Kiosk Solutions Apr-May 2017 | Page 42

retail touchscreens "We expect stores of the future to have all of their in-store screens ‘touch’ enabled" ill equipped to answer questions or offer input on these offerings. While some retailers have handed out tablets to sales assistants, it’s often socially awkward to huddle around an iPad or worse, the customer’s own phone. With large- format digital signage touchscreens, sales assistants and customers solve shopping problems together in a less transactional, more personalised way without being too close for comfort. The great divide of online and in-store shopping is instantly closed. With further adoption of in-store technology, retailers can make use of self-service digital signage kiosks, smaller sized interactive screens for more sensitive transactions and cashless payment systems, moving the point of sale out from behind the counter to merge with digital signage information points. It will be easier for sales assistants to engage and conduct transactions with customers throughout the store, providing a more personalised service without the limitations of a counter. 42 KIOSK solutions Virtual growth Eton Shirts wanted to enhance how it provides garments to consumers across multiple stores, and with collections in its stores across Europe and North America, within a space of about 90 square metres the brand soon faced a problem. It didn’t have enough space to house all of its items including those on sale, meaning only 15% of the shirts could be exposed to customers. By deciding to deliver an omnichannel approach in its stores through the use of digital touchscreens, the shirt manufacturer has been able to increase the number of ranges it can house in its flagship store in Stockholm by six times the original amount it could before it utilised the touchscreen signage technology. This in turn has enhanced the customer shopping and purchasing experience Eton Shirts now has the ability to showcase a range 68 times larger than previously via the screens by displaying various products and styles so the customer can make a choice in-store. Touchscreens are no longer luxuries that only big box retailers can afford, and the potential to create a more engaging shopper experience extends the value of the technology far beyond the initial price tag. Retailers can investment in digital signage technologies to help them blend the online and in-store shopping experience in a modern and seamless way to increase sales. Many stores have some form of digital screens, but we expect stores of the future to have all of their in- store screens ‘touch’ enabled, with the ability to be completely interactive so customers can use them to log in, browse and order products for example, or check if items of clothing are available in their size. Interactivity also brings the additional advantage of providing real-time metrics giving marketeers the possibility to adopt messaging, customise and in turn increase ROI on their interactive merchandising solutions. n