• by Chuck Martin , Staff Writer, February 13, 2014

The integration of the physical and mobile shopping world continues.

At the 11^th annual Digital Signage Expo (DSE) in Las Vegas this week, the traditional world of in-store screen signage (and outside signage, for that matter) implicitly acknowledged the proliferation of smartphones moving past those screens.

While standing in front of a Pepsi “smart cooler,” videos are shown on what normally would be clear glass and a camera and other technology tracks which consumers do what after seeing the messages.

Meanwhile, other screens have NFC (Near Field Communications) technology nearby so that a consumer can tap their NFC-enabled phones and instantly be connected to the content on the screen.

One of the tightest screen-to-mobile integrations I saw was from Allure Global in Atlanta in a platform targeted to busy restaurants.

Using geo-fencing location technology, the potential diner opens the restaurant’s app, which would have the Allure technology tied in, and requests to get on the waiting list.

Upon arrival at the restaurant, the diner sees their place in context on a large screen (in the demo, the awaiting patrons appeared as different fish). As the diner’s position gets closer, they see their image on the screen become larger.

When the food is ready, a message is sent to the smartphone rather than those vibrating devices.

As in other screens shown at DSE, this one could show a menu with all items shown linked into the inventory and point of sales systems. If an item is no longer available, it disappears from the screen.

The key is that the information is linked to the consumer’s smartphone and presumably mobile payments will be tied in at the end of the process.

With more than 200 exhibitors at DSE, there were screens for all occasions.

And many of those screens are beginning to be linked into smartphones and are poised to become a more integral part of the in-store shopping experience.

Add another screen to the multi-screen environment.