The rapid adoption of digital signage is driving all sorts of product categories, according to the 2012 AV Market Definition and Strategy Study by InfoComm Acclaro Growth Partners – digital media players, video displays, mounts, signal management, you name it. That study also projects digital signage will drive retail integration market growth through 2015.

Integrators get it. Digital signage is a growing category and there is a natural association with the retail market. What integrators don’t necessarily know, however, is what types of digital signage applications retailers actually want and how retailers intend to use digital signage. We asked surveyed integrators to weigh in.

Kevin Goldsmith, director of digital media operations for Denver-based Ping HD, says there is a trend toward intimate solutions. He has seen increased interest in Apple iPad-sized 10-inch displays that allow for portable solutions that customers can carry with them while they’re in the store. While they’re still in relatively few locations, they are definitely an item to watch in the year to come, he says.

Goldsmith is also keen on stores that incorporate ever-changing slideshows of customers using the product they’re selling in the stores as a way to drum up new business, saying they are quite effective tools that don’t involve intrusion of the customer experience by the sales staff.

Following are some other digital signage solutions that surveyed integrators say retail clients want:

• “Attractive displays”
• “Audio presentations guided by video or touchscreen applications”
• “Flexible, global, repeatable and robust placement solutions”
• “Interactive, with gesture control”
• “Just want big TVs [now] and adding signage later”
• “Single server, multiple locations, multiple screens with unique content per location … also touch interactivity”

Check out some of the Digital Signage Expo (DSE) 2013 Apex Award Finalists.

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About the author

Tom LeBlanc - Editor-in-Chief, CI,

Tom has been covering electronics integration since 2003. Prior to being named editor-in-chief of CI, he was senior writer and managing editor of CE Pro. Before that, he wrote for the sports department of the Boston Herald. Migrating to magazines, he was a staff editor for a golf publication and an outdoor sports publication. Follow him on Twitter @leblanctom.

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