We now have more details on Cooler Screens, an under-the-rader Chicago startup led by several well-known local business executives who are looking to change the way brands market to customers in-store.
Cooler Screens puts digital screens---along with embedded cameras and sensors---on cooler doors inside retail stores to show shoppers what's inside and let marketers serve targeted ads to customers. The startup's cameras can determine the approximate age and gender of the shopper, and then provide ads on the digital screen based on what the shopper may be likely to purchase, according to a story today in the Wall Street Journal.
The startup is piloting its technology with Walgreens, who's testing the digital cooler doors at a store in Chicago. Walgreens plans to bring the pilot test to stores in San Francisco, Manhattan and Seattle later this month, according to the WSJ.
Cooler Screens is co-founded by Argo Tea Founder Arsen Avakian, Livongo Health founder Glen Tullman, former Walgreens CEO Greg Wasson, and former VSA Partners executive Jamie Koval.
Chicago Inno was first to report on Cooler Screens' existence back in 2017, and it was one of our 18 Startups to Watch in 2018.
Cooler Screens has raised around $10 million in funding, according to the WSJ, and its most recent round was led by Microsoft.
Cooler Screens has a handful of companies testing ads on its technology, including MillerCoors and Conagra. MillerCoors Senior Marketing Manager Brooke Roller told the WSJ that the startup “gives us the ability to dynamically influence the shopper at the point of purchase and get them to add beer to the basket."
With Cooler Screens, retail stores now have the type of customer data that online advertisers have had for years. If a younger woman approaches a cooler, for example, stores can present her with an ad for a product that's likely to resonate with someone of her age and gender. While commonplace in the digital advertising world, it's a new concept in brick-and-mortar retail, and one that presents potential privacy concerns. Cooler Screens told the WSJ that it only stores anonymous metadata on the demographics of shoppers and "doesn’t store or transmit image data or unique identifying information about shoppers." Walgreens has a privacy statement and a concierge nearby to answer questions about the product.
