Dive Brief:

• Giant Eagle has installed technology from Cooler Screens that integrates high-resolution digital screens into refrigerated unit doors at three GetGo convenience stores in the Pittsburgh area and one in Erie, Pennsylvania, the retailer announced in a press release. A fifth GetGo location, in Ravenna, Ohio, will receive the technology in December.
• The screens replace standard cooler doors and can display advertisements and product information while also collecting analytics.
• ​Giant Eagle’s election to install the screens follows its decision to trial other retail technology in its stores, including automated checkout systems and shelf-scanning robots.

Dive Insight:

Giant Eagle has established itself as a trendsetter in the grocery sector by using its stores to test out emerging technologies.

The grocer’s collaboration with Cooler Screens is among several projects Giant Eagle has launched to embrace innovations that show promise for retailers. Following a test that began in 2019, a Pittsburgh-area GetGo in September began commercially operating a system from Grabango that permits shoppers to bypass checkout stations. Giant Eagle is also operating inventory-scanning robots from Simbe Robotics at supermarkets in Akron, Ohio; Cleveland and Pittsburgh.

The arrival of Cooler Screens’ technology in several Giant Eagle convenience stores follows the announcement early this year by Walgreens that it would be deploying the technology at 2,500 U.S. stores following a test that began in 2019. Kroger has also tested the digital doors.

Cooler Screens brings a range of capabilities to retailers. The company’s high-tech doors include sensors that collect data about activity inside and outside the refrigerated cases, allowing them to track inventory, detect where items are placed, measure foot traffic and record customer interactions with products.

While Cooler Screens uses cloud computing technology from Microsoft to manage data collected by its doors, the company emphasizes that its doors do not have access to personal information.

Investors have been showing interest in Cooler Screens’ business. The company raised $80 million in Series C funding from a group that included Verizon, Microsoft, GreatPoint Ventures and Silicon Valley Bank and has brought in more than $100 million in capital, TechCrunch reported in October.