Litabi
Everything is becoming digitalised these days, and it’s time to keep up or fall behind. Savvy business owners can easily see the benefits of high tech business tools such as digital signs. You may be using digital signs at the moment, but if you want to stay one step ahead of your competition you need to know what’s coming next. The fifth edition of the digital signage future trends report was recently released by Networld Media Group, and it has some fascinating findings.
One thing we know is that people are investing heavily in digital signs, which means they aren’t going anywhere. According to the report ‘a fifth (20.8 percent) said they anticipated spending less than $5,000 on digital signage next year and the remainder (almost 80 percent) anticipate spending anywhere from more than $5,000 to over $1 million in the next year.’
One of the key sectors that digital signs are used is education. Many schools and educational establishments are seeing the benefits of digital signs to help educate their pupils and inform their visitors. There aren’t too many schools these days that don’t have some form of digital sign, and research shows they will be jumping on the bandwagon too. ‘Of the minority faction of educational institutions that don’t already have digital signage, two-thirds (66.7 percent) said they planned to deploy it in the next few years.’ (Networld Media Group)
In retail digital signs are expected to completely transform the shopping experience. Shoppers are becoming increasingly connected and stores need to be able to cater to this need. One way of doing this is by using digital signs to connect them with the online world and showcase the latest deals and exciting products.
The store of the future will feature innovative digital signs that personalise the shopping experience for customers. Digital signs using touchscreen technology will be very popular as well as the use of tablets and smartphones for purchasing items. In the not so distant future, digital signs will be integrated with mobiles to provide a totally connected experience.
Digital signage company, Allsee Technologies Ltd said “Digital Sigange is becoming extremely intelligent, with the capability of performing impressive tasks such as scanning a shoppers body and placing orders.” 3D signs and facial recognition could also be a big part of their future. Many major brands in key retail locations such as Oxford Street in London are revolutionising their stores with digital signs.
Some of the mind blowing technology you see in films such as Minority Report and Iron Man could be built into the future of digital signs. John Underkoffler, who was a keynote speaker at the Digital Signage Expo said ‘You won’t have to return to your office to get information. You will be able to point at any display and reach through the pixels to get data wherever it lives.’
Digital signs these days are also much more user friendly, durable and sophisticated and they will continue to improve their user experience credentials into the future. They are not just a smart piece of technology for businesses but a measurable marketing channel in their own right. Now that their performance can be quantified people are truly recognising their benefits and getting the results they want.
Huge networks of signs can be instantly updated at the touch of a button so that content can constantly be kept fresh and relevant. The easier these signs are to control the more business owners will adopt them over the next few years.
Although digital signage is prevalent in a few specific sectors such as retail, food and education it is likely to infiltrate other sectors in the near future. All it takes is a few forward thinking business owners from a specific sector to adopt the technology and the rest will quickly follow. For example, more and more high end hotels that attract business customers are using digital signs to wow their client base. Digital signs are extremely useful in hotels because they can provide local information, directions and menu information for guests. Hotel chains such as Marriott have seen customer satisfaction increase significantly since placing digital signs in key hotels.
The power of digital signs is clearly not fading and they will continue to be a key advertising tool for a diverse range of businesses and establishments for years to come.
Source: Wikipedia
