Sharp NEC Display Solutions customer installation – Retail
WALBUSCH
From Analogue to Digital – Upgrading the Shopping Experience With Digital Signage
In its store in Berlin’s Spandau Arcaden, until recently, the fashion brand WALBUSCH used analogue advertising media to draw attention to current fashion trends. This has now been replaced by digital signage modules from Sharp/NEC.
As a traditional family business, WALBUSCH stands for values such as honesty, authenticity, humbleness, quality and community. The medium-sized company has been operational since 1934 – and has been reliant on analogue advertising media in its shops until now.
The challenge lay in achieving the perfect mix of tradition and modernity
At Euroshop 2020, WALBUSCH became aware of the digital signage solutions for moving image formats from KL Digital, a business unit of its long-standing consulting partner for analogue advertising media, KL Druck. The fashion brand decided to replace some analogue advertising media with digital signage installations in the future. The site in Berlin’s Spandau Arcaden was identified as a pilot project.
“WALBUSCH was presented with a particular challenge while modernising the shop in the Spandau Arcaden: The required digital signage solutions had to be especially large and in 3:4 portrait format. This format, however, is rarely found in today’s display solutions. So we needed flexible individual modules that we could then put together to make into large walls”, says Oliver Maaßen, Senior Project Manager at KL Digital.
For WALBUSCH, in addition to the size and format of the installation, a major focus was placed on the design aspect of the solution. The products were required to be as high-resolution and high-contrast as possible, and to fit seamlessly into the new wooden store concept. In order to ensure the customer’s shopping experience remains undisturbed, it should be simple and quick to maintain.
The solution: a modular LED wall for large-scale moving images
Christian Schmäling, Head of KL Digital, adds: “With these challenges in mind, we quickly realised that an LED solution made the most sense for WALBUSCH. This technology is particularly long-lasting and gives the customer a wide range of colours that can be displayed very brightly. This is particularly important for the shopping experience provided by a high-quality fashion brand such as WALBUSCH.
We compared various suppliers, but each time ended up choosing Sharp/NEC. We liked how it was possible to use the high-quality products for five to eight years, and how easy it is to maintain and service. Quality and safety were the deciding factors in this case.”
Two LED walls consisting of several indoor LED modules from the NEC FE series have been in use at the Spandau store since September 2021. The installations are 1.8 x 2.4 metres (WxH) in total covering an area of 4.3 m2 each. For the interior, KL Digital worked with the NEC LED-FE015i2 from the FE series with a fine pixel pitch of 1.5 mm; for the LED wall in the shop window, the consultant opted for a pitch of 2.5 mm, provided by the LED-FE025i2.
Thanks to the frameless design, KL Digital was able to easily transform each individual FE module into continuous image surfaces without any obstruction from bezels. The slimline products have extremely low heat radiation, allowing the installation partner to install them close to the wood panelling. In this way, the LED walls are seamlessly integrated into the overall store concept. Maintenance efforts are eased due to the fact that the modules can be accessed from the front.
The result: a shopping experience amidst vivid images
The planning and realisation of the analogue and digital media technology, including analogue advertising spaces, audio technology and store music, was executed in close collaboration between KL Digital and Ben Hur GmbH. Together with Sharp/NEC and WALBUSCH, the project was successfully completed in September 2021.
“Thanks to Sharp/NEC’s and Ben Hur’s proactive project management, we were able to easily meet our installation deadline in September – despite delayed deliveries and insufficient electronic components due to the pandemic. The manufacturer’s prioritisation was a great help”, Maaßen summarises.
With the new LED walls, WALBUSCH now boasts a slimline, attractive design that perfectly displays the latest product highlights as digital content and remains effective in the long term. Customers in Berlin Spandau can experience fashion via wide viewing angles with consistent, bright colours, first-rate luminosity, and the absence of any distracting frames.
