There are three major problems with glass-door refrigerators used in supermarkets: First, they do not consume enough power. Secondly, the transparent glass allows shoppers to easily see what's inside. Third, they have no ability to detain shoppers.
Solving all three problems is Cooler Screens, a Chicago-based startup that has raised $100 million in funding. The company produces huge displays that can be installed in front of the refrigerator door and can play videos. In 2019, the company negotiated with Walgreens to launch these products in its 50 stores in Chicago. Last year, they announced that they would open 2,500 Walgreens stores across the country. According to reports, Walgreens rival Kroger also signed an agreement.
If these screens just show the actual inventory of each "refrigerator", but with larger labels and clearer price tags, I can call it a victory for the visually impaired.
On the contrary, Cooler Screens regards these as "media platforms" that can impact consumers' senses through overlays and animations so that they can sell, sell, and sell. Imagine seeing this when you want to find a specific item in one of the refrigerators:
In fact, I just thought of another important value that these provide. In dystopian TV shows like "Mr. Robot" or "Money Robbery", hackers will suddenly capture every screen in the world to broadcast their information, and never have access to the shoppers behind the store. The problem is solved.
What an illogical waste of energy, raw materials and resources! We also have these in some places in Europe. Japan installed these on some of their winches in our previous years. Maybe the current shortage of components, resources and capacity will kill these gimmicks, but I don't have much hope.
In the past 10 years, we have conducted multiple trials for our customers, and they have generally led to a decline in sales. People who stand and watch will eventually lose their willingness to shop, and bystanders don't want to open the door to pick up the goods to disturb others' watching. Not to mention the cost of content creation (the cost of digital content is higher than the static signage they are accustomed to paying, and the TV commercials of the 1930s will get old after the 100th rotation). But inventory tracking? If they crack, they are the winner.
At the same time, they are closing stores in non-white areas of San Francisco because "shoplifting" cost them a thousand dollars a month.
I want to know if we are evolving to two types of humans, one is people who cannot exist without a screen and are adapting to almost becoming robots, and those of us who push the screen and interact with them are more like—"Okay Well, I have to wash the dishes today and look at the Internet."
I saw one of the refrigerators in my local liquor store. This is actually very cool. But that is a person. Can't imagine that there is a row of rotating ads.
I am a failed industrial designer. I was born in New York and thought I would die there, but I gave up New York a few years ago and lived with my wife on a farm in the country. We have six dogs.
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