Timing of messages can increase ROI

[mjstrand]

Have you ever wondered how timing of information playback can impact your sales? Imagine a theme park with digital signage that can be configured to change messages based on the time of day or even based on overall sales of an area. If sales are down in an area, all of the screens around the park can be set up to offer an additional 10% off for a particular product in the area of the slower sales. This attracts more customers to the area to bolster sales of products nearby. Say it is a really hot day, offering a discount on hot dogs at the stand near the ice cream stand will bring people over to buy the hot dog, and since they are there, they are more likely to buy ice cream. It is kindof like the old K-Mart blue light specials used to get people into areas of the store where they had higher inventory or higher priced products. There are lots of creative twists that can be done to increase the roi. The same park may offer discounts 15 minutes before closing at a store near the exit. This can move the stragglers that way so that the employees can leave 10 to 15 minutes earlier. Ten minutes saved for many of the staff increases profitability significantly over a season.