One of digital signage’s biggest market sectors, retail, is experiencing a period of major change, as the internet continues to influence shopping and high street retailers come to terms with what this means for their stores, especially with regard to technology. Retail is changing, with brands looking to digital signage to deliver that killer in-store experience, seamlessly and non-intrusively.

Digital signage is the key tech driver, and always will be, but in order to survive the online attack, high street retailers are adding newer technologies to entice consumers into store and also to mirror and dovetail with the online shopping experience. Near-field triggers, and beacons are being combined with digital signage to change the way content is delivered and stores engage with shoppers.

The success and effectiveness of today’s digital signage increasingly depends on interactivity, with shoppers nonplussed by simple moving images or even stills. Today’s shoppers are likely to ignore large, static displays, with eyes and brains hungry for interactivity.

As a result, larger, more impactful display solutions are in demand, with LED starting to eclipse LCD, as it allows for large, bespoke digital canvases, which are becoming increasingly affordable as LED prices fall. Transparent and curved LEDs integrated into store fittings are becoming more common, with ‘dot-pitches’ options for environments that require short viewing distances. 4K resolution and brightness is also a key factor here: OLED takes digital signage to a new level.

Retailers are specifying interactive mirrors, curved displays, multi-touch solutions, and zero-bezel weather and vandal-protected touch monitors, with infrared or protected capacitive touch screen overlays. There are also large format displays with built-in PC capabilities, system-on-chip, which removes the need for discreet media players, whilst making it easier for retailers to employ innovative digital signage across a wider area more cheaply.

Cross channel, cross technology is king. More engaging dynamic content is being specified, with triggers and relevant and personalised information directed at individuals. This engagement is key as humans lose focus after approximately twelve seconds and have roughly an eight second attention span.

The future for digital signage is bright and exciting, but we must all embrace the bigger picture and a multi-tech approach, also answering the demands for pushed media, which have never been greater (digital signage is the best platform to accommodate this).

Blending other technology with digital signage is a must in today’s retail outlets, but it now requires support from relevant complementary technologies, all working in harmony to provide a seamless user experience that delivers measurable and memorable results.