You can’t walk by a single mall or street in a major American city without seeing a bright LED sign announcing a sale or showing an ad for a new product.
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That’s one of the reasons that the digital signage market is expected to grow by 8.1% annually till 2030, to a whopping $45 billion.
But here’s an even more shocking statistic: 20% of this growth is being driven by just one industry – the retail segment!
In fact, 80% of retailers have said that they plan to increase their investment in digital signage in 2025.
So, whether you’re a part of this 80% and need to know how you should go about implementing digital signs into your business, or belong to the other 20% and want to find out what all the hype is about, you’ve come to the right place!
In this blog, I’ll tell you everything you need to know about retail indoor LED signage.
Let’s dive in!
Retail Digital Signage: Table of Contents
- What is Retail Digital Signage?
- Types of Retail Digital Signage
- Why Should You Use Digital Signage for Your Retail Store?
- Key Trends in Retail Digital Signage
- Get Custom Retail Digital Signage from Elegant Lightings
- Retail Digital Signage: FAQs
What is Retail Digital Signage?
Retail digital signage refers to dynamic LCD/LED screens that display multimedia content like ads, product videos, promotions, or inventory information, in or near stores.
They are the evolution of the old, static signs and printed posters.
While in-store digital signage has been around since the 1990s in airport stores or high-end outlets, it has grown more powerful and affordable with improvements in technology.
Today, they have a big influence on customers’ buying decisions as well as your ability to effectively communicate your sales offers and/or new products to your customers!
Key Components of Retail Digital Signage
Digital signage for retail stores has three main components:
- LED Screens: Specially designed indoor LED signage optimized for medium ambient brightness.
- Content Management System: Also called a CMS, this is the piece of software that helps you manage the visuals you want to display.
- Interactive Features: One of the hallmarks of retail digital signage is the integration of features like touchscreens, QR codes, and gesture control for engagement.
As you can see, retail digital signage solutions offer you everything you need to display, update, and control videos, images, and/or product information with just a few clicks on a computer.
Difference Between Traditional and Digital Signage
Let me quickly walk you through the most important differences between traditional and digital signage:
| Feature | Traditional Signage | Digital Signage |
| Updates | Manual reprints | Real-time remote updates |
| Cost | High (printing/labor) | Lower long-term costs |
| Engagement | Static | Dynamic (videos, animations) |
| Flexibility | Fixed messages | Context-aware (time/audience) |
As you can see, digital signage for retail stores can help you deploy dynamic content while saving more on long-term costs and increasing your revenue in the meantime!
Types of Retail Digital Signage
Today, retail digital signage isn’t just limited to showing product ads or displaying sales information. There are different types of signs for different purposes:
1. Shelf Displays
Shelf displays help you show real-time pricing, promotions, and details for different products. You can commonly find them on top of the different shelves, hence the name – shelf displays.
Unlike those plain old printed shelf signs that we’ve become used to, these LED retail shelf displays can be integrated into your inventory and billing system.
This way, it’ll show the customers how much of the product is left, and how soon it could run out!
2. Digital Menu Boards
Digital menu boards are very popular with retail food outlets. They’re a great replacement for the static neon digital signs that you might have seen at diners, pubs, and other F&B establishments.
The dynamic nature of indoor LED signs allows you to instantly update your menu without investing in multiple signs or maintaining a static menu throughout the day.
In fact, I’ve come across many studies that show that digital menu boards can increase sales between 8% and 37% with dynamic upselling.
3. Interactive Kiosks
Interactive kiosks are AI-driven touchscreen devices.
Till now, most of these kiosks have been used exclusively for self-checkouts. However, they’re fast being used to allow customers to ask questions, browse products, and (of course) billing & checkouts.
4. Video Walls
LED video walls are the next big thing in the evolution of digital signage. They can help you display immersive and stunning visuals to your target audience.
This makes LED walls perfect for attractive foot traffic: you can deploy extremely relevant ads depending on the time of the day, day of the week, and week of the month.
You can clearly see the impact of LED video walls in the fact that they form 27% of the entire digital signage market.
5. Wayfinding Signage
Wayfinding signage helps customers find the products they’re looking for.
