Business owners are always on the look out for the next thing that will give them an edge over competitors. It’s this competitive instinct that drives innovation and interest in new technology.
Right now, everyone’s attention is on AI. But if you’re a retailer, there’s something else you should be keeping an eye on.
Digital signage is a hot trend in retail. Installation of screens – everything from large-format multimedia playback consoles to on-shelf signage – is on the rise, with the global retail digital signage market forecast to grow at a compound annual rate (CAGR) of 12.7% over the next decade.
Retailers are fitting out their stores with more and more screens because they capture customer attention, boost engagement and enhance shopping journeys. Digital signage can be used for everything from running promotional content to wayfinding, information sharing to pure entertainment. It’s one of the many ways we’re seeing retail become ‘phygital’, with bricks-and-mortar spaces adding more and more digital elements. And it’s even the perfect vehicle for adding AI to your in-store customer experience, from playing AI generated videos to using AI to personalise what’s shown to the customer in front of the screen.
At Oxhoo, we see digital signage being one of the big difference-makers in retail performance in 2026. But you don’t have to just take our word for it. Just look at the numbers for how digital signage is impacting the customer experience, brand engagement, dwell time, footfall and, most crucially of all, sales.
Customer experience
With any new technology, success ultimately rests with the attitudes of users. As digital signage in stores is customer-facing, that means the shoppers themselves. And all the indications are that consumers are very much in favour:
- 47% of shoppers say digital screens positively impact their in-store shopping experience.
- 40% of customers believe digital displays enhance the experience at the point of sale.
- 70% of customers say digital signage has influenced their purchasing decisions.
Brand engagement
Visual media is known to grab attention and improve retention of information. It’s one of the reasons why there is so much hype around video content for online business channels. With digital signage, retailers can bring the same benefits into their stores. Many are already reporting the benefits:
- 64% of retailers that have adopted digital signage say they have seen an uplift in brand engagement.
- Digital displays get four times as many views as static displays. And because of the improved retention, information shared on digital signs has a recall rate of 83%, nearly double that of traditional advertising.
Footfall and dwell time
Grabbing people’s attention in store is not just beneficial for improving brand recognition and engagement. Anything that gets people spending more time in your shop is good news, because it increases the likelihood of them seeing something they like and deciding to buy. Research shows digital signage can do this. And when used in the right places (e.g. shop windows), it even encourages more people to come into the store in the first place.
- According to this source, the presence of digital screens can increase in-store dwell time by 30%.
- Some retailers have reported increases in daily footfall of up to 40% after installing digital displays in their windows.
Sales
Finally, the real proof of success for any technology in a business is its impact on the bottom line. The numbers paint the right picture for digital signage in retail here, too. One comprehensive four-year study that examined 237 in-store promotional campaigns across a range of media concluded that the use of digital signage delivers an 8.1% uplift in saleson average.
Other sources point to considerably larger impacts in specific areas. For example, this source reports that 80% of retailers that introduce digital signage see a 33% boost in sales, mostly associated with impulse purchases. While this source suggests the same increase in sales of promoted items when they are marketed using digital displays.
As you can see, the case for digital signage’s positive impact in retail is compelling.