In-store digital marketing and POS - the blurring line

In-store digital marketing and POS - the blurring line

The consumer experience is an integral part of successful retailing and in order to deliver the best possible experience to shoppers, retailers need to pay close attention to shifts in consumer habits as well as the demands of modern shoppers.

Modern consumers demand digital solutions, not only in their personal lives, but increasingly in the retail space. In order to meet these needs retailers need to apply the latest digital technologies to enable delivery and ensure a significant return on investment in all business fronts, from POS to in-store marketing.

Digital technology makes content generation and delivery easier and more cost effective in the long run. In this environment a retailer’s POS can perform its core function of checking out goods and handling money, with the added benefit of facilitating the messages displayed on digital signs in-store.

In other words, digital POS systems that are linked to in-store digital signage can deliver the right message to the right shoppers at the right time.

This is made possible because the POS systems of today can make intelligent calculations and predictions based on the inventory stored in their memory. If flip-flops in the men’s shoe department are low on stock, the in-store digital signage can advertise a discount to move this remaining stock, making space for new arrivals. All these calculations are done through the POS system.

Adding to complexity, a large department store would require a more sophisticated POS system to manage its loyalty card programme.

Here, the check-out points might be integrated with the retailer’s digital signage, to advertise exclusive offers and promotions to card holders. If card holders of the same age shop at the same time each day, the retailer can advertise products that are best suited to them, on its digital signage.

HP delivers a comprehensive solution designed to ensure that the integration between POS hardware easily integrates with digital signage. What is vitally important is that the hardware is built on an open platforms, allowing a retailer and software developers to tailor-make the systems to meet its individual needs; a large department store will have vastly different POS requirements to the exclusive shoe boutique but still needs to deliver a cutting edge experience to the consumer.

Integrating these functions in a single digital solution is key to meeting the demands of modern shoppers and ensuring a good return on investment for retailers.

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