Some of the biggest digital signage trends of 2021 are predictable after the 2020 pandemic, and others are a little more obscure. Perhaps the biggest trend to come out is the actual adoption of digital signs themselves. Many companies have used digital signs over the years, but now days, the digital sign software has become cheaper, its setup has become far easier, and the digital sign technology is cheaper than ever before. These interactive displays for businesses have many advantages and they are worth using for raising the awareness of your brand. Using digital signages has many benefits as they can help enhance customer experience and increase sales. These interactive displays are easy to use, they will improve your business efficiency and can also be used as powerful presentation tools. For example, the digital signage by Mandoe Media is easy to use and could be highly effective in stores or venues. Plus, with the advent of faster Internet and more reliable server and Cloud services, it has never been easier to set up a genuinely good, reliable and useful digital sign system.
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Digital Signs Giving Health Warnings
As you may have expected from the 2020 pandemic, many digital signs are being used to offer health warnings. They often say things like where you should wear a mask, or how many people are allowed in a certain store at a time. Some are used as large GO and STOP signs to tell people when they can enter a store, or when they can approach the checkout. Others simply offer health advisories and explain that the bathrooms are not available due to new restrictions, or the signs show where the hand sanitizers are located.
Promoting Health And Wellness Products
Digital signs have always been used to promote products, but due to the 2020 pandemic, there are an epic number of stores promoting health and wellness products. There are some stores selling weed-based products, despite the fact it has been proven that any marijuana product makes flu symptoms worse. There are companies selling things that are obviously pandemic related, such as masks and hand sanitizer. The trend towards health in general is being pushed pretty hard via digital signs, with some stores offering discounts on vitamin pills, to others that are pushing immune-boosting fruits and juices.
More QR Codes Are Being Used
Since China has proven that a QR code can be scanned, even when it is made with drones in the sky, people have really been pushing for QR codes on digital signs. The methods by which they are used are becoming more innovative.
Some malls and larger superstructures are using QR codes to allow people to download an app that gives them directions around the location. This is especially common with interactive maps, where people are able to both use the maps with the app (downloaded via a QR code), and where they are able to log their destinations and even add notes through the app.
Other companies are promoting products, and on the bottom corner of the screen they are showing QR codes for those products so that people have the option of buying them online if they wish. This was especially prevalent during the early years in 2021 when many stores had limited opening times and were trying to encourage online shopping. The trend continued through the rest of the year, most probably because many people already go on Amazon to compare online prices, so why not offer people the opportunity to buy straight from the promoter.
Contactless Interactions with Customers
Again, brought on by the 2020 pandemic, social distancing protocols have been engaged through the use of digital signs. Here are just a few ways that digital signs have been used to enforce and/or help social distancing.
- Used to control the flow of changing room traffic instead of having a person do it
- Placed above tills to let people know when they can approach
- Information terminals to lower the number of customers asking staff questions
- Explanations of store rules regarding social distancing
These are just a few ways that digital signs have helped companies and customers engage with social distancing rules. Even though most companies do not have to engage social distancing by law, they are still having a hard time trying to avoid being sued, and so are still driving a social distancing narrative, and digital signs are a big part of their efforts.
Demonstrating To Customers That They Are Being Watched
One of the less talked about aspects of the pandemic was the adoption of masks and how they have affected in-store crime. After all, thieves have been longing for the day when they can enter a store with a mask on so that they cannot be identified as thieves.
Digital signs that display camera footage are being strategically used to show customers that they are being watched. The Achilles heel of the masked bandit is the threat of being caught in the act. Thieves want to get away with their crime and then come back tomorrow, safe in the knowledge that nobody can identify them. What they do “Not” want is to be caught in the act, and signs showing customer footage are scaring thieves into thinking they may be caught in the act. The use of digital signs in this way has been adopted, most famously, by Walmart. Though, the only downside is that people have been holding their babies up to the cameras to recreate a popular meme.
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