Why Interactive Touchscreens Are So Effective for Retail

Curious about why touchscreens are such a big deal for retail at the moment?

Interactive touchscreen experiences are transforming the retail market – and with good reason! They’ve managed to strike an ideal balance between shopping in a physical store, and having access to all the right information on a product – at your fingertips.

So much so, that a retail touch screen can actually help boost consumer spending by as much as 30%, and can even increase footfall to high street stores that have them on display.

If you’re wondering what else makes interactive touchscreens so effective for retail, look no further. As touchscreen specialists, we’ve highlighted the biggest factors to take into consideration below with some great examples.

1. Exceed all expectations

Interactive touchscreens are the perfect way to enhance your customers’ experience in your shop, and help make their visit feel far more fun and engaging. The introduction of a convenient retail touch screen monitor to find products that they’ve heard about or are unsure of can be really helpful and can even allow them to find things quicker.

Is the product they need currently out of stock? Why not give them the opportunity to order it in-store to pick up at a later date? All of these little things add up to create an all-round much better experience for your customers.

Why is this important?

Delighted customers should be what we all aim for. If you make things as easy as possible and exceed their expectations, they’ll appreciate it – and they’ll remember you the next time they go shopping. And the next time… and the next time!

2. Keep customers engaged longer

Having something as fun and different as an interactive touchscreen can increase the time customers spend in store. Perhaps they end up browsing for longer, and noticing items that they might not have thought about purchasing otherwise.

You can also include lots of additional fun and innovative features to your touch screen retail display, such as object recognition, 3D models and games to keep people on their toes and attract plenty of interest.

Why is this important?

Your customers won’t only be more engaged with your products; they’ll also be more engaged with your brand. And more time in your shop means they’ll have more opportunities to make purchases – potentially bringing a significant boost to sales.

3. Educate your customers

Many high street purchases are impulse buys. For instance, have you ever walked into a shop to browse some shoes or trainers? Maybe you were just looking, but then something utterly fabulous caught your eye and you were suddenly very tempted to make a purchase.

Being an impulse buy, you hadn’t been given the chance to research the products at home, but imagine if there was an interactive retail touch screen monitor that contained all the information you needed to make a more informed decision – again, right at your fingertips.

Why is this important?

These days, customers like to do their own research, and know more what they’re buying into. This tends to become more prominent the bigger the purchase, although even with things like make-up there are plenty of conscious shoppers out there who want to avoid things like animal testing.

4. Become a talking point

If you introduce something super cool into your store that really gets shoppers’ attention, they’ll share it with their friends. You can encourage this by introducing hashtags for Twitter and Instagram, so people can start snapping away on their phones and interacting with your experience.

One great example of this is a Thread Screen by US retail giant Forever 21. They went to a great deal of trouble to make something interactive and unique involving 6,400 spools of thread, so that  anyone who used the #F21ThreadScreen hashtag was able to see their selfie copied onto thread via a giant screen – all in real time!

Why is this important?

Getting people talking and sharing is one of the best forms of free promotion you can get, and it helps encourage more people to come on down and find out what all the fuss is about. So, don’t be afraid to use your imagination and do something that little bit different with your touch screen retail display!

5. They’ll come back for more

If you give your customers a seamless, enjoyable experience that enhances their shopping trip and makes their lives easier in some way, they won’t forget it. In fact, they’ll becoming returning customers and they’ll favour your approach over more traditional experiences where they have to search the racks or ask for help every time they’re looking for something specific.

Why is this important?

There’s a lot to be said for loyal, repeat customers who prefer to spend their money with you. They might even recommend you to friends, and soon enough you’ll see… that’s right; a boost in sales!

6. Stand out from the crowd

Remember, it’s all about creating an experience that puts you head and shoulders above the competition. If you can establish yourself as an innovative brand that thinks outside the box and is prepared to offer something fun and unique that adds another dimension to your customers’ shopping experience, then there’s virtually no limit to what you can do with a retail touch screen.

Why is this important?

If you can get people to see you as a cut above the rest, you’ll be the first place they turn to when they need something. Again, use your imagination and create something that truly delivers the best shopping experience they can imagine, and you’ll go far.

Advice from the touchscreen specialists

Do you like the appeal of an interactive touchscreen experience for your retail chain or outlet? If so, we’d recommend seeking out a touchscreen developer or interactive agency who specialise in creating experiences (as opposed to just hardware) that are tailored to customers and designed to enhance their experience – be it in retail, a public space, or as part of a sales suite.

Not sure where to start? We’ve outlined some questions in our recent blog to help you get started. Any good developer or agency should be happy to listen to your goals and talk you through your options – even if it’s just to give you some free, impartial advice. You should also be able to see previous examples of their work.

TIP: Wondering what might be possible with interactive touchscreens for your retail store? Here are some amazing examples via Trend Hunter.

Develop your touch screen retail display

Interactive touchscreen experiences are transforming many industries, with the uptake set to soar due to the retail market catching onto their many amazing benefits. So, if you want to offer an innovative, unique and enhanced shopping experience for your customers, look no further than a retail touch screen monitor.

There are so many ways customers can interact with touchscreens, so really the only limit is your imagination. As long as you’re enriching their shopping experience with you and somehow making their lives easier, you’ll be onto a surefire winner! Add engaging features such as games, stories or object recognition, and there’s no stopping you.

To get started, contact the expert team at POPcomms today. Get in touch today on +44 (0)117 329 1712 or hello@popcomms.com and we’ll talk you through your options.