Pro-Touch

Is Digital Signage The Way Forward For Advertising?

More and more, digital signage and touch screens are being used to display advertising content in high traffic public locations. Digital marketing comes with a multitude of benefits in reaching a targeted audience. Screens are a worthwhile investment for businesses who want to stand out with their marketing strategies.

Multi channel marketing

With digital screens emerging as one of the most innovative methods of promoting, there is exciting opportunity to connect a wider audience with online marketing campaigns. Some kiosks and signage have the ability to connect with mobile devices through QR barcodes, such as tablets and smartphones.  The highest levels of engagement are through ads on touch screen mobile devices. This creates another platform to link to social media sites and web pages, which encourages sharing online.

Location

There has been a surge in outdoor digital signage and interactive kiosks, revolutionising street advertising.  This opens up opportunities for businesses looking to promote themselves or their product with attention grabbing media that invites passers by to engage. Indoor locations such as shopping centres, retail stores and airports are also effective for digital screen advertising.

Audience engagement

Today’s tech savvy consumers are always looking for the next best gadget or new technology. Screen technology on the streets is driving consumers to engage more closely with marketing campaigns and interactive ads. Digital signage means marketing messages can be live, instantly updated and more direct.

Can touch screens be used for marketing?

Touch screens are slightly more complicated when used for advertising; however there have been examples of novel ways of utilising them to engage an audience interactively. Large public touch screens can encourage users to interact with games, questionnaires and other entertaining activities that help to promote a brand or product. On the other hand, for the less tech savvy public it is more of a challenge to persuade them to participate.

The future

“The future of advertising is…intrinsically linked to technology and people” (source). Although we cannot predict what the future holds for digital screen advertising, it is inevitable we will see innovative developments in technology. For example, implementing 3D technology could give advertisers the chance to stand out and get their content noticed. Who’s to say that advertising with screens couldn’t become more direct with facial recognition? In all, digital screens provide a lucrative marketing strategy for companies wanting to stand out among the crowd.

Growing Appetite for Self Service in Restaurants

In the fast paced, ever changing world of technology, it's vital to keep your finger firmly on the digital pulse in order to keep up with the latest trends and consumer demands. While our familiarity and reliance on tablet devices and digital screens grows, so does our desire for more digital touch points in the areas where we live, work, shop, travel and socialise. Restaurants, in-particular, are now seeing the benefits of using tablet devices to maximise micro-convenience and customer experience, with tablets wrapping up everything that we're used to in a traditional sense; offering virtual concierge, digital menus, bookings, social media engagement, special offers and so on.

Digital Signage

Digital menus allow restaurants to entice and seduce customers through high-definition, interactive images; as opposed to traditionally print images, which are flat and lifeless. Digital images give restaurants far more flexibility and creativity to display eye catching and mouthwatering images.

When places in high-traffic areas, digital signs are excellent ways in which to capture the customer's attention as they walk past or queue up for service. This provides an excellent opportunity to upsell items, make recommendations and offer incentives. All of which can increase sales and improve ROI.

Self-serve kiosks

In 2012 it was predicted that a total of 44% of consumers would opt to use a self-service terminal, and 40% would choose to use a Smartphone application to place a food order. To reflect this many restaurants are now catching up with touch screen technologies, as they explore innovative ways to go above and beyond the standard level of service.

So far, 2013 has seen 28% of restaurant owners showing strong interest in having a mobile app, and there is a growing appetite for the technology amongst consumers too; with 67% now interested in booking their tables through an app (source).

With freestanding tablet kiosks and easy touchscreen interactions, customers are able to place orders easily, pay for their food quickly and efficiently, and access nutritional information at the touch of a screen. All of these simple tasks put the customer in control, freeing up staff for other jobs and improving the overall dining experience for the customer.

Other benefits include;

Nutritional/Allergy information
Ordering
Loyalty schemes
Payment terminals
Social media engagement
Reservations
Advertising
Reduce staff

Restaurants kiosks provide a wealth of benefits, not only to the customer, but to the company too. At a relatively low to deploy it’s worth considering how a touch screen kiosk can help your business by improving overall customer satisfaction, as well as ROI. Contact Protouch today and find out how you can start reaping the benefits of a restaurant kiosk.

How Can Touch Screen Technology Enhance A Retail Environment?

It is evident that we are heading to a future where the physical and the digital world start to intersect with each other more and more. With the growth in user centered design and technology, the emphasis on the consumer experience is becoming increasingly apparent. It’s this experience, as well as the brand, that builds loyalty and makes them come back.

This example shows the shop Scribber using touch screen dsplays to engage passers by and encourage them to come in. (London, 2010)

Key example 1
Adidas has brought a new meaning to ‘window shopping’ with their live interactive touch screen windows. These are being currently tested for six weeks in Germany. The user can use a one off pin to link the screen with their Smart phone, allowing them to add items to a virtual ‘shopping bag’, which can be saved for later purchase. (digitalsignagetoday.com, 2012)

The Customer-Centric Store 2010, Retail Systems Research found that the No. 1 opportunity in the current market is to ‘refine the customer's in-store experience’. And the No. 1 use of in-store technology, identified by 76 percent of retailers, was to “maintain and/or improve the customer experience.”

Key example 2
A new Marks and Spencer store has opened this year, in Manchester, which has utilized the latest technology to enhance their in-store branding and marketing. The store has incorporated a large digital signage network of 70 inch screens and twelve interactive retail kiosks. Customers can engage with a simple touch screen kiosk system to browse the M&S catalogue and purchase items that can be delivered to their store or home.  Innovatively, the store has deployed kiosks in different departments. For example a ‘virtual makeover counter’ in the beauty department that consumers can use to test a range of make up types. In the home department there is a ‘duvet and pillow selector’ to guide consumers with their buying decisions. This is a significant example of how touch screen kiosks can create an interactive and contemporary retail environment.

How can Protouch help?
Touch screen technology can enhance the consumer’s retail experience to a whole new level, making it more visual, interactive and convenient. Protouch’s touch screen kiosks enable the consumer to engage with a brand and explore your choices. Take a look at our Matalan case study to see an example of how Protouch kiosks can benefit consumers and businesses in the retail sector.