Everywhere You Look

The Screen Age: How Digital Signage is Revolutionizing Retail and Why Your Content Strategy Needs to Catch Up

Introduction

NRF 2025 was a whirlwind of innovation, bold ideas, and industry-defining connections. As I wandered through the bustling exhibition floors, soaking in the latest trends shaping retail, one topic seemed to dominate nearly every discussion: artificial intelligence. AI was everywhere—powering analytics, personalizing customer experiences, and streamlining operations. It’s a powerful tool, no doubt. But as I listened to the buzz, I couldn’t help but feel that while AI is transformative, it’s not solving the most immediate, tangible challenges retailers face today.

What truly caught my attention during NRF wasn’t AI—it was digital signage.

Now, don’t get me wrong: digital signage isn’t new. Screens have been a part of retail spaces for years. I even saw them on taxis in New York, a clear sign that screens had made the jump from stores to, well, almost anywhere. But what struck me at NRF was how this technology has evolved. Screens have become smaller, smarter, cheaper, and more ubiquitous. What once seemed like a luxury reserved for flagship stores is now trickling down to everyday retail.

Our company has embraced digital signage too. Instead of traditional printed messages on our booth walls, we now use a minimalist design with screens to display rotating content. These reusable, sustainable booth walls allow us to showcase videos and rolling messages that we can adapt for different trade shows.

While the technology is impressive, the big question looms: who is feeding all these screens?

Behind every dynamic display and personalized offer is a mountain of content that someone, somewhere, had to create, manage, and deploy. It’s a demand that’s growing faster than retailers can keep up with—and it’s where creative operations have a unique opportunity to step in and make a real difference.

In this piece, we’ll explore how digital signage is revolutionizing retail, the challenges it brings, and why the future of this technology depends on the ability to manage and deliver endless streams of content. Because while screens are smarter than ever, they’re still only as good as what’s on them. Let’s dive in.

The Evolution of Retail Signage

Before the dazzling digital screens of today, retail signage was simpler, slower, and often static. It’s worth taking a quick stroll down memory lane to see how far we’ve come—and why digital signage has become the next frontier in retail.

The Early Days: Neon, Bulbs, and Billboards

In the early 20th century, signage lit up cities with the glow of neon. These electrified tubes, often bending into vibrant letters and shapes, were especially prominent in landmark locations like Times Square, earning it the nickname "The Great White Way." Neon signs were bright, colorful, and eye-catching, but they had their limits: no motion, no personalization, and certainly no way to update content quickly.

Incandescent bulb displays—think flashing lightbulbs spelling out a product name—added movement to the mix. One famous example was the "zipper" news ticker installed by the New York Times in 1928, which used a series of lightbulbs to display scrolling news headlines. Mechanical signs took it even further, using spinning parts or flipping panels to grab attention. These signs were marvels of their time, but they were costly to maintain and lacked flexibility. Once a sign was built, its message was set in stone—or glass and metal, to be precise.

The Digital Shift Begins

Fast-forward to the late 20th century, and screens began making their way into retail. Early digital signage was clunky and expensive, limited to large-scale installations in premium locations. Think Times Square’s giant video billboards or flagship stores experimenting with LED displays. These screens showcased video ads and rotating messages, but their high cost and technical complexity kept them out of reach for most retailers.

The Modern Era: Smart, Affordable, Everywhere

Today, digital signage is no longer a luxury; it’s a necessity. What changed? For starters:

• Affordability: Flat-screen technology has plummeted in price, making it accessible to stores of all sizes.
• Connectivity: Screens can now be updated remotely, enabling real-time changes across entire networks.
• Versatility: From massive LED billboards to small shelf-edge displays, screens come in every shape and size.
• Smart Features: AI, sensors, and interactivity have turned screens into tools for personalized marketing.

What’s most exciting is that digital signage isn’t just replacing traditional signs—it’s doing things static displays never could. Content can now shift based on time of day, customer demographics, or even the weather. The result? A more engaging, dynamic, and responsive retail environment.

