Within retail stores and other businesses where sales are made on-site, accurate and efficient communication with the customer is crucial.  The best way to communicate the necessary information to your customers, including pricing and special promotions, is through a blend of print and digital media, including point of sale signage, shelf tags, and digital displays.  Well designed signage and displays, along with consistent messaging, will get the attention of your customers and help increase sales and profit margin. However, one thing we have all seen within retail stores is examples of bad signage. This includes handwritten signs and signs created using basic tools instead of a Media Suite for designing signage.  Not only does this signage look unattractive on the shop floor, but it is not the most effective way to communicate with your customers.  Many customers might disregard signage that looks unprofessional or doesn’t contain very much information, and these signs may not be replaced quickly enough when they become superseded by updated signage with new prices.

Problems such as poor signage and inaccurate or inefficient communication are more likely to occur when separate systems are used to manage different types of communication.  Customer communication systems tend to be designed to do one thing, meaning a business may be using one system to design and print shelf tags, a different system to manage printed point of sale signage, and maybe even a third system to create digital or multimedia signage and displays.

Some businesses may only operate with one system while being left to improvise for other types of communication with handwritten or poorly designed signage printed from a computer.  When you use handwritten or printed signage that is hastily taped to the shelf, the signage can easily become damaged or fall off.  Using proper shelf tags and signage that can be secured in place can prevent damaged and missing signage from being an issue.

Creating silos for managing different types of customer communication leads to inefficiencies and inaccuracies that will cost you time and money.  It simply doesn’t have to be this way.

Going from Handwritten Signs to Blended Communication

Customer communication is most effective when the different types of communication used within a business are consolidated into one system with consistent messaging.  Retail stores and other businesses can quickly go from using handwritten or manually produced signs to employing effective blended communications with the ECS5 Media Suite.

The ECS5 Media Suite is a cloud-based point-of-sale (POS) system that allows users to manage all their customer communications, including print signage and shelf tags, digital signage and displays, electronic shelf tags, multimedia displays, and more from a single solution.  By unifying all communications from the point of sale to the shelf edge, you can eliminate inefficiencies and establish consistent and accurate messaging between print, digital, and multimedia signage and displays.

ECS5 saves your business time and money by allowing communications to be easily managed and deployed from one system and improves the customer experience.

If your business is using separate systems to manage different types of print and digital signage, ECS5 allows you to bring them all together under one easy to use dashboard.  You can manage the following with ECS5:

• Print high impact, colorful signage: The Media Manager within the ECS5 Media Suite allows you to design signage and shelf tags and you can schedule batch printing for when a price change occurs. You can also quickly adjust the aesthetic of existing signage designs to suit your needs, for example a specific promotion period or a seasonal change.
• Integration with external systems: ECS5 can be easily integrated with your existing IT infrastructure so you can make the journey from handwritten signs to impactful print signage very quickly. This ensures that signage always displays the correct price and promotional information at the time of printing.
• Blended communication: Within ECS5, you can design and implement print signage, electronic signage, and multimedia digital displays for blended customer communications. You can update digital signage and displays immediately by sending information to the targeted screens and displays.
• Integration with planogram and inventory: ECS5 integrates with your planogram and inventory data which allows you to quickly check inventory from any connected device and automate the printing of shelf labels so only labels that are needed for current stock are printed, cutting down on waste materials.
• Mobile capabilities: Mobile devices such as smartphones, handheld devices, and mobile printers can connect to ECS5 which brings tasks like checking inventory and printing shelf tags from the back office to the shop floor, saving both time and money.
• Geo-targeting: ECS5 can be used to integrate the communications management of multiple store locations in one place, allowing you to manage multiple locations from the dashboard and geo-target pricing and promotions that are only valid for specific locations.

Benefits of In-Store Blended Print Signage and Digital Displays

As discussed above, implementing blended communications within your business with a combination of impactful print signage, electronic and digital signage, and multimedia displays is the best way to drive customer engagement which increases your sales and profit margin.  With ECS5, you can quickly pivot from using handwritten and manually created signs to implementing impactful paper, digital and multimedia signage and eliminating inaccuracies and inefficiencies.

Blending communication is an effective marketing strategy as supplementing paper signage with multimedia displays has been shown to uplift sales.  However, electronic and multimedia signage should be used in areas where it can be most effective.  Multimedia displays in windows or near entrances can help bring customers in the door and these displays can be used to draw attention to products that are part of a special promotion.  Effective multimedia displays near the registers can also encourage last-minute impulse buys while customers are waiting to check out. Printed shelf edge labeling can often be more impactful as it is more colorful and can include information that cannot be displayed on electronic shelf labels such as high-quality product images and brand logos.

Efficient Print Retail Signage

The ECS5 Media Suite is the most efficient paper retail signage system in the world.  The paper signage capabilities of ECS5 are high-performing and refined and help ensure compliance with pricing.  Many different types of retail stores use ECS5 for paper signage including grocery stores, pharmacies, hardware stores, department stores, furniture retailers, pet stores, and many more.

Many businesses use systems that are only designed to do one thing, such as printing paper signage, but these systems can be brittle.  They cannot handle printing shelf tags and signage in as large of a volume as ECS5 and these systems may move slower or even break down when asked to do too much.  One of the areas ECS5 excels at is the pace of the system.  ECS5 allows for efficient design and printing of shelf tags and paper signage which can help you quickly pivot your marketing communications from handwritten to impactful printed signage.

The following are the main benefits of using ECS5 to manage paper signage and shelf tag printing:

• Easy design: Users can design and save shelf edge labels and signage within the Media Manager and access the designs later to quickly change information regarding pricing and promotions. All types of printed signage can be designed and edited within the same Media Manager.
• Manage batch printing: ECS5 allows you to manage and schedule batch printing for shelf tags. You can schedule batches to be printed at certain times for different departments within the store and even in different store locations from the same dashboard.  You can also track the progress of the batch printing.
• Integrate mobile devices: You can take shelf tag printing operations from the back office to the shop floor by integrating handheld devices and printers. Users can manage shelf tags from handheld devices and print them using the mobile printers.  This allows employees to quickly update shelf edge labeling when there is a change in stock or pricing and replace missing or damaged shelf tags, eliminating the need for handwritten signs.
• Integrate inventory and planogram data: ECS5 integrates inventory and planogram data so that shelf tags will only be printed for items within the planogram and that are currently in stock. This allows for more efficient and accurate shelf labeling with less wasted materials.
• Save time and money: Making the journey from handwritten signage to printed shelf tags and signage will allow for more accurate communications and save your business time and money. ECS5 streamlines the process of printing paper signage and shelf tags which cuts down on wasted materials and takes up less of your employees’ time, allowing them to focus more on customer service.

The ECS5 Media Suite from ECS Global

Using different systems to manage your in-store communications creates inefficiencies which leads to inaccurate messaging when it comes to your products, pricing, and promotions.  Your business does not have to rely on multiple outdated systems and handwritten signs to communicate with your customers.  You can bring the management of all your communications and easily implement blended communication with the ECS5 Media Suite from ECS Global.

The ECS5 Media Suite is the best retail point-of-sale system in the world and helps you ensure that your messaging is live and accurate for efficient, consistent communication.  Contact ECS to learn more about how ECS5 can benefit your business.