digital out of home
due to the supplementary advertising
revenue stream. The stand alone ‘bang
up’ screen installations will likely be
replaced by a few standardised service
providers, who cleverly package and
service the hardware and software
optimised for the digitisation of the
retail environment. Content distribution
and advertising revenue become one of
many use cases for activating customer
data, as the wider community of
marketing technology companies look
to support the new digital canvas. This is
to address the growing connected high
street use-cases such as augmented
reality and personalised beacon
content.
The bricks and mortar media owner
Retailers utilising digital screens in-store
for content will be able to segment a
portion of screen time to be sold to
advertisers looking to target those
audiences. Retailers will be able to
set the dial controlling the frequency
of advertising, and the subset of
advertising brands and content relevant
or acceptable for shoppers. As way
of hypothetical example, the 900 plus
UK Starbucks coffee shops attracting
audiences with high dwell time located
in close proximity to high streets, can
attract revenue stream opportunities
from complementary brands such as
Apple (iBooks), SecretEscapes (holiday
packages). This can even include local
retailers or community organisations
as automation lowers the cost of entry
for SME buyers. Iterate through a
few more ‘innovation cycles’, and the
screen installations, once the domain
of flagship stores such as on Oxford
Street, will have proliferated. In part
20 KIOSK solutions
Out of home as retail
Cycle even further forward to when
mobile payments, drone delivery
showrooming and others, take a
mainstream foothold, does the identity
of the retail environment become
challenged? Is it conceivable that real
time activation of consumer data could
be leveraged by brands to ‘optimise’ the
face of the high street itself? Does the
permanent long lease model of bricks
and mortar become less prohibitive
for digital retailers to gain high street
presence if virtual shelf space or
digitised retail showrooms were made
available for programmatic bidding?
Does this all sound far-fetched? Perhaps,
but remember ten years ago the
smartphone didn't exist.
The first steps
The good news for retailers is that
even today the tools are available to
dip the toe in the water with out of
home. Trading platforms, like ours,
are in the process of automating and
democratising access to the media, and
enabling brands to activate their rich
customer data to connect the dots in the
customer journey. As retailers navigate
their way through an increasingly
digitised world they should pay close
attention to developments in digital out
of home, as it evolves to link the digital
and physical world. n