The other day, I made a visit to a big-box electronics store to make a return. (I'd mention the company's name, but as they've only recently edged another big-box electronics store out of business, they hardly need my plug... pun intended.)
A woman at the store's entrance helpfully pointed me to the 'Returns & Exchanges' area of the store, and when I got there, I took my place in line behind the 5 or 10 others with a bone to pick.
While waiting in line, I watched TV. A few minutes passed before it even dawned on me that there I was, queued up inside a store, watching TV. The content was fresh, quirky, funny. It was carefully crafted for store visitors with a bone to pick- this content was created for me.
This was not a mounted TV set running episodes of some syndicated Chuck Norris drama in hi-def, this was retail digital signage, designed to entertain, amuse, and reduce my perceived wait time.
True enough, while I waited, (only 2 or 3 bone-pickers to go now), the time flew by. I was entertained, learned a bit more about this particular big-box store, and left with an appreciation of its customer service.
The phrase, "reduce perceived wait time" is one we strategically bandy-about in the digital signage industry, because, in truth, pre-occupying one's customers 'while they wait' is not the same as shortening their time in line. But then, perception is everything.
Kudos to the big-box store for leveraging its electronic signage to make my visit more enjoyable (or at the very least, less painful). I'm likely a bit conditioned, as a digital signage professional, but left the store, whispering to myself, "thank you for reducing my perceived wait time..."
Then giggled, thinking, "who says things like that?"
A woman at the store's entrance helpfully pointed me to the 'Returns & Exchanges' area of the store, and when I got there, I took my place in line behind the 5 or 10 others with a bone to pick.
While waiting in line, I watched TV. A few minutes passed before it even dawned on me that there I was, queued up inside a store, watching TV. The content was fresh, quirky, funny. It was carefully crafted for store visitors with a bone to pick- this content was created for me. This was not a mounted TV set running episodes of some syndicated Chuck Norris drama in hi-def, this was retail digital signage, designed to entertain, amuse, and reduce my perceived wait time.
True enough, while I waited, (only 2 or 3 bone-pickers to go now), the time flew by. I was entertained, learned a bit more about this particular big-box store, and left with an appreciation of its customer service.
The phrase, "reduce perceived wait time" is one we strategically bandy-about in the digital signage industry, because, in truth, pre-occupying one's customers 'while they wait' is not the same as shortening their time in line. But then, perception is everything.
Kudos to the big-box store for leveraging its electronic signage to make my visit more enjoyable (or at the very least, less painful). I'm likely a bit conditioned, as a digital signage professional, but left the store, whispering to myself, "thank you for reducing my perceived wait time..."
Then giggled, thinking, "who says things like that?"
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