changes made to opening hours, and the availability of high demand goods (remember the great toilet paper shortage of 2020?).
Those retailers who were already using digital displays in key areas – both inside and facing out from windows – were able to easily pivot from branding messages, new product awareness and sales promotions to updated, polished messaging that could be revised quickly, and as often as conditions demanded.
Along with timeliness, relevance and the inarguable fact that messaging on vivid screens will always look better and more professional than hand-written sheets taped to windows, screens have operating benefits that are aligned with these changed times.
Screens, particularly interactive ones, can provide directories, price and product look-ups without requiring close person-to-person contact. When a touchscreen session is done, customers can just squirt some sanitizer gel on their hands and be protected against the minimal risks presented by using the screen.
But networked and interactive screens also play a big role in dealing with the new staffing realities facing retailers. In Q1 2022, the job site Indeed showed more than 1,000,000 retail job openings in the U.S.
With part-time and full-time staffing harder than ever to hire, and operating margins thinned by lowered in-store traffic and sales, networked screens can do everything from a switch-out of promotional posters to changing prices and promotions at merchandising positions and in the store aisles. In some parts of the world, correct shelf pricing is a compliance issue, where store owners can be fined for incorrect pricing.
When lockdowns, restrictions and general health safety concerns forced a lot of shopping online, consumers encountered a kaleidoscope of tools and processes for buying, pick-up and delivery.
Some seasoned, digital-first retailers offer largely seamless shopping experiences that can shift information and transactions easily between desktop digital, mobile and in-store. But most retailers are offering experiences that are just starting down the digital path. They can be clunky, perhaps, and the online experience and functionality doesn’t necessarily sync up with what is happening and available in the stores.
Web technologies and digital handshakes between technology platforms – called APIs – have made it easier than ever (as well as secure) to share information between business systems and offer optimal relevance to shoppers.
Near or real-time data from systems managing things like inventory, pricing, sales and staffing can all directly inform how a store operates – pushing messaging to screens in front of shoppers, as well as back of house for managers and associates.
Think of a grocery that has a daily challenge with perishables, such as fresh-that-day baked goods. Two hours before store closing, for example, pricing can dynamically drop on all expiring goods, and be reflected on screens in that area, or elsewhere in the store. Imagine what happens when you can tell shoppers in Aisle C the store’s famously sinful cinnamon buns are now half-price at the bakery counter!
Screens can also dynamically update and change things like menus and promotions, taking offers off screens when data from store systems reports low stock levels, or increasing the frequency of messaging when systems data “flags” an overstock situation on a product.
Computer vision-based cameras that anonymously log shopper behaviors – like how consumers shop a store and where they dwell – directly inform decisions like staffing. For example, an AI-based camera sensor in the checkout/payments area can measure and assess line-up levels, and trigger alerts or on-screen messages asking for another cash position to open.
Along with instant tweaks, computer vision data establishes long-term patterns – where people shop, where they dwell, and how behaviors can change by time of day and day of the week.
Curbside pickup services were still rare, BOPIS pickup lockers and related services were pilot projects, and self-service checkout was widely derided as a tactic to cut staff and get shoppers to do the scanning and bagging work. But the pandemic changed much of that.
Curbside service is more widely available than ever at grocery, but who would have envisioned curbside pickup for painting supplies or coffee capsules? And self-checkout shifted from being a cost-saver to a safer way to check out, both for shoppers and staff. Safety measures turned self check-out skeptics into believers, pleased by the speed and the limited customer/staff contact risks.
When there’s a lot of change, there’s a lot of need for communication. For shoppers to adapt, they need to understand how things now work, and what to do. Paper posters can do baseline awareness, but digital displays that can run videos and animations – and be triggered to play specific files when a sensor picks up how someone is approaching.
These screens do the explanatory work otherwise left to staff, they’re always on and available, and always relate to consumers exactly what store managers want them to convey. Screens don’t give attitude.
The first wave of digital signage in large footprint retail environments saw displays suspended from ceilings and fixed at checkout lanes, with the hope or expectation that they’d be seen and the messages on them remembered.
Often, the screens were up too high to be noticed by shoppers, or located at the end of shopper journeys, with little likelihood shoppers would abandon the checkout line in response to a call to action promotion at the cashier.
