"Originally, the store was going to use a combination of conventional projectors and projector cubes," says Lighthouse’s Dave Gunn. "But once they saw the brightness of LED screen, they were bowled over by its dramatic effect, which also meant that they would not have to reduce the levels of ambient light in that part of the store, which would have been the case with projection."
Lighthouse has developed a number of strategic alliances with companies around the world to give its customers both strategic and financial benefits. One such company is Cheltenham-based Screen Technologies, who provide both the current screen content and the software required to facilitate that content, for ElectroWorld. Screen Technologies’ Graham Clark says: "The screen is a vehicle to show the right media at the right time in the new ElectroWorld store. At the moment, we’re showing clips from DVDs available in the store alongside various advertisements and customer information. Ultimately, the screen will become not only self-supporting from a financial viewpoint, but will also generate extra income for the store via its advertising content."
He continues: "At the moment, we control what plays on the screen remotely from our offices in Cheltenham and can also update it remotely. We send data down an ISDN line, with the exception of video, which has to be sent by CD-ROM. We are currently training staff at ElectroWorld to be able to handle the screen content themselves, so that they are able to react to changes in trading patterns. They’ll be able to dial into the system at the drop of a hat and show different products accordingly.
"With the aid of our Tradvis software, we are introducing video capture which means that we will be able to bring in direct feeds from both cable and satellite which can be shown through multiple layers on the screen. If a client wants it, we will be able to put a news bulletin in one area on the screen, advertise a product in another area and have a scrolling banner along the bottom of the screen for text. There are no restrictions. This is the only system on the market that can handle every Windows based media file and can play as many different media as are wanted simultaneously on the same screen. The possibilities are endless."
International Co-ordinator for Dixons Group International, Hans Petter Dovre, added: "This is a totally new element for this part of the Dixons Group. The screen delivers great impact when you enter the store and can even be seen from the car park. Once we have been operating it for a while, we will look more closely at how it can generate more money for us. The idea is to use it to explain to customers how we can deliver more to them than our competitors whilst still selling at a lower price. It’s a great addition for us and has endless possibilities."
(Lee Baldock)
