Digital window display: reach passers-by, even when you are closed

A printed poster fades, peels and only changes at the next print run. A screen behind your shop window shows today’s offer, stays readable in direct sunlight and keeps talking to passers-by once the shutter is down. You change the message from your browser, in minutes.

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Window display

What a screen changes in a shop window

A shop window is a retailer’s first salesperson: it works around the clock, unpaid. It just has to say something current.

Shop owner updating from a tablet the content shown on her window display

Digital window displays, in practice

A digital window display is a professional screen placed behind the glass and connected to an online platform. You upload your visuals, you decide when each one runs, and the display updates remotely — no reprinting, no ladder.

  • ✓Your current offer, changed in a few minutes
  • ✓A display that stays readable in daylight, even facing south
  • ✓A message that carries on at night, shutter down
  • ✓Video, a carousel or a still visual, depending on the moment

It all runs from E-MANAGER, our digital signage platform: one dashboard, whether you have one window or thirty.

A window that works

One screen, three uses across the day

These are not three screens but one, with three scheduled contents. The platform changes the display according to the time, with nobody touching it.

In broad daylight

In broad daylight

This is when a shop window is hardest to hold: the sun hits the glass and washes the picture out. A high-brightness screen stays readable where a consumer TV simply disappears.

  • ✓Higher brightness, built for glass
  • ✓Anti-reflective treatment
  • ✓Your new arrivals, changed weekly
At peak footfall

At peak footfall

Early evening concentrates the passers-by. That is the slot for offers: you schedule the promotion ahead of time and it appears on its own at the right moment.

  • ✓Scheduling by time of day
  • ✓Offers, sales, events
  • ✓Short video or still visual
At night, shutter down

At night, shutter down

Your window does not close with the shop. The screen takes over: opening hours, click and collect, out-of-hours number. That is visibility time at no extra cost.

  • ✓Opening hours and practical details
  • ✓Pointing to your online shop
  • ✓Scheduled switch-off if you prefer

Choosing the hardware

Which screen for which window?

The deciding factor is not size, it is brightness, measured in candelas per square metre (cd/m²). A living-room TV tops out around 300: behind sunlit glass it turns into a black mirror. The full range is on the screens page.

Window situation Brightness to aim for Type of screen What to know
Shaded window, narrow street 700 to 1,000 cd/m² Standard professional display Cheapest option, fine if the sun never hits the glass
Window exposed part of the day 1,500 to 2,500 cd/m² High-brightness display The most common choice on a high street
South-facing, direct sunlight 3,000 cd/m² and above Dedicated high-brightness window display Reinforced anti-reflective treatment and cooling
Large facade, read from afar LED panel Indoor or outdoor LED wall Sized by pixel pitch, not by inches
Static content, very low power Electronic ink E-PAPER display Draws no power while the image stays unchanged

Size follows reading distance

Someone walking two metres away reads a 43-inch display comfortably. To be seen from the opposite pavement or from a car, allow 55 to 75 inches, or an LED panel if the facade is wide. In portrait, the screen takes up less of the glass and still lets people see into the shop.

Content

What you show in your window

You build the visuals in the EMITY built-in editor — and, if your teams already use them, in Canva or Adobe Express.

Your offers and promotions

The visual for the campaign that is running, replaced as soon as the campaign changes. No more out-of-date poster in the window.

Your practical information

Opening hours, closing days, payment methods, out-of-hours number: what passers-by look for when the shop is shut.

Your products and prices

A selection, a price, availability. On a restaurant front, the screen replaces the chalkboard and the laminated menu.

See the menu board →

A short video

A few seconds of movement catch the eye far better than a still image. The platform takes your videos as readily as your visuals.

Different content per window

With several outlets, each window can carry its own message, or the whole network the same one, from a single dashboard.

A display that does not drift

The screen restarts on its own after a power cut, and the platform flags a window that has gone quiet. You do not hear about the fault from a customer.

Sectors

What retailers do with it

The use changes with the trade — and often a whole page is devoted to it.

Retail

New arrivals, sales, loyalty schemes. The window becomes a campaign medium that keeps pace with the collections.

Digital signage for shops →

Estate agency

Properties for sale run in the window and update straight from the agency software, with no printed card to replace.

Screens in estate agencies →

Restaurants

The day’s menu, set meals, allergens. A change of dish shows in the window and inside at the same time.

The dynamic menu board →

Getting started

How it goes in

A first window takes half a day, installation included. The ones after that are duplicated from the platform.

1

The right screen, in the right place

A high-brightness display in portrait or landscape, floor-standing or suspended against the glass. EMITY is compatible with every manufacturer, so a screen already in place can stay.

2

The player, or the app

An E-BOX player plugs in behind the screen. If your screen is a connected model — Samsung Tizen, LG webOS or Android — the E-SOFT app installs on it directly, with no box.

3

Your visuals, once

You build them in the editor, or import what you already have. A template gets reused: only the text and the price change from one week to the next.

4

Schedule it, then leave it alone

You decide which content runs at which hour, and on which days. The window follows the calendar on its own, including switching off overnight.

Trusted by

EMITY in a few figures

A French software company since 2018, sold through a network of certified resellers across France and Europe.

+7,000

screens connected

+1,000

customer accounts

+130

reseller partners

+20

countries

FAQ

Your questions about digital window displays

Brightness is the deciding factor. A sunlit window needs a high-brightness display; a shaded one is fine with a standard professional screen. At night the problem reverses: too bright dazzles, so the platform automatically dims the display. Since EMITY works with every manufacturer, the choice of model stays open — we advise on it based on how your window is actually exposed.

Three families coexist. The high-brightness LCD covers the large majority of retail windows. The LED panel takes over on wide facades and long viewing distances. Electronic ink suits content that rarely changes, since it draws no power between two image changes. The software is the same in all three cases.

Yes: screen, player, software and support can come together through a certified reseller near you. You do not have to assemble the parts yourself or juggle several suppliers. A 3-month trial lets you measure real usage before committing.

Yes, and it is often the most effective content: a few seconds of movement stop the eye far better than a still image. The platform takes your videos as readily as your visuals, and you alternate them in the same loop. One practical note: a window is watched without sound, so everything has to work through the picture.

It is the use of a shop’s glazed surface as a medium aimed at the street. Historically done with posters and vinyl, it now runs on screens: the message becomes editable remotely, schedulable by time of day, and able to carry video.

The cost breaks down into the screen, the player if the screen is not a connected model, and the software subscription. The subscription is chosen per screen, on the Standard, Premium or Excellence plan, so you can start with one window and extend later. The detail is on the subscriptions page.

Rarely. EMITY is compatible with every manufacturer: a connected Samsung (Tizen), LG (webOS) or Android screen takes the E-SOFT app, and any screen with an HDMI input works with an E-BOX player. The only real limit is brightness: a consumer TV will stay hard to read behind sunlit glass.

No, and that is your call. Time scheduling switches the display off overnight if you want, or leaves it running dimmed on an information loop. For content that almost never changes, electronic ink draws no power between updates.

Let us see how it looks in your own window

A 30-minute demo is enough to judge. We start from your window, how it is exposed and what you want to show in it.