In grocery and mass merchandise environments, digital marketing has shifted to merchandising aisles, shelves and other positions – driven by advances in display technology that allow marketing to happily co-exist with product.
Putting a conventional, TV-shaped display at shelves and endcaps eliminates precious merchandising and product space. But advances in LCD manufacturing, miniaturization of PCs and new ways of enabling power and connectivity have opened up the possibilities.
For example, my company, working with Lenovo, uses a wide variety of displays that ideally fit the shapes and dynamics of stores – like ribbons that stretch along shelf-edges, banners on aisle headers and columns and squares that suit fixture shapes and a store’s physical design.
Those displays work best when they don’t look like add-ons, but beautifully fit the fixtures and surroundings – like they’re supposed to be there, and appear as add-ons. Ideally, the time, cost and other demands to add smart displays should be minimal.
As digital signage has matured, retail has seen a shift from boxy CRT-driven TVs to flat panel screens that not only got thinner and lighter, but also dropped dramatically in price at the same time as visual performance dramatically improved. But they still somewhat constrained design thinking – as plasma screens, LCDs and later OLEDs are all flat rectangles made in a variety of diagonal widths.
The advent of fine pitch (higher resolution) LED displays has also opened up new possibilities to clad walls, ceilings and even floors with multimedia display technology. Some high-end duty- free, electronics and beauty brand retailers have even started making their outside-facing store facades all digital and changeable.
Frictionless and often contactless shopping is increasingly being expected, and if that’s not happening, shoppers can move on to bricks and mortars store that offer it, or just go online and get what they need delivered.
The strength of brands has grown even more important, as have shopper expectations about who they want to do business with. Younger shoppers, in particular, base their choices not only on price, but what that brand and store are doing about issues like sustainability and climate change.
Machine learning, sensors and hyper-connected stores mean retailers have a better sense of what’s happening right now, as opposed to what happened that day. They can respond to shortages and overstocks, do things like surge pricing, and develop a far richer understanding of how shopper patterns and demands ebb and flow through a retail week. Personalization is increasingly possible, especially in scenarios like fashion retailing.
The challenges of hiring for lower wage, high-churn sales associates jobs can be offset now by interactive displays that can function as proxies when staff are unavailable and assisted selling tools when they’re free. Rather than just telling customers what they remember about products and services, interactive displays enable them to pull up anything needed to explain and close a sale.
Many elements contribute to Smart Retail 2.0, but arguably the biggest key is the ability to effectively communicate with shoppers – giving them what they need and want to know. Nothing can do that like screens in stores.
Henrik Andersson is CEO of the merchandising-focused company Instorescreen, based in south Florida. Andersson and his technology partners delivered visuals that fit the overall design and intent of stores, and use devices like cameras and sensors that build an intelligent solution that reacts to customer proximity, helps shape store merchandising and selling decisions, and characterizes shopper behaviors and patterns.
Henrik Andersson is the founder and CEO of Instorescreen. Henrik emerged early on as an expert in the ‘design of digital signage field.’ Today, he is a distinguished designer and manufacturer durable, custom-built digital display solutions.
In the Dec. 15 2021 complementary podcast, Mr. Andersson described LEDs as hot, energy inefficient, poor pitch, and high cost. In this article, LED is described as having “opened up new possibilities…”. So have the issues been resolved? How have you done it?
Although this robust activity demonstrates the well-known value of digital signs, companies still want to know about the cost of digital signage. Since we’re talking about modern technology tools, the cost factor includes hardware, installation, software, tech support, and more.
Some buyers have a misconception about what digital signage actually is. They believe digital signs are nothing more than large TVs or computer monitors. The reality is that digital signs are a specialized type of technology. They are designed for a specific purpose, which is, to improve communication for an organization or brand.
Remember, a poor-quality display may make images and text appear blurred or fuzzy. Screens can have a lot of glare. This can affect the readability of the screen. Instead of focusing only on low cost, it’s better to choose the package that gives you the most value while fitting within your budget.
Obviously, the digital signage display screen is the first thing that comes to mind when it comes to digital sign pricing. What should you consider when looking at digital displays and digital signage display prices?
