What is at the heart of Pixel Inspiration’s mission?

At the core of Pixel Inspiration’s mission is the implementation of technically capable and creatively driven digital solutions in exciting environments. We strive to create lasting and fully-supported solutions that stand the test of time, avoiding ad hoc approaches. That is also why we chose the retail sector as our target because retailers tend to like creating unique environments that attract customers. What we value most is the variety and the creativity in each different project.

After some years of partnership, what do you appreciate about Dise?

Engagement seems to be a central part of the Dise’ corporate culture. It’s easy to use enthusiastic words in a corporate presentation, claiming great support, but reality doesn’t always align. However, Dise lives up to it. They are always keen to support us. We receive responses from both the success team and the strategy team within days, which is unusual in this industry. When challenges arise, the attitude is right. The relationship is built on trust; we don’t need to prove anything with our experience, and Dise always reacts immediately.

Digital In-Store WHSmith Heathrow

What do you believe are the success factors for the partnership?

Generally, you don’t witness much collaboration between a reseller and an OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer). However, with Dise, we have a true collaboration. There is an ongoing dialogue regarding potential platform improvements, and requests are then integrated into the roadmap. It’s as simple as that, and it’s a really nice position to be in.

What were the reasons for choosing Dise as a partner from the beginning?

We’ve been partners for the past 3.5 years. From a commercially competitive positioning standpoint, we needed a platform capable of supporting System on Chip (SOC). In the retail environment, many cases only require a SOC solution.

The architectural model of the Dise platform was very similar to the one we were already using, making it easier for our developers. The platform aligned with their expertise, streamlining the integration process. While numerous platforms manage SOC solutions, we also needed one with deep integration capability that we could build on. Dise was also considered more flexible from a commercial aspect.

Can you share a success story from the partnership?

Our latest achievement is the rollout to Tesco, one of the world’s largest retailers. There are three crucial factors that any retailer considers when selecting a provider: commercial competitiveness, passing IT security checks, and having a stable solution that can scale up. We are currently in the process of rolling out to 3,000 locations. This case involves retail media, with screens being implemented across all their stores, including Superstores, Metro, and Express stores. The scheduling of campaign content enables various brands to run campaigns that align with Tesco’s sales trends. This essentially forms a commercial network—a notable shift in the market in recent years. Retailers are increasingly realizing the potential for commercializing digital media in-store, and our solution supports programmatic advertising and integrations with third parties.

What do you like about the platform?

What stands out to us about the platform is its continuous improvement with every release. The portal’s usability is notably good, providing an intuitive and visually appealing experience. It’s quick to navigate, and the accessibility and playback performance are excellent. Additionally, the platform boasts a range of highly valuable features, including detailed playout reports and efficient campaign scheduling. With broad platform support, we have the flexibility to choose from nearly any display manufacturer. Moreover, we have support for both Windows and Linux.

Another notable feature is the full API and scripting support, adding an extra layer of customisation and control to our operations.

Digital Media Point of Sale

What is important for your customers right now? What are they prioritising?

Retail media takes the lead; that’s the definite driving force. In previous years, digital signage was more of an enhancement, but it came with costs. Now, it’s seen as both an enhancement and a revenue generator. As a result, the cost argument is starting to fade away. While the focus on enhancing customer experience has always been there, ultimately, retailers are guided by their bottom line. This makes the decision of whether to roll out a digital network or not very simple. What’s really important to retailers is ultimately the sales in the store.

What trends do you see coming?

The hardware trend involves larger screens, integrated into the store environment. The market has moved from LCD screens to LED, allowing for full physical integration into the store environment. This is driving many of our projects right now.

When discussing trends, AI stands out as the holy grail. In my 25 years of working in technology, I have seen it many times where there’s a lot of hype and talk about something, but its real-world implementation takes time. We are still at a stage where many retailers must have the data available first to make it happen. Until you can access and comprehend the data, and then apply AI to orchestrate the scheduling and execution of campaigns, the true potential of this capability, which is already embedded in the platform, remains untapped. Data is precious and not easily accessible. In the future, AI will likely have the capability to generate real-time content that is most likely to appeal to the audience at that moment based on specific criteria. You can see the future, all the kind of building blocks are already there, but it’s about pulling it all together.

On the software front, there’s a notable trend towards campaign-focused approaches, particularly in retail media. This requires seamless integration and intelligent data flow from diverse retailer data silos.