This means you never have to use unattractive or fixed arrows on the floor or direct employs to waste their time guiding lost customers.
Wayfinding signage can thus help you reduce customer stress by 20% and increase their dwell time in your store!
Also Read: Ultimate Guide to LED Signage: Everything You Need to Know
Why Should You Use Digital Signage for Your Retail Store?
From the clients I’ve spoken to and case studies I’ve explored, there are four major reasons why retailers are the biggest adopters of indoor LED signage in the market:
1. Boost Sales & Engagement
The very first impact of retail digital signage is an increase in sales.
For example, retailers who implement indoor signage report a 32% increase in sales!
One reason for this is that you can quickly change your promotions and product images whenever you want.
You can also run different ads on loop, which means you can display more ads in the same space compared to static signage.
As a result of this, 83% of retailers have reported higher engagement through dynamic digital signage.
2. Reduce Wait Times
You might have often noticed long queues forming at your stores, especially during peak times of the day or months of the year.
Digital signage can help you with queue management in two ways.
First, you can use digital kiosks for self-checkouts. Thus, you’re reducing the burden on checkout points operated by your personnel, and allowing customers to be in charge of their own checkout.
Second, you can display dynamic content for your customers as they are waiting in occasional checkout queues. For instance, I’ve come across a study which suggest that customers feel that queues were 35% shorter with entertaining content to distract them.
3. Deliver Dynamic Updates
Dynamic content doesn’t just help you increase your revenue through sales.
It also cuts the cost of advertising itself.
For instance, you no longer have to print posters, banners, or menus. In fact, Starbucks reported 30% savings on menu updates after adopting digital signage.
4. Enhance Brand Image
As more and more stores and brands are crowding out physical & digital spaces, brand recall is critical to your long-term success.
In such an environment, retail digital signage solutions can help you build a tech-savvy brand image.
Additionally, switching to energy-efficient digital signage will allow you to further cut advertising costs and position your brand as an environmentally conscious enterprise.
Get Custom Retail Digital Signage from Elegant Lightings
In-store digital signage is the future of retail advertising.
Very soon, your retail store won’t be complete without a range of indoor signage, each with its own function and utility.
The only thing you need is a trusted partner who can provide you with customized retail digital signage solutions to light up your stores.
That’s where we at Elegant Lightings come in!
We specialize in delivering personalized digital signage solutions for a wide range of industries, including and especially the retail sector.
From ideation and consultation to designing, setup, and maintenance, we’re your one-stop digital signage stop!
So, reach out to us, tell us about your retail store’s layout & requirements, and we’ll get back to you with a tailored proposal for pivoting to digital signage.
Retail Digital Signage: FAQs
1. What is retail digital signage, and why is it better than traditional signs?
Retail digital signage uses LED/LCD screens to display dynamic ads, promotions, and product info in stores. Unlike printed signs, you can use them to update content remotely (no reprinting!), save on long-term costs, and boost engagement with videos/animations. Studies show that retailers who implemented digital signage increased sales by 32%!
2. How can digital signage for retail stores improve customer experience?
Retail digital signage reduces perceived wait times by 35% with entertaining content, helps customers navigate stores via wayfinding signage, and enables self-checkouts with interactive kiosks. In fact, 83% of retailers say it boosts engagement and helps attract foot traffic.
3. What types of indoor LED signage work best for retail?
The top 5 types of indoor digital signage for retail include:
- Shelf displays (real-time pricing/inventory)
- Digital menu boards (boost sales by 8–37%)
- Interactive kiosks (AI-powered browsing/checkouts)
- Video walls (27% of the digital signage market)
- Wayfinding signs (cut customer stress by 20%)
4. How hard is it to manage in-store digital signage?
It’s not hard to manage in-store digital signage. All you need is a cloud-based CMS that lets you schedule/update content from anywhere. Brands like Starbucks save 30% on menu updates by ditching print. Plus, Elegant Lightings handles setup + maintenance for you!
5. Where can I get custom retail digital signage solutions?
At Elegant Lightings, we specialize in delivering tailored LED signage for retail, such as high-impact video walls and energy-efficient shelf displays. Get a free quote to start transforming your store’s shopping experience today!