Why It Matters

The journey from neon to digital has been driven by one constant: the need to capture attention and drive action. But with every leap in technology comes a new layer of complexity. The days of designing a single poster and shipping it to stores are gone. Retailers now need fresh, tailored content for every screen, location, and moment—a challenge that has turned creative operations into an indispensable part of the equation.

This evolution isn’t just about technology; it’s about agility, adaptability, and the endless pursuit of a better customer experience. And it’s only just getting started.

Why Retailers Are Embracing Digital Signage

Retailers aren’t adopting digital signage just because it looks futuristic or tech-forward. There are practical, business-driven reasons why this technology is becoming a cornerstone of the modern retail experience. Here’s why digital signage is taking over:

Agility and Real-Time Updates

Gone are the days when changing a sign meant ordering a new print run and waiting weeks for delivery. With digital signage, updates can be made instantly, across one store or thousands, from a centralized system. This flexibility allows retailers to:

• React to trends: Promote seasonal items, viral products, or limited-time offers immediately.
• Adapt to real-time events: Change messages based on weather (advertising hot drinks on a cold day) or local happenings (like a big sports game). I've even seen companies changing their digital signage around the world based on the weather in that location. It's not so different to seeing a load of people walking the streets selling umbrellas when it starts to rain or selling scarfs outside of a football game - it's advantageous sales & marketing, and it works.
• Correct mistakes: Fix pricing errors or campaign messaging at the click of a button—no more scrambling with stickered corrections or emergency reprints. I've been in stores before and seen stickers with handwritten prices over printed content just because a mistake was made.

1. Cost Efficiency

   While the upfront investment in digital signage can seem high, the long-term savings are undeniable. Consider the hidden costs of traditional signage:

   • Printing and distribution expenses for every campaign.
   • Labor costs for physically replacing signs in stores.
   • Wasted materials from outdated or overproduced print runs.

   Digital signage eliminates these expenses, enabling retailers to reduce waste and streamline operations.

2. Sustainability

   Retailers are under increasing pressure to meet sustainability goals, and digital signage plays a significant role. Instead of disposing of old posters or flyers, screens allow for an environmentally friendly way to update messaging. Plus, advances in energy-efficient displays (like LED or paper-like e-ink screens) mean reduced energy consumption. Screens can even be programmed to:

   • Turn off during non-operating hours.
   • Activate only when customers are nearby, thanks to motion sensors.

3. Enhanced Customer Engagement

   Digital signage does more than just replace static posters—it actively engages customers. With features like motion graphics, video, and interactivity, retailers can create memorable, immersive experiences. For example:

   • Interactive screens: Shoppers can browse product catalogs, check stock, or access exclusive offers with a touch.
   • Dynamic content: Displays can rotate messages or showcase videos to keep customers’ attention.
   • Cross-channel promotion: Screens can tie online shopping with in-store experiences, like QR codes for apps or highlighting click-and-collect options. It just increases engagement and drives online to physical. So it's that process of getting people in-store and bringing the retail experience to a physical location after being online.
   • Gamification: Fast food restaurants often use digital screens for gamification - for example, after ordering at a fast-food establishment, customers who spend a certain amount get credits to play a jackpot wheel game. Winners can receive prizes like free drinks or extra fries. It keeps them engaged while waiting for food and encourages them to return and claim their prize in a future purchase.
   • Keeping Customers Calm: Take public transit for example - when digital screens at train platforms show arrival times, people stay calmer knowing exactly when the next train is coming. Similarly in retail, digital displays not only show customers their wait times but also keep them entertained with engaging content, turning what could be a frustrating queue experience into an opportunity to discover new products and deals.

4. Personalization

   One-size-fits-all messaging is quickly becoming a relic of the past. Today’s digital signage leverages data to tailor messages to individual shoppers. Examples include:

   • Demographic targeting: Displays adjust content based on the age, gender, or preferences of people nearby.
   • Behavioral insights: Screens can show ads for products similar to what a customer has bought before or even upsell related items.
   • Localized messaging: Content changes based on store location, ensuring relevance to regional audiences.

