Technology
Acme Tools delivers better experience with digital signage
When it comes to retail, one major challenge is how to coordinate marketing campaigns while still accommodating the individual needs of various locations. A robust digital signage system can help make this process a lot easier, as Acme Tools, a tools retailer found out.
February 9, 2021 by Bradley Cooper — Editor, ATM Marketplace & Food Truck Operator
When it comes to retail, one major challenge is how to coordinate marketing campaigns while still accommodating the individual needs of various locations. For example, a clothing store in a colder region would need to run different promotions than one in a sunny beachside locale. In addition, sales for particular seasons might run on different days or weeks, making marketing coordination difficult.
A robust digital signage system can help make this process a lot easier, as Acme Tools, a tools retailer found out.
History
Acme Tools began in 1948 as an electric motor repair shop in Grand Forks, North Dakota. In 73 years, it has experienced large growth, expanding to ten locations in North Dakota, Minnesota and Iowa.
It also expanded its business to supply tools, equipment and accessories, and has more than 85,000 items on its e-commerce site.
"We serve the contractor, woodworker and do-it-yourselfer with a wide selection of tools and equipment from all the major manufacturers," Autumn Graber, marketing manager, Acme Tools, said in an email.
Marketing needs
When the retailer first began using digital signage, it initially relied on a DVD system, where the main store would send out DVDs to individual stores to play on displays behind the checkout counters.
"This was a very outdated approach to information sharing and we wanted to streamline our delivery," Graber said.
The company needed a system that would allow it to built and deliver content for the ten different stores, and it wanted the individual stores to be able to customize the content. For example, stores in the northern areas would be able to upload snowblower promotions, but not stores in warmer climates.
"Our stores also host a large fall and spring sale each year that brings in many of our customers over one weekend. However, the dates of these sales are different based on the state in which the store is located. The Iowa stores might be holding our fall sale on the first weekend in November, while our North Dakota stores are the weekend after," Graber said "By having a scalable sign system, we can promote the fall sale items on the digital screens in Iowa and not at the other stores."
The solution
In order to meet these marketing demands, Acme Tools turned to Carousel Digital Signage and BrightSign for more advanced digital signage solutions.
Carousel Digital Signage provided its cloud-based content management system so they could upload content and schedule it for specific locations.
"It [Carousel] has provided us a more streamlined way of communicating important information to our customers. We share product information, store events, promote text and email sign-up as well as encourage our customers to review our store online. We can quickly add content unique to each store or send the same content across all stores. We can run video demonstrations for products we want our customers to see in use," Graber said.
In addition to its main stores, Acme Tools also installed the system at its corporate office to communicate with employees and guests.
"Carousel scales with you, ensuring you reach the right people in the locations they are. This means you can always start small and grow over time," Amber Ward, creative director, Carousel, said in an email.
Acme also chose BrightSign media players to make the entire system more manageable for employees.
"By using the BrightSign hardware, we can make sure the screens are on in the morning when the store opens, and shut down at night when it closes," Graber said. "The store employees don't need to worry about making sure the screens have been turned on or off."
Lessons learned
Retailers of any size can benefit from a robust digital signage solution that can deliver the right message to the right place, which can in turn drive sales, Ward said.
"Content in your retail stores needs to be easily updated by the people working in your stores. We live in a world where things are changing so frequently. Content needs to stay up to date and you need to be sure you have a solution in place that makes it easy to do so," Ward said.
In addition, digital signage isn't just for customers, it's also a key tool to keep your employees up-to-date.
"It's important that signage is accessible to all employees, regardless of location. We need to start thinking beyond the classic signage locations and get that information in front of people no matter where they are," Ward said.
To summarize, a flexible digital signage solution needs to be able to get information to the right people to the right time, and by doing so, it will boost both sales and customer experience.
About Bradley Cooper
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