What is digital signage?

What digital signage is

Digital signage is a screen that shows messages in a place where people pass by or wait. It takes the place of a poster, a chalkboard or a noticeboard full of notes. Where those show one message, a screen alternates several, in the order you choose.

You may know digital signage by another name. A screen in the window is called a shop window display or a digital shop window. At the bar, it is called a menu board; in a practice, a waiting room display. In Belgium and the Netherlands, you also hear narrowcasting, a word that puts the emphasis on the audience in that one place.

A digital signage screen is not a TV on which you play something. It shows your own designs, switches on and off at the times you choose and runs without anyone pressing a button.

The benefits

One screen shows several messages, and they change without printing. A new price is right straight away, with no crossed-out amounts. An offer with an end date disappears by itself after that date. For an estate agency, the screen follows the properties in the agency software, without anyone having to do anything.

In each place, the screen brings something different. In the shop window, people walking past see what you offer, even after closing time, until the time you choose. At the bar, guests read the dish of the day and the suggestions from their table, and the staff do not have to list them at every table. In the waiting room, a patient reads your opening hours and does not need to phone about them later. In the waiting area of an estate agency, someone who comes for one home also sees your other properties.

Where you see digital signage

• In the shop window: a shop or boutique shows its collection and its offers to people walking past. An estate agency shows its properties on a shop window display.
• On the menu board: a café or restaurant hangs a menu board at the bar, with the dish of the day, the suggestions and their prices. A screen in the window shows the same dish of the day to the street.
• In the waiting room: a GP, dentist or vet shows the time, the opening hours and the news of the practice, and where patients can go outside opening hours.
• In the estate agency: in the waiting area, a client who is waiting sees the agency's listings. You can read more about screens for estate agents on the real estate page.

What it costs

At Will Impress, digital signage costs €39 per screen per month, on an annual contract. The price is the same in the shop window, at the bar, in the waiting room and in the office. Each screen counts separately: a menu board at the bar and a screen in the window together cost €78 per month.

You pay for the screen and its installation once, on a quote from an installation partner in your region. What the monthly price includes is on the pricing page.

Doing it yourself or having it taken care of

You can set up digital signage yourself. Then you choose a screen and find out whether it is bright enough for your shop window and which size can be read from the street. You mount it, set when it switches on and off, make the images and keep them up to date. If the screen stops working, you have to notice that yourself.

With Will Impress, an installation partner from your region advises the screen that suits your space, and mounts it. We do the rest: the design in your house style, everything that can run by itself, such as your opening hours, and remote monitoring. If something stops working, we usually notice before you do.

You add a new offer or dish of the day to the screen yourself, in a few clicks. If you would rather leave that to us, we do it as a paid extra, with a price on request. How the start goes is explained on the how it works page. If you would like to know the price for your business, request a proposal.