5. Driving Sales and Conversion

   At its core, digital signage serves one main purpose: convincing customers to buy more. The dynamic, eye-catching nature of digital displays makes them effective tools for:

   • Encouraging impulse purchases: A bright, enticing screen at the checkout can nudge customers to grab a last-minute item.
   • Highlighting promotions: Flashing a limited-time offer creates urgency and drives decision-making.
   • Upselling: Suggesting complementary products—like pairing wine with cheese—boosts basket size.

6. Competitive Advantage

   Retail is a crowded space, and standing out matters. Digital signage allows brands to create an elevated shopping experience that competitors relying on static signage simply can’t match. From futuristic in-store displays to personalized shopping journeys, digital signage helps retailers differentiate themselves and stay ahead of the curve.

7. Analytics and Customer Insights

   The integration of lidar cameras and analytics allows retailers to understand customer behavior without filming them, providing valuable insights for improving store design and content strategy while maintaining privacy.

   • Track customer engagement with content through interactive screen interactions and viewing time
   • Monitor shopping patterns using lidar technology that tracks how long customers look at products and screens
   • Analyze which shelves attract attention and which products people walk past
   • Identify demographic trends like whether certain height customers miss items on lower shelves
   • Use data to optimize store layouts and display positioning for maximum impact

The Bottom Line

Retailers are embracing digital signage because it solves real-world problems and opens up new opportunities for customer engagement. Whether it’s responding to trends, reducing costs, or creating unforgettable in-store experiences, this technology is a game-changer. And as digital signage becomes more accessible, it’s clear that this is just the beginning.

Types of Digital Signage and Their Roles

Digital signage isn’t a one-size-fits-all solution. From towering LED walls to tiny shelf-edge displays, each type of digital signage serves a unique purpose in the retail ecosystem. Let’s explore the main types and how they’re shaping the shopping experience.

1. Large Displays: The Showstoppers

   These are the eye-catching, high-impact screens that dominate window displays, entrances, and flagship stores. Think LED walls, massive video screens, and projection displays.

   Roles and Examples:

   • Window displays: Attract foot traffic with dynamic, vibrant content that stops passersby in their tracks.
   • In-store branding: Reinforce brand identity with looping video content or immersive visuals.
   • Event marketing: Showcase live feeds of events, product launches, or collaborations in real-time.

   Where You’ll See Them:

   • Times Square-style video walls in flagship stores.
   • Interactive displays in high-end retail spaces.
   • Storefront screens promoting seasonal campaigns or limited-time offers.

2. Mid-Sized Screens: The Workhorses

   These versatile screens are typically found throughout the store, from window displays to aisle endcaps. Digital posters can dynamically showcase products through engaging video content, rotating promotions, and eye-catching animations that traditional static displays can't match.

   Roles and Examples:

   • Menu boards: Widely used in quick-service restaurants to display menus, daily specials, and promotions.
   • Interactive displays: Video demonstrations of products in use, with touch capabilities for customer interaction.
   • Dynamic promotions: Automatically updating content to show different deals throughout the day or week.
   • Brand storytelling: Engaging video content that shares brand values and product features.

   Where You'll See Them:

   • Fast-food chains replacing printed menus.
   • Department stores showcasing seasonal fashion collections with video lookbooks.
   • Beauty retailers displaying makeup tutorials and product applications.
   • Electronics stores running product demonstrations and comparison videos.

3. Small Screens: The Helpers

   These compact displays are used for more targeted purposes, such as pricing, promotions, or personalized recommendations. They’re often found on shelves, shopping carts, or handheld devices.

   Roles and Examples:

   • Shelf-edge labels: Replace traditional price tags with digital ones, allowing real-time price updates and highlighting discounts. I saw this for the first time in Best Buy in the US where I walked around and noticed that all the screens next to devices were digital screens, not printed paper prices in laminates. They were all digital displays that could be changed at any point and distributed from a central computer system that could update them all.

