The future is touchless and digital. And while this trend started to shape a while ago, today with the COVID-19 crisis the transformation is accelerated. And digital signage is at the heart of it saving businesses around the world.
It has been a brutal time for the world’s economy. Massive employee furloughs, a global recession, healthcare catastrophe. The negative effects of the coronavirus pandemic keep mercilessly ravaging the countries around the world. And not even the brightest analysts can see the end of it. Political instability, the highly contagious character of the virus and the absence of the vaccine make things more complicated.
It is in this environment that businesses find themselves nowadays. But the show must go on as every crisis is an opportunity to get better and adapt.
“Businesses that have change ingrained in their culture are likely to do better in uncertain times”
Felix Arndt for The Conversation article about coronavirus disruption.
Digitalization is inevitable and we at Kitcast have been preaching it from the day one. Those businesses that had gone digital before the COVID-19 crisis were in a much better position to adapt to the new normal than those who hadn’t. If you can take something positive out of the crisis, coronavirus has catalyzed the digitalization process across the world. And digital signage is at the heart of it. Now it proves to be more important than ever before.
Digital signage and social distancing
Social distancing is at the core of the WHO advice on battling the novel coronavirus pandemic. What that means on the state regulation level is that many countries have adopted the advice as an obligatory policy that the businesses must abide by. Digital signage has always had a mission to better organize human interaction. And it has all the power to do so and all the know-how to do it effectively.
In order to stay open and to function businesses should implement measures that make social distancing possible. Using screens is a natural and highly efficient way to do so. By installing digital displays companies have an opportunity to control the flow of people through communication messages.
One of the most important features of digital signage is its queue-managing possibilities. Businesses of all scales can use screen technology to make sure that the norms of social distancing are followed.
As the signage is an ultimate communicational tool, the queue management can be easily combined with the display of important announcements and PSAs. All of it can create an environment inside that abides by all the coronavirus restrictive rules and makes sure that business stays open and running.
When it comes to the rapid dissemination of information, digital signage has no rivals. Screens are the best current way to spread important messages on any scale in a matter of seconds. Which in turn is a perfect feature for businesses to implement during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic to minimize the negative impact and slow the spread of the virus.
Digital signage and sales in COVID-19 times
Making sales and competing in the tight markets was hard before the crisis. Coronavirus made everything more complicated adding even more challenges for businesses of all sizes and scales. Many closed under the strain of losses, others adapted going fully online, digitizing and catching the right current of sales. Digital signage is extremely important at the moment as it is both a powerful sales-driver and an efficient money-saver. But how do you actually make sales with it?
It’s important to understand that the screen technology per se doesn’t magically bring sales. The right application does. In order to maximize the sale potential of digital signage, you should make sure that the content you’re showing is great, engaging and is displayed at the right time and to the right audience. Check out our articles about the best practices of using digital signage for sales, it will help you understand how screen technology can be used effectively.
In the era where the gathering of people inside is risky, outdoor becomes the main arena of the attention fight for businesses. Also, a primary sales ground. Outdoor digital signage is on the rise and the quicker you adapt to the changing world, the better your business will be equipped to survive the pandemic and win in a long term.
Practically speaking, outdoor digital signage lets your business communicate directly with your customer through promotional content that has great engagement rates, better sales potential (compared to the static one) and, most importantly, safe execution where you don’t have to worry about the virus spread. If you own a brick-and-mortar store, outdoor signage can be a lifesaver. You can use it to interact with customers, promote special deals and share the updates.
Going touchless with digital signage
Why digital signage is a perfect pick for a COVID-19 business landscape? Because it is an instant attention-grabber and it doesn’t require any touch.
As we all know, such an inherent human feature as touch has become the novel coronavirus’s biggest ally in infecting millions. Digital signage combined with the right software offers a touchless alternative to almost any content-based activity for your business. Whether it’s a restaurant menu, wayfinding information, a PSA board, screens are vital for an effective fight against COVID-19.
And not only going touchless is a great measure during an ongoing pandemic, but also it is a natural thing to do to power-up your business as many studies suggest that it’s the way the world economies are going and the virus just made it quicker for the companies to adopt.
While unfortunately, the fight against the novel coronavirus may be far from a winning phase, adapting to a new normal is a way for businesses to survive these hard times. And digital signage is at the core of this process. Screen technology is a tool that companies should use to recover from the hardships and, when applied in the right way, it has all the possibilities to minimize the coronavirus-brought losses and maximize sales.
