NEC Wins O2 Retail Business

Adrian J Cotterill, Editor-in-Chief

We had heard of pilot installs in Maidenhead and Plymouth O2 stores in the UK but now we see sight of an official announcement of 100 new installations which are planned to take place over the next three months. A good win for NEC and a nice vote of confidence from the high street Retail sector in digital.

From what we have seen, we like the “Two NEC LCD 4610 46″ screens positioned at the back of each store in portrait” – we believe it shows that they are thinking properly here about the retail proposition (TV it ain’t and rightly there is no mention of retail TV anywhere in the press release).

Interestingly the central content management system used is from an NEC solution partner called Future Software. It wasn’t mentioned in the press release but we assume / guess that Future Software will have provided NEC with their DigiSHOW product that we first saw at IBC in 2007.

O2 are giving individual stores some degree of manageability (something we often see talked about when projects are planned but something in reality we rarely see made operational). Stores “have the ability to tailor information around specific store promotions through a template option”.

Paula Cave, Head of O2 Retail, O2 told us “We needed a partner that would not only deliver superior picture quality and technology, but also would also provide first rate support. NEC has a tried and tested, existing relationship with O2 and a strong history of delivering digital signage to retailers which made it the obvious choice to supply displays to our retail stores.”

Barrie Guy, Head of Large Format Displays at NEC Display Solutions added “Retailers understand more about the benefits of digital signage as results show that it is an ideal medium to engage with customers and bring the retail experience to life. O2 has recognised this and is embracing the technology and seeing great results. O2’s decision to work with us is testament to our expertise and experience in the retail environment and, once again, our cutting edge technology has spoken for itself. Our ability to supply solutions that satisfy customer requirements and provide a measurable return on investment has been a major factor in the attainment of our No. 1 position within the UK large format display market.”


Leave a Reply