Digital signage should be planned from the very start of a store refurbishment, ideally during the concept and brief phase, before any structural or electrical decisions are locked in. Retailers who treat digital signage as a late addition consistently run into costly surprises: cabling retrofitted through finished walls, screens positioned without sight lines in mind, or content that isn’t ready for opening day. The questions below walk through exactly how to get it right, from brief to launch.
When in the refurbishment timeline should digital signage be planned?
Digital signage planning should begin at the same time as your interior design brief, not after it. The moment floor plans are being drawn and material choices are being made is the moment to define where screens will go, what they will do, and what infrastructure they require. Waiting until construction has started means designing around decisions that should have been shaped by your AV strategy.
In practice, the most effective timeline looks like this: digital signage strategy and placement are agreed during the design phase, technical specifications are handed to the contractor before work begins, and hardware procurement runs in parallel with the build. This keeps lead times from becoming blockers. High-quality commercial displays, media players, and custom mounting solutions can have lead times of several weeks, and ordering late is one of the most common reasons stores miss their opening date.
A useful rule: if your interior designer is presenting mood boards, your AV partner should be in the same room.
What digital signage elements need to be included in a store refurbishment brief?
A complete digital signage brief for a store refurbishment should cover placement and purpose, hardware specifications, infrastructure requirements, software and content management needs, and integration with existing marketing or retail systems. Each element affects the others, so leaving any one out creates gaps that surface later as expensive changes.
- Placement and purpose: Which zones will carry screens, and what is each screen meant to do: brand storytelling, product promotion, wayfinding, or queue management?
- Hardware specifications: Screen size, brightness (especially relevant for window-facing positions), orientation, and whether any interactive elements such as touch are needed.
- Infrastructure: Power outlet positions, data connectivity, cable routing, and any structural requirements for mounting, including wall load ratings for larger installations.
- Software and CMS: Which content management system will run the network, who will manage it, and how frequently content will change.
- Integrations: Connections to loyalty platforms, product databases, pricing systems, or external data feeds that will drive dynamic or personalized content.
- Rollout scope: If this is one of multiple locations, how will the solution scale, and what needs to be standardized across the estate?
How does digital signage affect the structural and electrical planning of a store?
Digital signage has direct implications for electrical load calculations, cable routing, wall and ceiling construction, and in some cases structural reinforcement. These are not minor details: getting them wrong means either expensive remediation work or a compromised installation that underperforms from day one.
On the electrical side, each screen and media player draws power, and larger video walls or LED installations can place significant demands on a store’s electrical supply. Your electrical contractor needs the full hardware specification, including power draw per unit, before the electrical plan is finalized. Dedicated circuits are often needed to avoid interference or overloading.
For cabling, the key question is where signal and data cables will run. In a refurbishment, this is the right moment to install conduit or trunking that keeps cabling hidden and accessible for future maintenance. Retrofitting cable routes through finished walls, ceilings, or floors is significantly more expensive and disruptive than planning them in at the outset.
Mounting is the third factor. A large-format display or a video wall requires a wall or ceiling that can carry the load. If the intended position is a partition wall or a suspended ceiling, structural assessment may be needed. This is a conversation to have with both your AV partner and your contractor before any walls go up.
What’s the difference between digital signage for a full refurbishment versus a phased rollout?
In a full refurbishment, you have the opportunity to design the digital signage infrastructure from scratch: clean routes, purpose-built mounting, and a consistent hardware specification across the store. In a phased rollout, you are adding to or upgrading an existing environment, which means working around constraints and making deliberate choices about what to standardize and what to adapt.
The biggest practical difference is infrastructure. A full refurbishment lets you install cabling, power, and mounting exactly where you need them. A phased rollout often means finding existing routes, accepting some visible cable management, or making compromises on screen placement based on where power already exists.
For retailers managing multiple locations, the phased approach raises an additional question: how do you maintain consistency across stores that are being updated at different times? The answer is to agree on a hardware and software standard at the outset, even before the first store is updated, so that every subsequent location is built to the same specification. This makes content management, maintenance, and future upgrades significantly simpler across the estate.
One point that is often underestimated in phased rollouts: the content management system needs to be able to handle a mixed estate. If some stores are on the new setup and others are not yet updated, your CMS needs to manage both without creating operational complexity for the team running it.
How do you ensure digital signage content is ready for a store opening?
Content readiness for a store opening requires a clear production timeline that runs in parallel with the build, not after it. The most common mistake is treating content as the final step, when in reality it needs to be briefed, produced, tested, and loaded onto the system before the store opens. That process takes time, and it depends on decisions made much earlier in the project.
Start with a content brief that defines what each screen will show, in what format, at what times, and what logic will trigger it. This brief should be agreed as part of the overall refurbishment plan. From there, content production can begin as soon as the brief is signed off; it does not need to wait for the store to be built.
System testing is a step that is frequently rushed. Before opening, every screen should be tested in situ with live content, including any dynamic feeds or integrations. This is when you catch resolution mismatches, timing issues, or integration failures that would otherwise surface in front of customers. Build a testing window of at least one to two weeks into the project plan, not one to two days.
For retailers opening multiple locations simultaneously or in quick succession, a templated content approach, where store-specific details such as location name, opening hours, or local promotions are swapped in automatically, dramatically reduces production time and the risk of errors.
Who should be involved in planning digital signage during a store refurbishment?
Effective digital signage planning in a store refurbishment requires input from marketing, retail operations, IT, the main contractor, and an AV specialist, all in the same conversation, early in the project. When these stakeholders work in silos, decisions made in one area create problems in another.
- Marketing and brand: Define what the screens need to communicate, the tone and visual identity, and how the digital signage connects to wider campaign activity.
- Retail operations: Understand the day-to-day reality of running the store: who will manage content, how often it needs to change, and what operational constraints exist.
- IT: Own the network infrastructure, security requirements, and integration with existing systems such as POS, loyalty platforms, or product databases.
- Main contractor: Responsible for structural and electrical work; they need the AV specification early enough to incorporate it into the build plan.
- AV specialist: Translates the brief into a technical solution, coordinates with the contractor on infrastructure, specifies and procures hardware, and manages installation and commissioning.
The AV specialist’s role is to connect all of these stakeholders around a single, coherent plan. Without that coordination, it is common for the contractor to finish the build before the AV specification is confirmed, leaving the AV team to work around a completed store rather than within a designed one.
How First Impression helps with digital signage in store refurbishments
We work with retailers from the earliest stages of a refurbishment project, joining the brief process, advising on placement and infrastructure, and coordinating directly with contractors so that the build and the AV installation work as one joined-up process. Our end-to-end approach means one partner handles strategy, design, hardware, installation, content, and ongoing management.
- Strategic advice on screen placement, content zones, and hardware specification, aligned to your brand and retail goals
- Technical coordination with your contractor on cabling, power, and mounting requirements before construction begins
- Hardware procurement and installation, including commercial-grade displays, media players, and custom mounting solutions
- Content production and CMS setup, so your screens are ready with the right content on opening day
- Integrations with marketing platforms, product databases, and data feeds for dynamic, relevant content
- Remote monitoring and a 99.9% uptime guarantee across your store estate, whether you are refurbishing one flagship or rolling out across hundreds of locations
You can see examples of how we have done this for A-brands in retail on our project portfolio. If you are planning a store refurbishment and want to make sure digital signage is built in from the start, get in touch with us.