Why the Right Signage Is Crucial for Converting Customers

Signage is one of the few opportunities that retailers have to engage with their customers in-store. It is the silent salesperson that guides the customer, answers questions, helps them discover new products, removes barriers to decision-making, identifies offers and campaigns, and ultimately influences their purchasing decisions.

E-commerce is now challenging traditional stores to remain competitive, profitable, and relevant. The strongest brands in retail are those that offer customers a tangible difference, unique experiences, and inspiration.

When a customer is in your store, there are 5 main areas where retailers engage and create an experience with their customers:

There are many claims about the level of purchase decisions made in-store (from 60% to 82%). The most well-known would probably be the POPAI 2014 study which suggests that "82% of all purchase decisions are made in-store".

Other reports suggest that globally, nearly 30% of customers wait until they are in the store to decide which product to buy, and 10% of customers buy a different product than what they had planned to buy. Additionally, another 10% of customers who intended to buy will instead leave the store empty-handed.

Without being sure of the actual statistics, we can all accept that there is a lot of decision-making about purchases happening inside the store. Being able to influence customers' purchase decisions inside the store can increase sales.

Signage is the best way to influence customers' purchase decisions, and this is made possible in several ways:

Customers love the feeling of buying an item that has a really good offer. Offers have a well-documented ability to create impulse purchases by triggering this very primitive response, either through unplanned purchases or by buying larger volumes.

However, having amazing offers is not enough if they are not clearly marketed to the customer. The value of the offer should be understandable at first glance, and the customer should not have to rely on mentally calculating the value or savings they get from an offer.

Many sale signs are only effective when customers take the time to study the available offer products they already planned to buy. If a sale sign only focuses on the special price, it is only effective if the customer knows (by heart) the regular price for a product and makes the quick mental calculation. This type of price-based ticket is then only effective on products that customers are very familiar with the normal price, usually just everyday items.

One of the advantages that traditional stores have is being able to create an environment where customers can window shop and discover new products.

It becomes even more important for retailers to help improve and promote such an in-store experience. With a traditional store, customers have the opportunity to explore the store and take in thousands of products with just a glance, making the experience more natural and organic.

Signs that can highlight new products and variants can help promote a stronger shopping experience that encourages customers to find inspiration, information, and a WOW experience that cannot be replicated through an e-commerce site. This competitive advantage has the potential to become a key ingredient in creating an even stronger customer experience in the physical store.

Cross merchandising is a strategy that increases sales by placing complementary products next to each other inside the store. There are many classic examples of cross-merchandising, such as placing soft drinks next to snacks. The idea behind the strategy is simple: If customers are looking for one of these products, they may also need the other – even if they don't know it until they see the product on the shelf.

This type of marketing is incredibly common in grocery stores, but any retailer can use this strategy to increase sales. Cross-merchandising has quietly exploded online because the digital platform is a perfect medium for easily showing "Others also bought this" and bundle offers.

In stores, however, there are limitations to how many products you can physically place next to each other to take advantage of this effect.

This is where signage can play an incredibly important role and expand the possibilities for cross-merchandising. In some ways, signage can even be a more effective method for cross-promotion because retailers can be more explicit about creating relationships in customers' minds and take advantage of hundreds or even thousands of opportunities.

But even more importantly, the decisions about which products to cross-merchandise can be data-driven through understanding historical purchasing patterns. By using this historical data, the creation of signs can be largely automated and does not require constant changes to product placement on the shelf.

When you understand customers' goals, you can create cross-merchandising content, and when customers can relate to the content, they will be more likely to be convinced to make a purchase.

Understanding and responding to customers' motivations is crucial for providing them with the information they need to make a purchase decision.

When we look at the different criteria that customers base their purchase decision on, these are the main ones:

A majority of customers always shop and will always shop with a focus on value. Signage should provide clear information about promotions and low prices so that the customer understands the value at first glance. Traditional price-based signs can hide and distort the real value in the store. Clear highlighting of fantastic offers can create a perception of value across the entire store, not just for individual products.

Many customers are short on time, which means they are looking for ideas that will make their lives easier (for example, meal ideas) or reduce time spent in the store. Many customers enter a store expecting to be inspired. Signs can be used in a variety of ways to inspire, from promoting a feeling to suggesting a recipe. Digital signs are a perfect medium for this purpose thanks to their ability to create content that comes to life.

Many factors influence the customer's decision to buy healthy products, including how those products were produced. Research shows that more and more regular customers are turning to local, healthy, natural, organic, vegetarian, and vegan products.

In addition to a general awareness of health products, there is also an increasing number of customers looking for allergy-related products such as gluten-free, dairy-free, and allergy-friendly products.

Stores that make the shopping experience easier and faster by clearly indicating healthy alternatives, allergens, and dietary preferences with well-designed signs and labels will create a desirable experience for customers.

Stores have traditionally placed similar themed products together (for example, a gluten-free section), and this is gradually becoming more difficult as products can belong to multiple categories (GF, vegetarian, and organic certified). The only way to organize the products offered in the store is through clear and well-designed signage.

Local, independent, organically certified, supply chain, free-range, recycling, and even vegan choices are often ethical choices that influence the customer's decision.

The purchase of ethical products with high awareness and broad appeal, such as organically certified and locally produced goods, is increasing along with people's desire to minimize their impact on the environment.

What is interesting is that people will make what they believe are "better" choices in one area of their lives but not necessarily in another. These are individual issues and therefore there is no universal solution.

All information that can be clearly displayed for the customer in a uniform and consistent format will help them discover the products that are important to them. If you rely on product packaging to inform the customer, you miss many opportunities to highlight these products.

Customers have slowly begun to demand a new store experience, moving away from the traditional store where the focus is on products with minimal store experience.

Instead, customers are seeking a more engaging and inspiring experience. The younger generation is different from previous generations, preferring new brands, especially in food, and they are generally more willing to pay for more special things and experiences (including everyday food); for everything else, they seek value.

Signage can play an incredibly large role in the experience a customer has in-store.