NRHA Publishes Digital Signage Research

BrightSign announced recently that the North American Retail Hardware Association (NRHA) has published the results of research comparing sales of specific products in stores that used digital signage for promotion vs. stores that did not.

For the research, the NRHA teamed with BrightSign customer, Aubuchon Hardware, a large hardware retail chain with 130 stores in the Northeast.

The results of the NRHA test confirm that product sales increase when interactive digital signage is used. Aubuchon Hardware stores saw unit sales increase by 23 percent for interior paint, 45 percent for smoke detectors and a remarkable 178 percent for air filters in stores with BrightSign-powered digital signage promoting those product specials, compared to Aubuchon stores without digital signage.

Jeff Hastings, BrightSign CEO, will be discussing the findings of the NRHA/Aubuchon research in his seminar, "Increasing Sales with In-Store Digital Signage," at the Rethink Retail Conference held during the upcoming National Hardware Show at the Las Vegas Convention Center, Tuesday, May 1, at 11-11:50 a.m. and Wednesday, May 2, at 2-2:50 p.m.

"The information we've received shows every hardware retail location using our BrightSign players reported significant sales lift," said Jeff Hastings, BrightSign CEO. "The hardware store trials clearly support the fact that highly visible product information with moving graphics and streaming content creates a measurable ROI for store management. When you see such a substantial increase in sales of
paint and air filters, certainly not what you would consider impulse buys, the impact of digital signage over printed signs becomes obvious."

For the test, Aubuchon placed endcap digital signage displays powered by BrightSign players in six stores and ran interactive presentations produced by the NRHA for one month. The sales results were then compared to six other stores in the chain that historically had similar sales for the products tested.

Unlike the many static and looping endcap signs that focus solely on price and savings, the test displays also informed shoppers about the benefits of using the product in their homes. Shoppers who wanted more information on the product could press a button located on the display to play a short project-oriented, how-to video.

BrightSign is now shipping two new interactive, solid-state digital signage controllers as part of its new line of solutions. Offering Full HD playback, the new players include the HD120, a basic interactive model with simple button interactivity and the HD1020, a networked interactive player with advanced interactivity supporting USB, serial, touch screens and mobile devices. BrightSign also offers the HD220, a networked looping player, and the HD1010w, a Wi-Fi enabled interactive player.

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