Dubai Retail Sessions "Turning Stores into Stories"

After Mike Blackman from Integrated Systems Europe and Florian Rotberg from invidis consulting had opened the Digital Signage Summit MENA, the first session of the day got under way. The focus theme was “Turning Stores into Stories”. All presentations were concerned with the current state of Digital Signage whereby an emphasis lay on retail signage solutions.

In the first keynote Florian Rotberg gave a broad overview of the situation of the industry in the EMEA and MENA region. He emphasized to support research initiatives like the Digital Signage Business Climate Index and make the market more transparent. He also identified 15 key issues from trends and drivers to challenges for the Digital Signage and Digital out of Home market.

As second keynote speaker Fredrik Holmvik from the ICA Sweden presented a fascinating Digital Signage case from the food retail market. Fredrik and his department have initiated a very thorough market research approach to find out in detail what works and what does not in retail signage. With the feedback from these results the customers of ICA had a truly immersive Digital Signage shopping experience over the last years.

After a short coffee break that was used for networking, the morning session resumed with Marco Burghardtsmayer from the German based full service and content specialist Muse Content. Marco gave an in depth overview of trends and drivers in digital showrooms across Europe. He underlined how showrooming can become an integral part of the retail landscape within the digital transformation.

The final presentation of the session was held by Markus Beyr from WeRobots / Attraction!. The audience were given an overview of the immersive digital experiences designed by Attraction!. The customers ranging from themeparks, events and shopping malls from around the world are looking to create a lasting positive impression on their visitor and shopper.

The session was rounded off by a lively panel discussion with all four speakers and a special guest Sanket Rambhia from Xtrem Media. As the presentations had concentrated on the EMEA region, Sanket could give the delegates new and interesting insights into the Indian market for retail.