There was a time when the mouse that came with your desktop computer was as good as it got. You never even thought twice about the mouse. But then came concerns over ergonomics, laptops with annoying little touchpads that almost forced the use of an external mouse, and the business traveler who demanded everything in a smaller format.

These market forces combined to turn the computer mouse into an engineering marvel. You can now get a small travel mouse specially designed for your laptop, a larger mouse that fits your hand and reduces strain, mice with “hyperfast” scrollwheels, and even mice designed especially for gaming. You can choose between laser and optical, corded and cordless, and get a mouse in blue, silver, red, pink, black or virtually any other color at costs ranging from $20 to nearly $200 .

So what does any of this have to do with point of purchase merchandising? The mouse provides a clear example of how complex the buying decision has become.

All of the information on these mice is available on the Website of any electronics retailer. Aware of his or her options, the consumer visits the retail outlet to test drive a few mice. If that customer has questions, the store personnel need to be available at the point of purchase and well informed about the product.

Because it is not possible for the average salesperson to know everything about the thousands of products most stores stock, an increasing number of retailers are turning to point of purchase “assisted selling” via digital signage and interactive kiosks.

Using Digital Signage as an Information Resource at the Point of Purchase

In a retail environment, customers often shy away from offers of assistance from salespeople because they are afraid of being pressured into making a purchase. Digital signage removes that pressure and allows the customer to take more control of his or her buying decision.

Whether in the form of a video display or an interactive kiosk, digital signage at the point of purchase gets a customer's attention, so retailers know it will be used. It also improves the customer experience by allowing the customer to get answers to their questions at their own pace. Most people are comfortable using computers, so interactive digital signs or kiosks are a welcome convenience for them.

How can retailers use point of purchase digital information tools? Let's use the example of the mouse. A short video display near the mice could tell people why laser is better than optical. It could quickly demonstrate how the design of a particular mouse reduces wrist strain. It could talk about the programmable buttons on a mouse and briefly describe how they are used.

To make this display interactive, a store could hook a kiosk computer into the same database customers use over the Internet and allow customers to select the brand and model they are looking for, then get testimonials, specs, product demos and so on.

Customers need this information at the point of purchase. They need it on their own terms, and they need to feel that they are in control of their own buying decisions. For these reasons and many more, point of purchase digital signage is an ideal addition to any retailer's sales force.