Pros and cons of hiring vs purchasing LED for your retail site
When it comes to today’s retail brands looking to share engaging, digital content in their retail windows or stores, high-resolution LED is often the technology of choice. For a high-impact, attention-grabbing display it’s often the right canvas (alongside smaller tech like HD and 4K screens), to show the latest campaign material and promotions.
But did you know as well as hiring LED, some retail brands are also purchasing their own as a permanent fixture? As experts in AV for the retail industry we advise clients on whether a short or long-term hire, or the purchase of their own screens, is the best option. Here, we wanted to give you some of the advantages and disadvantages of each choice, to help you make an informed decision.
Short-Term LED Hire (under 3 months)
For projects spanning less than three months we usually end up recommending hiring LED. This is due to a few advantages:
Short-term hires are ideal for when you only need, or want, to use digital content during specific periods. For example, for a new campaign, product launch or during seasonal periods such as Christmas
For each new campaign you can upgrade to the latest version of equipment, which means you’ll always have a competitive advantage
With short-term hires you get the full support of the AV company (us!) that you’re hiring it from. This means if there’s an equipment failure, or something needs changing, you have a team on-hand that you can call in, usually 24/7, to help
Content can be updated easily and as many times as required during the hire period. This is something our clients find very useful, particularly when they want to share different campaign content over the course of a few weeks or months
Of course with short-term hires you don’t ever own the equipment, which means you’ll need a new budget for each campaign where you want to use a digital element.
Long-Term LED Hire (3 months - 3 years)
Unlike many AV companies who prioritise hiring LED out for short periods (a week or two at a time), being a retail AV specialist means our business is set up for longer-term hires. This could be anything from three months, to three years, depending on the retail store and campaign in question.
This has many of the same advantages as short-term hire, including access to a team who can step in at any time, the possibility to upgrade whenever anything newer comes on to the market and only being charged for the technology when you’re using it.
However, this still means that you don’t own the equipment and instead will be paying to have it in-store over the duration of your campaign - which could be quite a long time!
Permanent LED Installation (3-5 years)
The final option is to purchase permanent LED. This means the LED display would live in your store 24/7 and be available all year round to display any, and all, content you wish to show. The advantages of purchasing permanent LED are:
You own the equipment outright. This is often a cost-effective option if you know you want to display content regularly, rather than having to hire a new product every time
This may give you a competitive advantage over other stores who don’t have the ability to have “always on” digital content attracting shoppers to store and maximising any social media or promotional campaigns that have already been created
For many of our clients who purchase LED through us we can offer a Service Level Agreement (SLA) on a yearly basis or for a fixed duration, which will help you to have the best of both worlds. Although you own the equipment the SLA will mean you still have support on maintenance and help updating content where needed
While these can all seem like very positive signs to make the investment and purchase your own LED, it’s also important to consider some of the disadvantages of this method:
LED technology changes rapidly, it’s why we’re always investing in new stock for our own rental fleet. If the LED you’ve purchased becomes outdated it’s not easy to upgrade this, unless you purchase a completely new display. This means that the store next door may be using the very latest product, whereas you have one that’s at least a few years older.
To discuss your options when it comes to renting or purchasing LED we’d love to provide you with personalised advice for your retail window or site. Get in touch today to discuss the best options.