   • Cart-mounted screens: Display personalized ads and promotions based on your shopping journey. These smart screens can connect to your loyalty account via card readers or QR codes, showing targeted offers based on your shopping history, preferences, and current location in the store. For example, when you enter the pasta aisle, it might show you deals on your favorite sauce brand, along with complementary items you frequently purchase.

   • Handheld checkout devices: Personalize content, show loyalty points, or suggest products that currently have a special personalized price for you.
   • Point-of-sale promotional screens: Interactive displays next to checkouts show personalized deals and promotions while customers wait. These screens can suggest add-on items like drinks or desserts, display current offers, and allow customers to input their email for digital receipts, creating a smoother checkout experience while encouraging last-minute purchases.

   Where You’ll See Them:

   • Grocery stores with dynamic pricing on digital shelf labels.
   • Supermarkets offering aisle-specific deals on shopping cart screens.
   • Retailers using handheld checkout screens to upsell and cross-sell.
   • Retail stores showing targeted add-on items at checkout.
   • Coffee shops displaying drink customization options and loyalty rewards.
   • Department stores highlighting store credit card benefits and digital receipt options.

4. Interactive Screens: The Engagers

   These screens invite customers to interact, creating an immersive and personalized shopping experience. They’re a blend of technology and entertainment, designed to capture attention and keep customers engaged.

   Roles and Examples:

   • Virtual fitting rooms: Allow shoppers to “try on” clothes using augmented reality mirrors.
   • Product customizers: Enable customers to design personalized items like sneakers or handbags.
   • Games and quizzes: Gamify the shopping experience, rewarding participants with discounts or loyalty points.

   Where You’ll See Them:

   • Fashion retailers offering AR try-ons.
   • Sports stores with kiosks for custom gear designs.
   • Beauty brands showcasing virtual makeup applications.

5. Emerging Technologies: The Innovators

   The retail world is always experimenting with cutting-edge digital displays that go beyond the basics. These technologies often border on futuristic.

   Roles and Examples:

   • Holographic displays: 3D visuals that hover in mid-air, creating a high-impact, memorable experience.
   • 360° globe screens: Spherical touch-screen displays for artistic or thematic storytelling, like showcasing the Earth or product demos. At one booth, we saw an orb-shaped screen that could wrap 2D videos around its spherical surface. Given its globe-like shape, they naturally demonstrated it with visualizations of Earth, Mars, and the moon.
   • LED fan displays: Spinning fans with embedded LEDs create the illusion of floating 3D images.

   Where You’ll See Them:

   • Museums, theme parks, or luxury stores using holograms to create unique visual effects.
   • High-tech events and flagship stores experimenting with globe displays or LED fans.

How These Screens Work Together

Each type of digital signage serves a specific purpose, but together they create a cohesive and engaging customer journey. For example:

• Large displays draw people into the store.
• Mid-sized screens provide detailed product information or encourage exploration.
• Small screens deliver personalized messages at the point of decision.
• Interactive and emerging tech screens add an extra layer of excitement and connection.

Digital signage isn’t just about replacing posters with screens—it’s about rethinking the shopping experience. By understanding the roles of these different types of signage, retailers can create smarter, more effective strategies to engage customers and drive sales.

The Rise of Personalized In-Store Experiences

The Tools Powering Personalized Experiences

1. Dynamic Content Based on Location

   • How it works:
     • In the snack aisle, promotions for chips and soda might appear.
     • Near the checkout, ads for last-minute impulse buys like gum or candy could pop up.
   • Real-world example: A grocery store could use sensors to detect a shopper’s location and show ads for products in their immediate vicinity.

2. Demographic Targeting

   • How it works: Advanced screens use AI-powered cameras or sensors to analyze a shopper’s demographics, such as age or gender, and adjust content accordingly.
   • Ethical considerations: These systems often rely on anonymized data to protect privacy, ensuring that they analyze but don’t record.
   • Real-world example: A retail store could display promotions for backpacks and school supplies to younger shoppers, while showing travel accessories or professional bags to adult customers.

