We received an email about an exclusive report titled Retail digital signage ROI: Finding the breaking point compiled by the editors of Retail Customer Experience magazine.

The blurb on the website describes the report as the following:

“It’s clear that digital signage has a positive impact on retail sales — but just how much of one is a matter of debate. Numerous studies have been commissioned and published, trying to determine the net effect dynamic signage will have on the average store’s sales.

In this report, we aim to provide a thumbnail estimate of that break-even point, for various types of retail. To do this, we created a fictional shopping center retailer, complete with a screen layout floor plan. We took that floor plan to 10 leading digital signage providers and had them price out a signage program. We averaged those numbers together, and then compared them to an average of the sales uplift figures and the ultimate impact on revenue.

You’ll see the assumptions we used, the prices we received and the results that follow when they’re all put together.

• Learn about the costs – and the benefits – of deploying digital signage in your retail space.
• Get a grip on ROI with actual numbers provided by actual digital signage vendors
• How much does your store stand to profit over time as a result of deploying screens?
  • Pages of exclusive graphs tell the story.
• Make the case for adding digital signage with research-based sales-lift data.
• Gain insight into how digital signage works, and what specific benefits it brings, to specific retailer types.”

The report costs US$49 for non-members of the Digital Signage Association and US$39 for members. The report can be purchased here, so if you’re interested to find out what the results of the case study was, don’t hesitate to buy the report.

Category: Digital Signage Blog Info, Digital Signage Blog News

Like every other year, Cebit Australia will be held in the Sydney Convention & Exhibition Centre, Darling Harbour Australia from the 20th May to the 22 May 2008.

We have received quite a number of invites and we certainly do hope to attend this event, but this all depends whether time permits as we are currently working on several projects that needs to be completed on time. If we do have the time to attend, we’ll definitely write a short blog entry about what we’ve seen as we are very interested to see what new digital signage technologies have emerged since we last visited this major IT event.

Category: Digital Signage Blog Events, Digital Signage Blog News

With the increasing popularity of digital signage and the Internet, the likelihood of your digital signage system being hacked or compromised is increasingly high.

To minimise and mitigate this risk, there are several technical security points to consider when implementing your digital signage solution:

• Avoid using the default ports for common application protocols such as FTP (port 21) or web (80).
• Don’t use common passwords such as “password” and “test”. Instead use passwords with numbers, and case sensitive characters which are harder for Brute Force password software tools to break and hack.
• Rename or disable common login accounts. For example, in the Windows environment rename the “administrator” and “guest” accounts. For Unix, rename the “root” account.
• Install Antivirus and Firewall software such as Trend Micro on your digital signage solution. This will prevent viruses and Trojans from getting into your digital signage network.
• Ensure your Operating System, whether it’s Unix or Microsoft Windows has the latest software updates. There is a considerable amount of security vulnerabilities out there.
• Physically locate your devices in a secure environment e.g. in a rack or a communications cabinet.
• For wireless connectivity to your network, disable the wireless SSID and use the latest encryption methods such as WPA.
• Don’t just use HTTP to manage or transmit files – this is an unsecured protocol and the login and password is transmitted using clear text. Use HTTPS, with at least 128 bit encryption.
• If you have to manage multiple sites, don’t purely connect the digital signage players to the Internet, but instead setup VPNs (Virtual Private Network).

As more businesses are connecting their digital signage players to the Internet, these units will eventually be faced with many security issues and it will be up to the IT department to control, monitor and ensure their clients investment is secure.
As a final note, just remember that any device that is networked is hackable to some extent or another.

We would love to hear whether your digital signage solution has ever been hacked into or what security measures you are implementing in your digital signage solution.

To discuss this topic further, visit our digital signage forum entry.

Category: Digital Signage Blog Info, Digital Signage Blog News

Almost 8 out of 10 people I talk to have the perception that “digital signage” is about digital advertising of some sort (promotional, educational, informational, etc) on large screens. The other 2 either have not heard about it, don’t know what it is, or are part of the minority that have come across it in one way or another and understand its application.

Earlier on I read an article about the future of media – broadcast transmitted and content delivered by the Internet. It’s becoming a trend amongst the online community now, that the TV show aired last night is readily available the next day on some video sharing network.  Take YouTube for example, it’s all about the experience that online audiences get when they watch a video, comment on it, share it, embed it, or even blog about it.

In digital signage terms, this translates to customer experience. Whether it be in-store advertising or renting your space to media agencies, let’s get our head around the idea of digital signage being a profit making network, and look at it from an audience point of view. Is your focus on delivering your products visually to your customers, or perhaps it could be trying to make money out of your ad space? Or is your focus on ways to keep your customers coming back again and again for an experience they wish to re-live? Over time, which strategy (or strategies) will last the longest?

Whether or not the results of my personal survey (above) are a good thing (or bad), the initial impression that customers (and businesses) have formed in their heads about digital signage will determine its application. Without doubt digital signage is a growing industry with many influences, it will be interesting to see if the same frame of mind about digital signage would exist over the course of its growth.

Category: Digital Signage Blog Info, Digital Signage Blog News