Retail Systems Research report quantifies value of digital signage networks

Last month, analyst firm Retail Systems Research released a report titled “The Business Case for Retail Media Networks,” authored by managing partner Nikki Baird, that seeks to provide proof that retail media networks are providing the ROI that justifies the costly hardware and overall risk of this type of expenditure.

Although the report notes soft benefits of digital networks in the areas of employee training, customer satisfaction and ad revenue, the focus is largely on concrete percentages and hard numbers illustrating significant financial gains. The report details a business case model supported by several retail interviewees that documented generation of an additional 2 percent of revenue through the use of a retail media network.

The firm said the timing was right for this type of study because, on one hand, there is more than three years worth of case studies, rollouts and data now available, but no one has yet stepped forward to calculate and measure the impact of these initiatives. Without tangible proof of retail media networks’ positive impact, there currently exists too much doubt among “retailers who lack a natural base of advertisers to fund a network, and face the daunting prospect of installing thousands of dollars of equipment in each and every store,” the report says.

The report’s hypothetical business case focuses on retailers with more than 500 store locations and is shaped by volunteer retail practitioners who review and comment on the business case to identify the aspects of the case that are too optimistic and the elements that are too conservative. Three retailers were interviewed as a review panel for the report — two anonymous retailers and Malcolm Houser, COO of The UPS Store Canada. Houser corroborates the study’s findings with the results in his retail outlets — an increase of more than 2.5 percent in revenue in UPS stores with digital signage.

For more information, visit www.retailsystemsresearch.com/_document/summary/324 and www.realdigitalmedia.com.