3. Weather-Triggered Campaigns

   • How it works: Digital displays integrate with real-time weather data to promote weather-appropriate products.
   • Real-world example: On a rainy day, a café might advertise hot drinks and soups, while a clothing store might highlight raincoats and umbrellas.

4. Personalized Promotions with Loyalty Data

   • How it works: Screens sync with loyalty programs to display custom offers for logged-in customers. Using loyalty cards or apps, stores can create highly specific promotions.
   • Real-world example: A shopper who frequently buys sports gear might see discounts on running shoes, while someone with a history of buying pet supplies could get a deal on pet food.

5. Gamification and Interactive Experiences

   • How it works: Screens invite customers to engage with games, quizzes, or challenges that reward participation.
   • Real-world example: A fast-food chain might feature a digital slot machine that gives discounts or freebies for high-scoring participants, giving them something to do while waiting, creating excitement and driving repeat visits.

6. Digital Coupon Kiosks

   • How it works: Digital displays allow customers to identify themselves (e.g., via phone number) and print personalized coupons based on their shopping preferences.
   • Real-world example: Interactive kiosks where shoppers can browse available coupons for their preferred products and print a consolidated sheet to use at checkout.

7. Smart Recipe Integration

   • How it works: Digital displays allow customers to identify themselves and access personalized recipe recommendations with corresponding coupons.
   • Real-world example: A screen linked to a meal kit service like Hello Fresh could let users select recipes and print coupons for the corresponding ingredients. This bridges the gap between online meal planning and in-store shopping.

Taking It to the Next Level: AI and AR

Retailers are also experimenting with more advanced tools to deepen personalization:

• Augmented Reality (AR): Try-before-you-buy experiences are becoming popular. Customers can virtually try on clothes, makeup, or accessories without stepping into a fitting room.
• Artificial Intelligence (AI): Virtual assistants embedded in digital screens can guide customers to products, check stock, or even suggest outfits based on current trends or their purchase history. This eliminates common frustrations like searching for store employees to check inventory - customers can simply interact with a virtual assistant that has immediate access to stock information.

Balancing Personalization and Privacy

While personalized experiences are compelling, they also raise ethical questions about data collection and privacy. To strike the right balance, retailers must:

• Be transparent about data usage.
• Avoid overly invasive methods.
• Use anonymized or opt-in data where possible.
• Use technology that analyzes without recording. Modern LIDAR sensors can track customer movement and interaction patterns throughout the store - like time spent viewing products or engaging with screens - without capturing video footage. This provides valuable analytics while maintaining customer privacy.

The Explosion of Content Demands

Digital signage has revolutionized the in-store experience, but its appetite for fresh, engaging content is relentless. Unlike static displays, today’s screens require dynamic, ever-changing content tailored to specific audiences, locations, and moments. This creates a complex landscape for retailers:

• Format diversity: Videos, animations, AR overlays, and more are essential to captivate audiences across a range of devices.
• Localization and personalization: Content must reflect regional differences while targeting individual shoppers with relevant promotions.
• Real-time updates: Screens now display time-sensitive campaigns triggered by factors like inventory levels, weather, or time of day.

Meeting these demands requires an intricate choreography of creativity, technology, and strategy. A single campaign may involve:

• Videos for large displays.
• Animations for mid-sized screens.
• Static promos for smaller devices.
• Real-time text updates for shelf-edge labels.

When scaled across multiple stores and regions, this quickly becomes a mammoth challenge. Think about it: you can run different promotions every day, customize them based on weather, location, which part of the store someone's in, their demographics—and that's just the beginning. All of this requires unique content. We often discuss the challenges of creating content for different marketing channels—publishing on Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, creating email campaigns, producing YouTube videos, and so on. That alone is demanding enough. Now imagine the retail environment: you're creating content for different screens, locations, demographics, price points, regions, and viewing angles. The sheer volume of content needed is staggering.

