Should Wal-Mart Digital Signage Use Near-Time News, Weather, POS Data?
Written by Evan SchumanMay 18th, 2010
It's 9:17 PM and customers in a Boston grocery store are wrapping up their shopping when some Blackberries and iPhones start vibrating the news of a key sports loss of the beloved local Red Sox against the rival New York Yankees. As frowns appear from frozen foods to the AAA battery endcap displays, all of the digital signs start flashing out messages of condolence, suggesting that shoppers commiserate with a case of Sam Adams. "We'll get 'em next time," the sympathetic store displays digitally declare.
Traditionally, in-store digital signage has been used for the mass-broadcast of commercials set by the chain and, sometimes, tweaked regionally. But why not make the content truly unique to a store, dictated by local weather, sporting events or near-time POS activity?, asks Michael Hiatt, who ran Wal-Mart's in-store media program until last year.
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