If you own a car, you probably know how effective digital signs and advertising monitors are at fuel stations. Digital Signage and Interactive Technologies elevate the consumer experience of visiting a gas station to a completely different quality level.
LCD or LED digital menus, video walls and digital advertising media are becoming an integral part of the modern gas station or fuel‑service complex. Despite the difficult economic situation in the country and being in a state of undeclared war, over the past few years Ukraine’s largest (and other) gas‑station networks have shown positive momentum in transitioning from outdated static city‑lights to digital menus with unlimited centralized audio/video content‑management capabilities.
However, some Western fuel‑station networks strive to use the most advanced technologies available in the Digital Signage market. In a previous article we detailed the case of implementing the iDS Cloud centralized content‑management system in the Royal Petrol gas‑station network in Kazakhstan. In this article we present a successful case of implementing a digital menu in Sweden’s largest fuel‑station network, Preem.
The Preem network always seeks to improve business efficiency by using all available methods and technologies. Cost optimization, process automation, improved service quality, high environmental standards and protection — all these criteria are applied in the updated fuel‑station format. Global practice of using Digital Signage solutions in networked Retail and HoReCa confirms high effectiveness and predictable ROI from implementing centralized content‑management systems, including in networked fuel‑station chains.
Automating the centralized management of audio and video content on digital media (especially in large networks) is a priority for Preem.
№1. Timely information updates become an integral part of an effective business. Frequent updates that can be adapted depending on time of day, day of week, weather conditions and even upcoming holidays — all these and many other tasks are solved by deploying Digital Signage solutions. Independence and speed of content updates, along with flexible scheduling and playlist playback options, lead to the results described above. For the Preem digital‑menu and digital‑signage implementation project, the network’s management selected Visual Art as the Digital Signage integrator.
“Our company is a full‑service provider of Digital Signage services and solutions, and a developer of our own hardware‑software systems. In addition, we produce content and develop monetization strategies for innovative technologies,” said Visual Art’s Commercial Director Pontus Meyer in an interview.
The large‑scale project to roll out digital menus across Preem was implemented in partnership with Visual Art. The automation project for centralized content management across the network includes modernizing over 100 stations throughout Sweden using advanced solutions. The rollout began with replacing old static city‑lights with professional Samsung QMR displays with built‑in media players, as well as Visual Art’s VA Player and CMS Signage Player.
It is worth noting that InnovativeDMC, since 2013 has developed its own hardware‑software solutions based on the iDS Cloud platform, which automates ALL centralized management processes for audio, video and interactive content on digital menus, LED and LCD video walls, smartphones and tablets. Using professional LCD panels from Samsung, LG, Philips with built‑in media players, project implementation for network fuel stations is one of the key advantages of cooperating with InnovativeDMC.
During the Preem Digital Signage rollout, other solutions were also used, including:
- Samsung OMD‑D window and entrance displays — external high‑brightness panels to attract customers even in sunny weather;
- 10‑inch TOUCH screens in a “shelf‑screen” format (shelftalker) mounted directly on product shelves;
- Samsung DB10 displays at the checkout to stimulate point‑of‑sale purchases.
“Advertising screens and digital menus placed in strategically important spots and areas with a high likelihood of visual engagement while customers are at Preem allow the right content to be shown to the right audience at the right time of day or night,” Meyer said. “Visual Art’s design studio specially developed attractive, sales‑driving content that not only captures consumer attention but also prompts impulsive — unplanned — purchases.”
According to Meyer, survey results among Preem customers were impressive: with advertising screens, 54% of respondents felt their perceived waiting time was significantly reduced. It is also worth noting that the vast majority of respondents believe food looks considerably more appetizing and appealing on a digital menu than it did when displayed on a static city‑light.
Redesigning the digital menu with high‑quality dynamic content aims to attract attention, improve the presentation of goods and services, and pre‑composed menus will simplify choosing from a wide food assortment,” Meyer said.
The main goal of implementing Digital Signage at Preem was to advance and modernize the technology and make it more forward‑looking, so it can influence customers as fuel‑station market trends evolve.
“Our goal is to improve customer service quality and make our stations a trendy or at least relevant place for consumer interaction,” said Angelica Fagerholm, Preem’s Store Concept Manager, in an interview. “At Preem we want to develop SMART solutions and current programs to realize the company’s mid‑ and long‑term growth potential.”
