Digital wayfinding points shoppers in the right direction
Published: 02 October, 2009
When funding is already stretched to the limit, will centres choose to invest a substantial sum into digital wayfinding? And can they afford not to?
Like most things in the modern world, wayfinding has become part of the digital revolution. Companies are developing complex software and design packages that provide customers with quick and easy to use applications. But the costs of installing and running digital systems are inevitably higher than non-digital alternatives. How are shopping centres choosing to invest in the future of wayfinding?
A fundamental benefit of digitalisation is its flexibility. Digital wayfinding systems can display interactive maps, special offers and opening hours for either the centre itself or for individual stores. Systems can be tailored to suit the needs of specific shopping centres with as much or as little content as required.
Traditional signage has always taken time and money to alter if an expansion changes the centre’s layout. But digital packages allow information to be updated easily and regularly. Digital signage agency, Pixel Inspiration, has recently launched an interactive touchscreen application, Way2Go, that allows shopping centres themselves to update the system without having to go back to the manufacturer.
Nikk Smith, technical director at Pixel Inspiration, says this is a major advance in digital wayfinding technology. “The one and only reason that anyone is interested in Way2Go is that it can reduce their operating costs. Digital wayfinding offers many advantages to centre managers but it’s traditionally quite expensive to maintain, especially when maps or store layouts need to be re-drawn. Way2Go takes advantage of the digital medium, not just to add interactivity and pleasing graphics, but also to reduce the total cost of ownership to the client,” he explains.
Pixel Inspiration’s Way2Go and the Navigator by Tensator, launched last year, are both interactive packages that promise a multitude of services. As well as enabling centres to update the system themselves, Way2Go allows shoppers to search for a store or restaurant and gives specific directions from any location. It can also be programmed to tag specific points of interest, in order to highlight any area or event that people may not know about.
The Navigator even takes the surrounding environment into consideration. Shopping centres have the option of displaying information onto windows, screens or transparent surfaces, meaning that empty space can be utilised by the interactive wayfinding system in a more flexible way than non-digital signage.
Kevin Hickson, general manager of Tensator, stresses the Navigator’s adaptability compared with traditional print and points out other benefits of such a flexible system. “There is unlimited scope for advertisements,” he says.
“Centres can choose as many screen pages as they wish, in whatever rotation, displaying for as long as required. Constantly changing screens capture attention, and media can be scheduled relating to particular consumer groups, for example targeting business people at lunchtimes Monday to Friday.”
Digital navigational tools give shoppers such specific directions that advertising can correspond to the stores or food outlets along a particular route, making them far more attractive to potential advertisers. “It can provide contextual content and advertising, since it ‘knows’ where they’re heading and what they will be passing on their way,” says Smith.
As well as third-party advertising, centres could also charge retailers for any information regarding individual store promotions or opening hours. So in the long term – providing centres can sell enough advertising – digital wayfinding is meant to pay for itself. Capital costs, however, remain a significant issue. Existing centres in particular would need to invest even before installing a digital system, as Gavin McMurray, marketing director at Merson Signs, points out.
“Centres can occasionally underestimate the cost of digital wayfinding,” says McMurray. “If it’s a brand new centre, or a centre going through a major refurbishment, then you can put down cables and make sure there are power points in the right places to connect the equipment. Otherwise, the cost of cabling will be huge. And powering 24-hour digital wayfinding technology is not cheap, either.”
The majority of Merson’s products are traditional forms of signage, such as totem poles and finger point signs. Recently, Merson was contracted by Warrington’s Golden Square shopping centre to design non-digital signage for both the interior and exterior.
According to McMurray, a major benefit of non-digital signage is that shoppers can access information on the move. “As long as you get the type size and positioning right, analogue signs are great at keeping human traffic flowing through the centre. People can learn where certain shops are without having to stop and check,” he explains.
At Golden Square, a combination of totem poles and finger point signs have been set up at T-junctions, where shoppers need instructions to help them work out where to go. However, setting up an interactive wayfinding application at a busy T-junction could cause congestion with people stopping to look up various store locations.
But the crucial point McMurray makes is that wayfinding should be tailored to suit a specific environment. “People shop in different ways, and some prefer to get their information on the go. It depends on the type of customers using the centre. Some prefer traditional signage just because they find it easier to understand,” he says.
Another factor is the size of the centre itself. Smaller centres don’t need interactive store maps or digital access to event listings because any information can be printed on signage. And with less floorspace, interactive wayfinding applications might take up vital room that could be utilised by RMUs to add revenue to the centre.
However, a larger shopping centre could benefit from providing shoppers with information points allowing them to quickly search through the long list of stores and any other details about the centre. In Tensator’s case, the Navigator was initially designed with a focus on larger centres, because according to Hickson, the client would benefit most from digital wayfinding in a bigger space with a more complicated layout. Pixel Inspiration also had larger centres in mind. “We think the concept of an easily maintained wayfinding system is one that touches a lot of sweet spots for operators of larger facilities,” says Smith.
There is no denying that advances in technology can have an enormous impact on speed and efficiency. The obvious solution, then, is to provide customers with both digital and traditional wayfinding methods and let them choose for themselves.
Westfield London incorporates digital and non-digital wayfinding to great effect. Totem poles in analogue form are offered alongside pods that shoppers can use to access information digitally. “In a large wayfinding environment with a big mixture of shoppers, it’s very important to provide both types of signage,” says McMurray. “Where there’s a place and a desire for analogue signage, that’s what we will provide, but it’s just a matter of what’s fit for purpose.”
And Hickson at Tensator agrees that offering the two together improves wayfinding, and, by keeping the flow of people moving, prevents crowd build up. “In terms of way-finding, using a combination reiterates the message and reassures shoppers that they are heading in the right direction,” he says.
Like McMurray, Hickson takes into consideration different kinds of shopper when deciding on the type of wayfinding. “A mixture of both types of solutions are the most effective, as not everybody is technically minded,” he adds.