A household smart TV model will be less expensive compared to a commercial-grade display. Still, there are some things to keep in mind when comparing consumer vs. commercial products.
Your signage will likely see heavy use, and commercial models are designed to be more durable. Plus, commercial displays come with longer warranties. Warranties are important since they are a hedge to cover against unforeseen equipment failure repair costs.
Finally, commercial displays usually have more processing power, which is important for more advanced messaging. This can impact how well your signage gets the message across, especially if you plan to use a lot of video imaging.
Where the screen will be placed as well as potential viewing angles are important. The display size depends largely on the screen location. You want it large enough to ensure visibility, but the display should also blend in well with the surroundings. For high-impact signage, you may even opt for a full wall-sized screen.
Digital Signage Display Price: Options to ConsiderTCL 65″ 6-Series 4K Roku Smart TV – This model offers superior 4K Ultra HD picture clarity combined with Dolby Vision HDR (High Dynamic Range) for crisp, clear images largely thanks to mini-LED and Quantum light technology. Price = $1,299.
Samsung QET Series 75″ (Commercial Grade) – Features eye-catching UHD resolution Crystal Display with ultra slim design. Includes MagicINFO Lite digital signage software. This display has a 3-year onsite warranty. It is built to operate 16 hours a day and 7 days a week. Price = $2,250.
The type of digital signage you implement will depend on your needs and objectives. Features such as touch screens and full-wall-sized displays are available. These designs come at a higher cost. If a high impact is what you want, then it might be worth looking into one of these more unique options.
All digital signage requires a digital signage media player to stream content. Memory, processing speed, and different features come with each player. This is important to consider when deciding on a media player as all these factors can be impacted by your signage. Are low-cost digital signage media players worth it? It depends. Remember, the cost can influence performance. Media players are essentially computers designed for digital displays.
The player might be built into the unit, on more advanced display screens. Also, like displays, commercial-grade players are built for long play times and come with extended warranties.
Digital Signage Player PriceNVIDIA SHIELD Android TV Pro 4K– This HDR Streaming Media Player features High Performance Dolby Vision, 3GB RAM, 2x USB. Price = $199.99
As you can see, the extra $127 for the AOPEN gives you quite a boost in performance, but the NVIDIA is no slouch, especially for the money. You should take into account the total number of digital signage displays you want/have.
Some players come pre-loaded with free digital signage software. This can reduce the cost of purchasing each component separately. Digital signage software bundles make it easier to get your digital signage displays up and running.
A mini-computer can be mounted near or on the back of your digital sign display. Two advantages of mini-PCs are its versatility and is customizable. Some mini-PCs are very small and noiseless. So, if your needs are more complex, such as with advanced messaging, multimedia, or marketing integration, you may want to consider this alternative. These units can run from basic $100 models to powerful mini-PCs like theMSI MPG Trident 3, which retails at $1,399.
It’s difficult to quantify display mount costs as it depends largely on where the signage will be placed. For example, for displays mounted higher up on the wall, an angled mount will be needed. In other cases, requirements maybe include movable mounts with hinged arms.
In every case, it makes sense to go with high quality. Plus, you’ll want to choose a mount that is as low profile as possible. In conclusion, the signage should get the attention, not a big, bulky mount.
Digital signage mounts can cost anywhere from $50 to $350+. Meanwhile, digital signage cabling should use high-grade cables, which are more durable and improve transmission speed. A 4K Displayport to HDMI Cable costs about $13 for 6 feet of cable.
Labor costs may vary widely by region and provider. Plus, there’s a huge difference between installing a simple 55’ wall-mounted display vs. an entire wall-sized screen. A simple single screen installation will cost around $200. For larger projects, the price can vary significantly so it pays to get two or three price estimates. Also, make sure your installer has digital sign installation experience since factors such as wiring, mounting, and screen angles should be considered.
Provisioning is the process of connecting and configuring your displays and players so that they can be used for digital signage purposes. This process requires specific expertise in the digital signage field. So unless you have the right tech staff, you’ll probably want to outsource this job.
