Screens with a Clear Purpose
In retail, the shop floor has to work hard. It has to express the brand, frame the product, hold attention, and give customers a reason to remember their shopping experience.
For Sapphire, a new High Street brand serving the Asian fashion community, that meant looking beyond a conventional store fit-out. Across its Bradford and Birmingham stores, Sapphire wanted digital signage to become part of the atmosphere of the space, not simply a set of screens added retrospectively.
The aim was to create an immersive retail environment: one that could support bold fashion content, strengthen the customer journey, and give each store a distinctive visual character from the entrance through to the point of purchase.
The Challenge
Sapphire needed a digital signage solution that could support high-impact fashion content, create a strong first impression, and add a bit of theatre to the retail journey.
The solution also needed to work naturally within each store layout. It had to draw attention at key moments, particularly as customers entered the shop and moved towards the cash desk.
The Technology
airwave connect designed and installed a multi-screen LED display solution across Sapphire’s Bradford and Birmingham stores, built around two key features: a large overhead canopy and a portrait entrance display.
Together, these screens create a dynamic visual experience that supports Sapphire’s brand, products, and atmosphere.
The Overhead LED Canopy
The centrepiece of the installation is a large 4m x 6m overhead Unilumin LED ceiling screen, using a high-resolution 2.5mm pixel pitch.
Positioned close to the cash desk, the screen runs across the ceiling before curving downwards to finish behind the counter. This creates a distinctive canopy effect, allowing content to move through the space rather than sit on a single wall.
For customers waiting to check out, the display adds visual impact at a natural point of dwell time. It also gives Sapphire a flexible digital canvas that can be updated with brand imagery, campaign content, seasonal visuals and product-led creative.
The Entrance Display
At the store entrance, airwave connect also installed a 1m x 2m portrait LED window screen, again using a 2.5mm pixel pitch.
This screen gives Sapphire a strong visual presence from the moment customers approach or enter the store. Its portrait format is well suited to life-size fashion content, allowing garments, models and campaign imagery to be presented with clarity and scale.
By placing digital content at the entrance, Sapphire can use the display to set the tone immediately, introduce the brand visually and create a more engaging arrival experience.
The Technology
The installation affords Sapphire’s Bradford and Birmingham stores a stronger, more flexible visual platform for in-store content.
The entrance display supports high-impact fashion visuals at the point customers first engage with the store, while the overhead canopy makes use of a prominent area near the cash desk where customers naturally pause.
By integrating LED into both the entrance and checkout areas, the displays do more than show content. They help structure the customer journey, giving Sapphire clear digital focal points for brand campaigns, seasonal collections and product-led messaging.
The result is a retail environment where digital signage is built into the fabric of the store, supporting presentation, atmosphere and customer engagement without relying on static print or conventional display formats.
This project shows how digital signage can be used with purpose in retail. The screens are not there for the sake of it. They support the store layout, the brand content and the way customers move through the space
Mike Jeffrey, Consultant, airwave connect
Looking to make digital signage part of the customer experience?
From high-impact LED displays to fully integrated retail environments, airwave connect helps brands use technology with purpose: to shape spaces, support content, and make key moments in the customer journey work harder. If you’re planning a new store, refurbishing an existing space, or exploring how digital signage could improve the way customers experience your brand, talk to us:
connect@airwaveconnect.co.uk or +44 (0)1403 783 483