Your LED digital signage is a highly versatile asset that can open up a range of possibilities for your organisation. We’ve talked about some of these in quite extensive detail before, such as our post on how to use them to build customer relationships. However, they’re not always utilised to their full potential when used for giving directions to customers in stores. This is known as wayfinding, and it’s more important than it might sound at first. Bear with us, and we’ll tell you why!
What is wayfinding, and why do you need it in your store?
Wayfinding is exactly what it sounds like – it’s used to describe systems designed to guide people through their physical environment, helping them to understand where they are and how they got there. And, by extension, what they’re able to do in each space. Naturally, this is most important for the bigger types of public locations, such as shopping centres and conference venues. No matter how big the space, the customer or visitor should never lose track of where they are.
Once a visitor feels that they’re no longer fully in control of the space around them, that can lead to:
• Spending less time in the store
• Becoming more critical of the products or exhibitions around them
• Becoming less likely to make an impulse purchase
• A drastic drop in the likelihood of returning in future
One really obvious example that you’re probably thinking of already is IKEA, which has formulated its wayfinding plan very carefully to ensure that customers make a thorough journey through every available section. That means they not only understand where they are, but they’re also more likely to make impulse purchases as they go through every subsequent section.
It’s quite an obvious example, but it’s also quite a neat demonstration of how wayfinding LED signage can be used to fulfil a range of smaller objectives too. For example, you might want your visual signage to help ease traffic flow around your store, or help customers find specific sections they might be looking for, or alert them to your limited-time offers and promotions.
3 key advantages of using using LED signage for wayfinding
For decades, printed signs have been fulfilling the role of wayfinding in countless venues across the UK, which makes visual signage a relatively new method. However, there’s no denying that it offers several tangible advantages over the more traditional medium.
Give your customers control
Digital wayfinding solutions can offer touchscreen capabilities to your customers, giving them a more active element of control when they’re trying to orient themselves. For example, touchscreens can be used to zoom in on an area, or rotated to allow customers to work out the quickest route from one place to another. By giving your customers this element of control, you can help to make them feel more comfortable, which in turn makes them more likely to come back to your premises in future.
Adapt your displays on the fly
One of the major advantages that digital display boards have over their printed counterparts still applies here – namely, that their content can be changed at the drop of a hat, rather than having to be sent off anywhere to be re-designed and re-printed. That makes it fast and easy to communicate important messages to your customers, maximising convenience for them while minimising any frustration. For example, if your store has run out of a certain kind of product, or if the guest speaker at your business conference has been forced to cancel at the last moment, or if you’ve recently launched a new product, brand or service that you want people to come and check out. It’s all up to you.
Tailor your messaging
Even something as simple as giving directions can be a great opportunity to fulfil other aims for your business, whether that’s something as simple as reinforcing your tone of voice, or even targeting certain customer demographics with dynamic advertising. For example, one of your digital signs could filter its viewers by demographic, directing engineers and DIY enthusiasts to check out your great selection of tools up ahead, while encouraging parents to branch left to explore your range of childcare products.
Of course, the specifics of your own setup will depend largely on the nature of your premises, and exactly what you’d like to achieve within them. That’s where we can help here at Scanlite – whatever you’ve got in mind for your LED advertising displays, we can help you make that vision a reality with an extensive range of digital signage solutions. We know this technology inside out, and exactly how it can be used to achieve your goals as a business. To find out how we can help you, feel free to give us a call today on 01253 302723, or email us on sales@scanlite.co.uk.
