BrightSign Helps Vegas EXP Deliver Interactive Shopping Experiences on the Las Vegas Strip

Vegas EXP is a new 3,200-square-foot retail store located in the Grand Bazaar Shops on the Las Vegas Strip. The store’s self-contained mini-mart sells liquor, wine, beer, tobacco products and snacks, whereas the rest of the store offers a wide assortment of Las Vegas collectibles and apparel. And while Vegas EXP sells much of the merchandise you’d expect to see in a retail establishment on the Strip, what sets the store apart is how it sells to customers.

Vegas EXP is the latest endeavor of longtime Las Vegas retail operator M&K Enterprises. The store represents a new breed of retail establishments abandoning traditional retail methods in favor of digitally enhanced experiential shopping.

A total of 28 screens are located throughout the store, displaying featured products and other promotional content. Behind the scenes, 16 BrightSign HD1023 media players each push content to a pair of dedicated screens via HDMI splitters. This enables Vegas EXP to tailor content based on the screens’ locations to effectively target customers as they browse the store.

Jennifer Turner, president and CEO of M&K Enterprises, wagered heavily on Vegas EXP’s ability to engage Las Vegas customers in a new way, “Las Vegas attracts an internationally diverse tourist base that’s particularly tech savvy, so we created a customer experience that engages those customers digitally, through in-store signage and via their mobile devices.”

The store’s highlight is a 55-inch interactive LG touch screen prominently located in the heart of the store. When idle, the screen displays content such as notable Instagram feeds and the local weather forecast. When customers engage with the display, they have the option of shopping the store’s online product catalogue to purchase and ship products directly to their homes. The large display also offers a “selfie mode,” whereby customers can scroll through and take selfies in front of various iconic Las Vegas backdrops. The content – developed by creative firm Insteo – is pushed to the display via BrightSign’s XT1143 media player.

“With a single interactive touch screen, our customers can check the weather, shop for products, browse Instagram and even socialize their experiences by taking selfies from within our store,” continued Turner. “Putting customers in the driver’s seat enables them to dictate their unique digital experiences, and that connects Vegas EXP with its customers in a very natural way that increases dwell time and ultimately sales.”

Beyond the applications described above, Vegas EXP plans a number of future improvements to take further advantage of its digital signage infrastructure. For example, using BrightSign’s Bluetooth/beacon integration, it will be possible for Vegas EXP to ping customers via their mobile phones as they enter the store, and even track their in-store progression to better understand the store’s most frequently traveled traffic patterns.

Once connected via customers’ mobile phones, the store can target them with post-visit promotional offers and incentivize future visits with limited-time in-store discounts. Additionally, Vegas EXP is in the process of deploying Rockbot running on BrightSign players. Rockbot is an entertainment platform that enables customers to interact with in-store signage via their mobile phones, crowdsourcing the store’s audio playlist in real time.

Since the store’s opening in late-Summer 2017, M&K Enterprises reports strong sales, and particularly strong engagement via Vegas EXP’s flagship interactive display. Subsequent updates to the store’s digital shopping experience are expected to build on what has already been a very successful store opening.