Cost issues such as Internet access and networking all come into play at this level. A ballpark figure for provisioning costs maybe $250-$350 per display in addition to any broadband access costs. Other issues to consider here are networking and IT requirements. This will vary depending on what content you intend to stream and how it will be integrated with your communications systems. Finally, theADA signage requirementsshould be kept in mind as regulations continue to become more stringent as time goes on.
The content you choose on your information screens must make sense and align precisely with your brand and the message you want to transmit. For example, wayfinding on a college campus shouldn’t get mixed up with menu choices for lunch. The reality is that an entire content creation team, calendar, and strategy should be deployed to get the most out of your signage. This implies weighing the costs of having the work done in-house, by freelancers, or through a professionally managed service/agency.
Here’s a graphic representation of the costs (your costs may vary from this example depending on factors such as display size, hardware quality, labor costs, etc.):
Content curation finds and selects high-quality, relevant content for a specific industry or topic. One can pay to purchase these services, which will likely result in the conservation of in-house resources and time.
The key here is to plan for this from the moment you install the technology, or even sooner. For instance, when purchasing, it makes sense to standardize (buy all the same model) if possible. This allows you to better predict the product lifecycle. Also, you might plan for a phased approach to refresh your hardware, perhaps starting with media players then later video displays in a stepwise fashion. As a rule of thumb, major pieces of technology usually last between 3-5 years. In addition, this varies depending on hours per week of use and environmental factors (outdoor vs. indoor, etc.).
Window shopping is seen by many retailers as lost revenue. People look at what’s on offer, but most of them don’t go into the store, and they’re not spending money. But how can you use technology to change that? What if we could find new ways to turn window shoppers into actual paying customers?
As always, let’s start by trying to understand what’s going on from a customer perspective. Window shopping is a great parallel to the whole customer journey, from awareness to research to purchase decision.
Initially, window shopping is about curiosity. Passers by just want to see who you are and what sort of things you offer. They have no intention of actually buying anything, but they like to know you’re there. They may not have time to go in and browse the shelves, but they like to be aware of what’s in the area. They’ll probably walk past many times without going in, but they’re still potential customers.
When they have an actual need or desire, they start checking out the display in detail. At this point, they’re looking for prices, deals, or offers, and they’re looking to see if you’re likely to stock a specific item they’re trying to find. They may come in right away, or they may just file that information away for later. Maybe they can’t afford the item just yet, or they don’t have time to shop because they’re on their way somewhere else.
For aspirational or high value purchases such as jewellery, a shopper may check out the same item repeatedly, slowly talking themselves into buying it. Every time they pass the store, on their way to or from work, their desire slowly grows until finally they make that decision.
And finally, let’s not forget the real lost revenue opportunity: the frustrated window shopper who can see something they want, right there in front of them, but can’t buy it because the store is closed.
So how can technology enhance all of these stages of the customer journey? Ombori’s Customer Remote is an interactive screen that can be placed in a store window, and which customers can control by using their phone. The controls are super simple: a QR code enables them to take control, and then they can flick their phone left and right or tap buttons to swipe products on display. In idle mode it displays static or video content like a traditional screen, but when it detects a customer, it wakes up and goes into interactive mode.
Once they get into research mode, the display offers many features that can’t be done with traditional displays. Because the content is digital, you can showcase many more products than you can fit in the window. And you’re not constrained to simply showing the products themselves: you can show videos, spec sheets, and more. Most importantly, because the user is in control, you’re allowing them to browse for the products they want to see, which increases the likelihood of them finding what they want. Static video displays don’t offer than flexibility: if the screen isn’t displaying what the customer wants when they walk by, they’re not going to stop and wait to see if something interesting comes around. They want to be able to jump straight to the items they’re looking for.
There’s still an important role for traditional displays of products, such as mannequins, posters, and windows filled with enticing items. However, with the addition of devices like the Customer Remote, your store window can become a 24/7 sales tool. Whether you’re open or closed, it can enable potential customers to become aware of what you do, to become engaged with your brand, to research your products, to receive marketing information and offers, and to make a purchase - all without actually going into the store.
Whether or not you need a high brightness screen is determined by a few factors, mainly the amount of direct sunlight your screen will receive and the distance it will be from the window.
Before we go through when a high brightness screen is required, it is important that we first establish what they are and the difference between them and a normal TV screen.
A high brightness screen or high bright display is a digital display that has been specifically designed to function within bright areas, such as broad daylight. One of the main benefits of a high brightness display is a large reduction of glare from reflection or sunlight.
A normal TV exposed to this level of brightness would be near impossible to see, which would severely diminish the effectiveness of your digital signage content. A quick way to visualise this is to take a laptop outside and have the screen in direct sunlight. As you will see, the laptop screen will now act almost like a mirror due to the glare from the sunlight. The reason for a normal TV or laptop screen being unable to perform in this environment is down to its total candela or nits. Candela (cd/m²) is the unit used to measure the brightness of a source of light. Your household TV screen will measure between 200-300 cd/m², as it designed to be used indoors. A High brightness TV or screen will range from 1000-2500 cd/m², more than twice as bright as your regular TV screen. With this level of candela, the content being displayed is clearly visible so you can rest assured that passersby are able to see what is present on the screen.
The first is the aforementioned exposure to direct sunlight. If you’re wanting to have a digital screen in your street-facing window or looking to install and advertising screen for your shop window, you need to think about how many hours a day and the intensity in which the window receives sunlight. If the answer is not too many, for example with north-facing windows in the UK, you may get away with using a lower candela digital signage display. It’s important to note that, generally, you will not want to use a regular TV screen. This is because they are designed to only be on for a few hours of the day, any longer than this and they can burn out. As such, a screen designed specifically for digital signage will be required.
Should your window be exposed to more than a few hours of direct sunlight a day, then it will almost certainly require a high brightness display. If you want to install an advertising screen for a shop window you will want your content, advertisements, and messages to be visible. Therefore, it is highly important you source a bright enough digital advertising display to ensure you meet your marketing goals.
The second, perhaps less obvious factor to consider is how close the screen will be to your window. Ideally, you want as little space between your screen and your window, as this will minimise the amount of glare in front of the screen.
In order to do this, you may also have to include a screen stand or ceiling mount when installing your high brightness screen. Were you to have a larger gap between the screen and the window, it would have a similar result as using a lower candela screen, making the content displayed far less visible.
After doing some research, however, you may be surprised at the cost of these high brightness displays. Because this is still a relatively new technology, prices are still rather high, especially when compared to a regular TV of the same size. As we’ve already established though, a regular TV simply won’t provide you with the performance you need. We do, however, have a cheaper alternative that can be used in certain circumstances.
An alternative we have been providing in appropriate locations are semi-high brightness screens. These screens put out around 700 cd/m² –hence the name semi-high brightness – but are far cheaper than a high bright display. In most instances, they are at least half the price.
Ofcourse, you need to be wary that these screens are, ideally, to be used in windows that receive only partial sunlight throughout the day and so are not always a sufficient alternative. In some cases, you may get away with a couple hours of direct sunlight on the window but the effectiveness of the screen will be sub-optimal.
We are partnered with an international screen manufacturer, Vestel, who supply a range of different digital signage displays, including semi-high brightness screens at an affordable rate. The introduction of Vestel to the UK market is causing positive disruption as they are extremely competitively priced, whilst also retaining a similar quality to their competitors.
Whether it’s a high brightness or semi-high brightness screen you need, give us a call on 02380 981110 or click the button below for a free consultation with one of our screen specialists.
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Founded in 2009, Sansi North America (SNA Displays) has become a leading LED display manufacturer in the United States with offices across the country and LED displays in major cities from coast to coast. We are the only LED signage manufacturer headquartered in Times Square and boast a major percentage of the digital LED displays in the world’s most coveted advertising space right outside our doors. In recent years, we’ve provided more LED display technology to Times Square than any of our competitors. Likewise, SNA Displays leads the industry in providing LED screens to the Los Angeles area and other major markets in North America.
Whether from the BRILLIANT™, BOLD™, or EMPIRE™ product series, our LED screens come in a vast array of sizes and pixel pitches for numerous indoor and outdoor applications. Whether you need an LED display screen for a conference room or one big enough to cover a skyscraper, SNA Displays has the custom-engineering knowledge and experience to make your vision come to life. We also have all-in-one, out-of-the