Digital Signage expert Henrik Hansen has been working for Samsung Electronics as European Business Development Manager – Retail for more than four years. With his extensive experience within the field, we’ve asked him about his view on what it is, what a great solution should contain and what he think will happen in the digital signage industry the coming year.

How would you describe Digital Signage to someone outside the industry?

Digital Signage is delivering a visual communication platform, and building relations between brands & vendors with their customers. Digital Signage is a dynamic way of communicating that enables the users to provide the right message, for the right audience, and the right location, in the right time for making the planned impact.

What are the key components in a successful digital signage solution?

First of all, plan ahead, define a clear objective with the solution, and develop the strategy for how to reach that objective.  Is the goal to build a stronger brand loyalty, or to boost sales in certain stores?  Two very different objectives, that would take different approaches. The user should carefully select the partner that is experienced and specialized in the solution they are planning for, and they should go with leading hardware brand to ensure the investment is backed by best in class quality on the displays and a service network that covers all locations for the installed displays.

High quality content, and displays that provide crisp images is the key for targeting the audience. More than 60% of online sales are influenced by the physical store, so providing the seamless integration between physical and online is a necessity. The stores are transforming more into discovery & experience hubs, where signage contributes to creating the bridge between brand and customers. Make sure to leverage user generated content to engage with your biggest fans, ie by collect feeds from social channels, and showing on a social media display.  One example could be, showing user reviews on a “SO-ME display” in store.

If you look into the fortune teller, what do you think will happen in the industry in 2023?

First of all an increased focus on sustainability.  On the Solutions side; There is a trend towards retailers making shopping more than just buying a good, they provide an experience. With the increase in popularity of e-commerce, traditional stores need to develop a point of difference to survive. Tech spend will increase to meet those demands.

More focus on specialized solutions, and vertical champions that create and deliver tailored solutions for their key clients. The industry has used the term “content is king” for a while – now I expect that “data is king” will take over.  Data from your stores, and from your customers is essential to assist in planning the future sales strategy.  71%* of Retail Customers expect companies to use their data to deliver personalized experiences, with a similar proportion of consumers frustrated when this does not happen. Customers expect to be entertained, and loyal customers tend to spend more.  Building on that brand loyalty is key, and data can provide the insight you need.  Customers give away their data and in return they expect the customized shopping experience.  One could say that data has become a currency in exchange for the good customized shopping experience.

I do also expect to see more retailers moving towards LED screens, and rather go for one fine pixel LED and MicroLED, instead of many lower costs screens throughout the stores.

Find Henrik Hansen on LinkedIn

Go to inspiration to see some of Visual Art’s digital signage solutions