Additionally, ultra-stretch displays—which can be as much as three times as wide as a standard TV—can be leveraged to turn columns into digital artwork, wayfinding, or advertising surfaces. They may also be hung horizontally to draw guests to product displays or departments. On top of that, an emerging wave of curved and custom-shaped displays is opening opportunities for retail stores to incorporate new designs and develop brand-enforcing in-store marketing.
Flagship stores as retail labs
One segment of the market is embracing unique display designs is flagship stores. Chains are using cutting-edge digital displays to build spaces where customers can be engaged at every turn, encouraging interaction and store visits.
The Stella McCartney fashion brand joined this trend when it hired an integration and content development firm to install custom-shaped mosaic video walls in the front windows of 11 flagship locations throughout the United States, Europe, and Asia. Using a variety of display sizes in both horizontal and vertical orientations, the team built a variety of video walls (up to three for each location) that feature complex shapes and demand attention from people walking by the storefront. Content is developed specifically to fit each different display mosaic and maximize the screen real estate.
As these display technologies and installations prove themselves to be valuable and effective, brands can implement them in new store designs and campaigns to promote better branding and marketing reach.
Signs of the future
The incredible variety of available technologies and the breakneck pace of innovation offer numerous options to bring retail spaces to life, delivering tangible benefits and ROI. Looking forward, new technologies such as transparent organic light-emitting diode (OLED) displays that can display stunning visuals, but also become see-through, will open even more opportunities to build exciting, memorable in-store engagement points that elevate the shopping experience.
Whether they are collecting data to improve operations, connecting with mobile apps to offer new benefits, encouraging interactivity, or helping malls energize underutilized spaces, digital display technologies are changing how retail stores run and reach their customers. As more chains recognize the benefits they can reap from technology upgrades, the popularity of these installations will grow and may even become a standard inclusion in the design process. For retailers large and small, the time to differentiate is now.
Dan Smith is vice-president, business development, for LG Business Solutions USA. This article is based on a white paper he prepared for LG Electronics USA. For more information, visit www.lg.com/ca_en/business/information-displays. Smith can be reached via e-mail at dan.smith@lge.com.