The Challenges of Managing Complexity

The push for personalized, omnichannel storytelling has transformed content into a cornerstone of retail strategy. However, this transformation also introduces new complexities:

• Volume and Quality: Balancing the need for vast quantities of content with consistent quality is a persistent struggle. Poorly coordinated efforts risk brand inconsistencies, repetitive messaging, or missed engagement opportunities.
• Cross-Channel Integration: Digital signage doesn’t stand alone—it’s part of a larger ecosystem. Retailers must align their in-store content with online offers, email campaigns, and social media to deliver a seamless customer experience.
• Continuous Updates: Unlike static campaigns, digital signage content demands constant iteration, from daily price updates to event-driven promotions.

The Role of Automation and Collaboration

To meet these demands without overwhelming creative teams, automation and streamlined collaboration are key:

• Dynamic templates: Reusable designs adapt to changes in text, visuals, or prices, saving time while maintaining consistency.
• Content scheduling: Automated rollouts ensure content appears at the right time and place across all locations.
• Integrated data feeds: Real-time updates powered by product data, weather, or trends allow content to stay relevant without manual intervention.
• Centralized Digital Asset Management: A unified content repository allows anyone from any location to access, update and deploy content to their store's screens while maintaining brand consistency. This eliminates the need for multiple storage systems across different shops and brands.
• Centralized tools: Platforms that unify version control, and collaboration streamline workflows through metadata automation, multi-format viewing, and real-time collaboration. Features include customizable workflows, multi-channel support, version tracking, automated file conversion, secure sharing, analytics, data source integration, and more.
• Brand Consistency: Managing local content creation requires careful attention to brand consistency through approval workflows. Consider this scenario: A store employee needs to push branded content to their local screens. They might take existing content, modify it for their specific needs, and want to publish it immediately. This raises an important question: Should employees have direct publishing access, or should regional managers and stakeholders review and approve content first? Or can you introduce automation to avoid mistakes by making it easy to deliver best practices in branded content?
• Workflow automation streamlines the content creation process by automatically handling format requirements, dimensions, fonts, colors, and branding - eliminating the need to train store staff on complex technical details
• The automated system can verify that all content meets brand standards and specifications before deployment, reducing errors and ensuring consistency across all digital displays
• Through automation, local store managers can easily update and deploy content using templates and pre-approved assets without needing specialized design skills or technical knowledge
• The system can automatically adapt content for different screen sizes and formats, making it simple to reuse content across various digital display types while maintaining quality and brand standards

By embracing these tools, retailers can transform chaos into opportunity, allowing their teams to focus on creativity and strategy rather than repetitive tasks.

The Big Picture

Retailers who treat content as the lifeblood of their digital signage strategy are poised to thrive in this new landscape. Personalized, real-time content isn’t just about keeping screens full—it’s about delivering value and creating memorable experiences for customers. The brands that succeed will blend automation with artistry, ensuring every screen tells a compelling story that resonates with its audience.

Conclusion

Digital signage is transforming the retail experience, reshaping how customers interact with brands in physical spaces. It’s no longer just about displaying information; it’s about creating dynamic, personalized, and immersive experiences that drive engagement and sales.

But as powerful as these screens are, they don’t operate in isolation. Behind every promotion, personalized ad, or interactive display is an intricate web of content creation, management, and deployment. This growing demand for high-quality, localized, and constantly updated content is a challenge that retailers can’t afford to ignore.

That’s where the right tools come in. By centralizing creative operations, automating workflows, and empowering teams to collaborate seamlessly, retailers can meet the demands of digital signage without losing sight of quality or consistency. More importantly, they can deliver the kind of experiences that customers expect: tailored, relevant, and effortlessly engaging.

As screens become smarter, more affordable, and more pervasive, the gap between online and in-store experiences is rapidly closing. The future of retail will blur these lines entirely, creating a seamless journey where personalization is the norm and every screen feels like it was meant just for you.

Retailers who embrace this shift—and equip themselves with the right systems to manage it—will be the ones leading the way. Because in this era of endless screens, it’s not just the technology that sets you apart. It’s the story you tell. And we’re here to help you tell it.