Digital signage analytics: from Proof of Play to sales impact
Digital signage analytics is the process of connecting playback data, device performance, audience presence, and business outcomes. While a report confirming file playback is essential, it does not yet answer whether the campaign had the chance to reach the shopper, nor whether it influenced sales.
At a glance
- Proof of Play confirms playback execution, not human contact with the advert.
- Proof of presence adds data on footfall and presence within the display zone.
- POS data enables the transition from media reporting to evaluating business impact.
- The most robust measurement model separates delivery, audience, context, and outcome.
Four levels of measurement maturity
| Level | What we measure | Example data | Business decision |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Delivery | Whether the asset was played | ad play, timestamp, media player, screen, location | Whether the campaign was delivered to plan |
| 2. Presence | Whether footfall occurred in the zone | footfall, dwell time, presence by the screen | Whether the display has genuine contact potential |
| 3. Context | Under what conditions playback occurred | time of day, weather, queue length, product availability | When and where content performs best |
| 4. Outcome | What changed following the campaign | SKU sales, basket value, conversion, sales lift | Whether the investment delivered results |
Proof of Play is not yet proof of contact
A solid Proof of Play report should include campaign and creative IDs, exact playback timestamp, spot duration, screen and zone, location, media player status, and error details. This ensures marketing, the retailer, and the advertiser work from a single source of truth. The report should enable analysis of plan delivery, SOV, pacing, playback dropouts, and location variances.
The next step is proof of presence. Aggregated footfall counters, sensors, or computer vision can indicate whether anyone was present in the display zone during playback, how many people passed nearby, and the estimated contact time. This does not involve personal identification. For the vast majority of applications, anonymous footfall and presence data are entirely sufficient.
Connecting playback with sales
The simplest correlation matches playback time and location against POS sales data. However, one should not automatically attribute every shift in sales to screen impact. Performance is also shaped by pricing, stock availability, merchandising, seasonality, weather, and competitor activity. Therefore, a more mature measurement framework employs test and control groups, baseline periods, and like-for-like stores.
In reporting, it is best practice to separate technical, media, and business metrics. Player uptime and completion rate indicate delivery quality. Estimated impressions, OTS, and dwell time describe the audience. Sales lift, transaction volume, and average basket value capture the outcome. Only this multi-layered model provides management, marketing, and media partners with a common language.
The Nedilo perspective
Measurement architecture should be designed alongside the screen network rollout. Nedilo integrates playback logs, device status, zones, contextual inputs, and optional POS data to evolve reporting from Proof of Play into Proof of Delivery, Presence, and Campaign Lift.
Looking to build a measurement model for your network? Book an analytics workshop.
Book a call about your networkFrequently asked questions
Does Proof of Play confirm that an advert was viewed?
No. It confirms proper playback. Proving engagement with an advert requires additional presence measurement or audience estimation.
Can sales be measured following a digital signage campaign?
Yes, provided playback data can be linked to POS and other factors influencing performance are controlled.
Which KPIs are most important at the start?
Uptime, completed ad plays, completion rate, playback errors, schedule compliance, and footfall in the zone.
Does analytics require cameras?
No. You can leverage CMS logs, POS data, footfall counters, sensors, and aggregated datasets.
About the author and methodology
This material was prepared by the Nedilo expert team based on digital signage and in-store audio deployments in retail, QSR, petrol and commercial venues across Europe, as well as public industry standards (including IAB Europe, EDPB guidance and Google Search documentation). We verify recommendations in multi-location projects and update them whenever standards change.
Related articles
In-store retail media measurement according to IAB: ad plays, impressions, OTS, and store zones
Measuring in-store retail media requires shared definitions of the display medium, zone, playout, and audience. Without them, retailers, advertisers, and agencies ma...
How to Measure Digital Signage Campaign Sales Lift: A/B Testing and Control Stores
Sales lift is the incremental sales growth that can be reliably attributed to a campaign above the expected baseline without it. A simple 'before and after' sales co...
Digital Signage Dashboard for Marketing, IT, and Operations: The KPIs That Truly Matter
An effective digital signage dashboard is not a wall of charts. It should swiftly address the needs of each specific role: marketing wants to know whether the campai...