Across all walks of life - in communities, workplaces, shopping malls, transport networks and more - the digitization of signage is enabling more sophisticated, adaptive and targeted communication. Their impact is demonstrable - people exposed to digital signage are for instance likely to spend longer engaging with them, and stand a higher chance of retaining the information they convey, with 55% of people able to recall digital sign messaging a week later. It’s no surprise therefore that digital signage is now being widely adopted across all sectors, as reflected in strong year-on-year growth - recent analysis anticipates the global digital signage market to reach $38.23 billion by 2028, growing over 7% per year from 2021.  

For public authorities, digital signage offers a means to relay critical information far more quickly and effectively, with the flexibility to adjust public messaging at speed in response to changing circumstances. Across the globe, deployment of this technology has therefore been an invaluable tool in the fight against COVID-19 by helping medical authorities to marshal crowds and disseminate high visibility public health advice. 

In many countries the global pandemic has also accelerated an existing trend away from indoor shopping, and digital signage has played a key role in this transition. Digitized signs have given retailers a means of prompting customers to enter shops when under capacity or vice-versa, and direct drive-thru systems to minimise risk to staff and customers. In-store, the use of digital signage is enabling more creative and impactful ways to showcase promotions and products and has been shown to increase sales by 33%. With the growing role of IoT in commerce, and the increasing availability of 4K and 8K visuals, digital signage is being used to create more immersive, experiential environments by using sensors, facial recognition and augmented reality, allowing brands to enhance their reputation, capture attention, and increase customer loyalty. 

In the workplace, digital signage can be used to make businesses both safer and more enjoyable. In lobbies, break rooms and other common areas, such displays can project company news, entertainment, KPIs, highlight key company events and milestones, or remind staff of HR requirements. In stock rooms, displays can be linked to a company’s inventory to help people keep track of what’s there and enable staff to retrieve goods more easily. 

As we proceed further into the IoT era and 5G grows increasingly ubiquitous, we can expect digital signage to become less of a rarefied innovation for business and government, and more a staple component of the smart city. As  vehicles become intelligently connected to their surroundings via cellular vehicle-to-everything (C-V2X), they will be able to communicate with each other and the local environment to provide real time updates via signage and billboards, on weather, navigation and relevant local news. Advertisers in turn will then be able to make use of vehicle and handset data to project far more targeted advertising on digital billboards. 

Quectel is well-placed to support the growth of the digital signage industry by providing a vast range of durable, compliant 4G and LPWA modules - and supporting IoT antennas - to connect signage in all locations across the globe. Whatever the purpose or resolution, our products ensure digital signage is performing to the highest possible standard. We benefit from the largest research and development team in the industry, allowing us to keep our customers up to date with the latest insights, enabling them to ensure their message is delivered and their aims realised. To view our range of modules please visit our Product Selector, or you can contact us at any time and expect a response within 24 hours.