In 2014, Wasson announced his retirement from Walgreens as CEO and president amid a management shakeup as the company was merging with European retailer Alliance Boots GmbH. Walgreens customers gave the doors mixed reviews, according to media accounts.Ĭooler Screens said in a statement that “third-party consumer surveys taken earlier this year show that 79% of respondents reported that in-store digital advertising positively impacted their shopping experience, while only 6% said it had a negative effect.” “We are disappointed that Cooler Screens is falsely claiming that anything other than their failure to perform was the basis for the termination of our contractual relationship,” Walgreens said in its statement. Join the discussion for this post on our forums.Cooler Screens said it spent $45 million making and installing doors in the first 700 stores, $88 million on doors that haven’t been installed, and more than $100 million on third-party vendors. Walgreens was a founding retail partner and they are currently rolling out the technology into 2500 stores. But Cooler Screens’ targeted digital ads deliver at the “moment of truth,” Avakian said, right as consumers decide which product to pull out of the fridge. The Cooler Screens ecosystem includes retail partners, the brand partners, and technology partners such as Microsoft that power screen and cooler functionality. Traditionally, in-store advertising has been limited to options like signs, promotions and prominent placement on shelves. Cooler Screens CEO Avakian said he developed the concept after watching in-store customers whip out their phones to find product information and reviews.Avakian said the company aims to bring its digital displays to a broad range of retailers including those in beauty, consumer electronics and home improvement. Currently the startup has about 10,000 screens in stores, which are viewed by approximately 90 million consumers monthly, according to the company.The tech provides stores with an additional revenue stream and a way to modernize the shopping experience. The screens, which were developed by the startup Cooler Screens, use a system of motion sensors and cameras to display what’s inside the doors - as well as product information, prices, deals and, most appealing to brands, paid advertisements.And some shoppers absolutely hate it ( CNN) Walgreens replaced some fridge doors with screens. The digital cooler screens at Walgreens made me watch an ad before it allowed me to know which door held the frozen pizzas- Elwood Blues December 31, 2021 “90%+ of consumers no longer prefer traditional glass doors,” reads a statement on the front page of Cooler Screens’ website.

Cooler Screen’s controversial tech actually appears to have been rolled out at some stores years ago, but recent complaints from shoppers over social media have drawn renewed attention toward what many seem to think is a very, very stupid idea. Walgreens and other retailers have begun swapping out their traditional, glass-paneled freezers with high-tech models from Cooler Screens that feature a digital display instead, a seemingly neat idea if it weren’t for the fact that shoppers can no longer see inside and may even have to wait for an ad to stop playing before getting a real idea of what’s behind the door. The end times are surely here, as even something as trivial as grabbing a bottle of Coke or Gatorade from a store fridge has turned out to be an insufferable task.

Walgreens cooler screens