Brick-and-mortar stores are turning to technology to compete with online retailers. Merchandise aisles now feature touch screen displays that allow shoppers to interact with product ads, share social media promotions and purchase goods.
These interactive displays are proving more popular every day. Reportlinker, a market research source, projected the global interactive display market should see a compound annual growth rate of 11.9 percent between 2015 and 2020. The growth is attributed to improving technology. Modern projecting equipment is easier to implement in stores and more cost-efficient for small and mid-sized businesses.
Advanced technology not only makes the display easier to use, but can provide additional benefits. Mechatronics said retailers are now using in-store interactive displays to collect customer data and make product recommendations. Procter & Gamble recently introduced a display that prompted customers to enter their information to receive a personal health report. The material entered – such as age, weight and email – was used to create targeted ads. Dr. Scholls introduced a similar display suggesting products based on customer foot measurements.
Interactive display create targeted ads. The displays have proven effective. Customers seem interested in the new technology and like devices that provide personal self-service. In the future, the displays are expected to seem less like novelties and more like a common store display fixture.
As technology makes interactive displays slimmer and more adaptable to the environment, stores should look for ways to make them a natural part of their visual merchandising. The AVNetwork argued the future of high-tech interactive displays is integrating them into the architecture of the space. Customers can't be preoccupied with how the machines don't fit into the landscape; they need to be focused on the engagement. Interactive displays should blend in with the clothes racks and acrylic stands, becoming a standard tool in the store's layout.
