Digital signage for retail: endcaps, point-of-purchase and in-store screens

An endcap is the display at the end of a shop aisle. Shoppers pass it again and again, so stores use it for sales, new lines and seasonal goods. Point of purchase, or POP, is the wider idea: any display near the product or the till that is there to shape the choice at the moment someone buys. Point of sale is the checkout part of it.

A POP display can be a floor stand, a counter unit, a shelf-edge card or a screen. A printed card is cheap to make, and a screen earns its place where the message changes: a price, a stock level, a deal that ends on Sunday. Your agent changes it from a message, so the screen does not keep showing last week's sale.

The live previews at the top of this page draw six of these. Apps lists every one.

Harbor Market is a made-up shop, so its coats and prices are demo content.

The Product grid shows each product with its photo, name, price and previous price, and marks it New, Sale or Low stock. Each tile's percent off is worked out on the screen from the two prices. The grid pages by itself on the wall clock, so a long sale rotates without anyone touching it.

The Offer app turns one product into a price tag: the price, what it was, what you save and when the deal ends. The saving and the days left are worked out on the screen from the two prices and the end time, so they stay right as the days pass.

Promo is the same idea with a big photo, an ends-in countdown and a QR code, and QR code puts a link, a contact or a rewards sign-up on a screen of its own. Your agent uploads your product photos first, and reads your price list with its own access. The Google Sheets guide shows the pattern with a table.

A sale is only useful until it ends. Your agent gives the screen a schedule in the screen's own time zone: the sale playlist plays from Friday morning until Sunday at 6 pm, and the regular playlist plays at every other time. The screen switches within about a minute of each boundary, and nobody walks to the store.

1. You

   The coffee is $3 off now, and take the knit beanie off the grid. We are out.

2. Agent

   Done. The coffee shows the new price with the old one struck through, and the knit beanie is off the grid. I did not publish the playlist again.

A change to a price or a product list reaches the screen because the grid and the offer read their data from the app, so the playlist stays as it is. Keep one price list and have your agent read it each time, so the screen and the shelf come from the same numbers.

Tag screens by store, region or aisle, then address the tag. One request changes every screen with that tag, each screen reports its own result, and your agent can capture a screenshot from each. Every screen follows its own time zone, so a sale that ends at 6 pm on Sunday ends at 6 pm in every store, wherever it is. The franchise networks use case follows a spring promotion across hundreds of store screens.

An in-store screen is also airtime. Brands you invite buy ad breaks on your screens themselves, through your Marketplace, and advertisers pay only for completed plays. You review each creative before it plays, the ad plays only in its own ad break and your own pages never change, and every completed play can be exported as a CSV for the brand. Selling airtime runs on every Player except Apple TV, iPhone and iPad. The pharmacy use case shows a chain doing exactly this on its counter screens.

• One offer a page. A shopper passes an endcap in a few seconds. Give the product, the price and the end of the deal one page, in large type.
• A price and a date together. An offer that names its end date, as the Offer app does, reads as a deal and not as a permanent price.
• A way to act. A QR code beside the offer takes the shopper to the product, the rewards sign-up or your site. The code opens the address you supply, and that page owns what happens next.
• Points only where you approve them. The Loyalty app shows a point total only when one is supplied for the shared screen. Otherwise it explains how to earn and how to join.

What does a digital endcap cost?

The screen and its mount are the cost of hardware, and screenRIG runs on the TVs, sticks and boards you already have. screenRIG is free, with unlimited screens. Paid plans add business tools, more people, people to talk to, governance and contract terms. See pricing.

Can the screen show product photos?

Yes. The Product grid, Offer and Promo apps show a photo with the name and price, and your agent uploads the photos first.

Does it take payments or orders?

No. A retail screen shows the offer and the price, and checkout stays with your tills and your website. For a screen that shoppers tap, see free kiosk software.

What is the difference between POP and POS?

Point of purchase is any display near the product or the till that shapes the choice. Point of sale is the checkout part of it. Every POS display is a POP display, and not the other way around.

Which screens work in a shop?

Almost any: a TV or stick with Google TV or Android TV, an Amazon Signage Stick, a Raspberry Pi, a PC or Mac, a BrightSign player or a Samsung or LG signage display, in landscape or portrait. Players lists them.

Can one sale run in every store?

Yes. Tag the screens, ask for the sale and the schedule once, and each screen follows it in its own time zone.

Start free, pair the screen on your endcap and send your agent this week's sale list. Ask for a screenshot before you walk away.