smart signage concept for retail shelving

Here’s a rather unusual strategy: Today I’m going to giveaway a startup pitch!

Back in 2016, I sketched up a quick pitch deck for what I saw as the future of digital signage for big-box and grocery store applications.

At that time, it was already obvious that long, linear format LCD or fine-pitch direct-view LED display panels, fronting each shelf, are going to become widely adopted as costs plummet on that core technology. Today, simply searching Alibaba you can find many suppliers dabbling in this product category already.

But “dumb” signage isn’t enough to be competitive in a modern digital landscape for retailers. So I put together a concept that integrates:

1. Smart multi-channel lighting (because the product needs to be as bright as the signage, and hey, maybe Coke wants to pay a little extra to over emphasize RED instead of Pepsi BLUE?)

2. Beacon functionality (because beacons or Li-Fi systems just aren’t accurate enough mounted up in the ceiling)

3. Gaze detection (for real analytical data on effectiveness of merchandise design and placement and serving up content depending on the approximate sex & age of whoever is standing nearby)

4. Interactive media content server (because you can do a lot of creative, point-of-purchase advertising targeted at specific consumers, even creating a sense of whimsy or delight with simply proximity-interactions)

I called it Linilix. It makes for an interesting concept, with an incredible combination of merchandising and analytical possibilities, one I think strong enough for an independent startup or certainly for a large retailer to develop themselves.

So why post this publicly? Because I simply didn’t (and still don’t!) have the cash to bootstrap the idea, nor connection to any magical angel investors to get it going. So that is why Linilix has sat untouched for over 3 years. So I’m trying something new – put it out in the wild and see what happens!

Below is a gallery of the slides: