“The expansion of the pilot allows us to bring an innovative solution to our stores that brings the power of digital technology to physical retail,” said Richard Ashworth, President of Operations, Walgreens.
CHICAGO (PRWEB)
January 10, 2020
Cooler Screens today announced Walgreens is expanding its deployment of Cooler Screens’ first-of-its-kind digital merchandising and media platform.
Following a successful year-long trial at six locations that received very positive consumer feedback, Walgreens has rolled out the Cooler Screens platform to 50 stores in the greater Chicago area. Upon successful implementation of this roll-out, Cooler Screens will expand its platform into 2,500 Walgreens stores across the U.S.
This expansion, the largest installation of Cooler Screens’ technology, is expected to reach over 75 million consumers monthly, including 2.5 million in-store consumers on a daily basis. By embracing this new technology, Walgreens is pioneering the convergence of physical and digital retail as the first retailer to digitally transform the consumer shopping experience in the cooler aisle.
“We are thrilled to be working with Walgreens to deliver our shared vision for the future of physical retail with hundreds of stores and millions of consumers across the country,” said Cooler Screens CEO and Co-Founder, Arsen Avakian. “The opportunity is to not only delight consumers with new, safe, digitally-powered experiences but also to evolve the business of bricks-and-mortar retail. Working with Walgreens, we are demonstrating the value of this new approach at scale.”
Cooler Screens is a Chicago-based company reimagining the consumer experience in bricks-and-mortar retail. Cooler Screens has developed a proprietary digital merchandizing platform that replaces the traditional cooler doors in the cooler aisle. As a result, consumers experience in-store what they love about shopping on-line. With simplified access to the latest and most relevant information, consumers can now make more informed in-store decisions that best fit their budgets, taste and health preferences. Direct feedback from consumers who have experienced Cooler Screens has been overwhelmingly positive. Surveys from pilot locations reported over 80 percent of respondents thought it was easier to find products and the products were more appealing, and over 90 percent no longer preferred the traditional coolers.
“Walgreens is committed to exploring digital innovation that can deliver new and different experiences for our customers, and Cooler Screens has developed a technology that transforms how customers shop for refrigerated items in the cooler aisle,” said Richard Ashworth, President of Operations, Walgreens. “The expansion of the pilot allows us to bring an innovative solution to our stores that brings the power of digital technology to physical retail.”
The Cooler Screens platform also offers new business opportunities for both retailers and consumer product brands. With Cooler Screens, bricks-and-mortar retailers meet the demands of today’s digitally savvy consumers. Cooler Screens data shows that purchases from the coolers increase, lifting same store sales. Further, retailers are able to gain efficiencies with digitized merchandizing, improve visibility with real-time out-of-stock analytics, and access new revenue streams by entering the digital media business and providing brands access to their massive consumer audiences. This positive business impact for retailers has been clearly demonstrated in Walgreens pilot stores.
Furthermore, product brands are able for the first time to directly digitally engage consumers in the cooler aisle and deliver contextually relevant offerings and messaging at point-of-sale. This new channel allows brands to not only build equity but also influence purchasing and gain timely visibility into promotion engagement and effectiveness. To access these benefits, more than 20 of the top consumer brands have joined the Cooler Screens marketplace including Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, MillerCoors, Tyson, Conagra, Chobani, Red Bull, and Monster.
Cooler Screens is a consumer-safe platform that avoids the privacy risks of other digital commerce platforms by never gathering or storing personally identifiable information. Cooler Screens’ model for digital retail is ‘identity-blind’ and is a leading digital retail technology actively incorporating the global Privacy by Design (PbD) framework developed by international privacy experts and advocates to protect user privacy.
To help build and deliver this pioneering platform, Cooler Screens has established strategic partnerships with global segment leaders including Dover for digital refrigeration infrastructure; Microsoft for cloud, edge computing, IoT and AI; and Verizon for 4G/5G connectivity, security, and managed services. Other key technology partners include BOE and Foxconn, the world’s largest high-tech manufacturers of LED/LCD components and electronics.
About Cooler Screens
Cooler Screens is reimagining the consumer experience in bricks-and-mortar retail. The Chicago-based company has developed a proprietary digital merchandizing and media platform that replaces the traditional cooler doors in retail stores. The result is consumers experience in-store what they love about shopping on-line. Enjoying simplified access to the latest and most relevant information, consumers can now make more informed in-store decisions to best fit their budgets, taste and health preferences. The result for retailers and packaged goods makers is a dynamic way to increase sales by helping consumers make more informed decisions. For more information, please visit http://www.coolerscreens.com.
Share article on social media or email: