According to Kevin Bierman, Head of Digital Signage Solutions at Moving Tactics, technology moves really fast, so retailers and franchisees need to make an effort to keep up.
In order to ensure that you have the most up-to-date digital signage network in place that offers the best in technology, content and features, you need to ideally replace the network every three years, once the equipment warranties have expired. The positives are that you will experience minimal downtime and be able to introduce the latest technological advancements such as self-service touch kiosks or weather-based menu boards as part of your new network.
Digital signage networks, like any other technology investment, need to be maintained and updated. It doesn’t take long before systems start looking outdated and performance suffers. But how often should digital signage hardware be replaced?
A digital signage network can be compared to a retail store. It looks and operates at its best when it first opens but with time, and as technologies and trends change, the retailer needs to update his/her offering by introducing new products, promotions and up-to-date infrastructure and technologies or the store will start looking dated, perform poorly and put customers off. An old digital signage network will also impact on the bottom line as its look and feel is linked to the brand as well as to advertising sales and promotions.
Replacing a digital signage network every three years is costly, especially for smaller businesses such as independent retailers and franchisees. Another negative is that once your equipment becomes too outdated, it’s much more difficult to get back up to speed.
What options are there? Other than laying out a large sum of money to purchase your digital signage network outright, more and more businesses are choosing to finance their technology investments to preserve cash flow.
‘Over and above the explicit advantages of effective cash flow management, you also get to have up-to-date technology that is always under warranty and replaced every three years,’ said Sam Dippenaar at Moving Tactics’ Finance Division.
MOVING TACTICS (+27 11) 807 0094 chris.day@movingtactics.co.za www.movingtactics.co.za
