Wal-Mart Canada to get narrowcasting digital displays

As Wal-Mart continues to inch ever closer to knowing our very thoughts as we peruse its aisles, the mega-corporation has announced plans to install narrowcasting digital displays in its Canadian locales. Reportedly, EK3 Technologies' subsidiary company ShopCast "has signed an exclusive agreement to install EK3 digital merchandising solutions in Wal-Mart Canada stores," which could mean that spots would air based on current buying trends or inventory levels. This dynamic approach to filling customers' heads with ideas of what to purchase will supposedly "enable [Wal-Mart] to strategically reach out to guests in-store to inform, entertain and help save them money." There's no word as to when this could hit US-based Wally Worlds, but it probably won't be long.

[Via InformationWeek, image courtesy of USA Today]

[FordGTGuy @ Oct 10th 2007 5:20AM]

The heart is in entertainment section next to the TVs.

[Nex @ Oct 10th 2007 6:32AM]

haha i remember that episode.. kicked ass!! lol

[Carbonize @ Oct 10th 2007 5:27AM]

Yes because we all know that big companies spend fortunes on making you spend less in their store, honest.

Subliminal messages? Whats that?

[chappers2000 @ Oct 10th 2007 6:33AM]

We've already got these in UK Tesco stores. More-so in the larger "Extra" ones.

I find them a bit distracting really, if I'm honest.

[Yojimbo @ Oct 10th 2007 1:03PM]

ARE you honest?

[Jamesology @ Oct 10th 2007 3:29PM]

This does bring a whole new subject of honesty. One must go to Care-A-Lot to find the truth.

[Dan @ Oct 10th 2007 7:15AM]

Wal-Mart produce is absolute garbage. You'd think a company with that much money would set up their own stock and delivery service, but instead they rely on the same company that does our rush-orders.

[NeoteriX @ Oct 10th 2007 7:28AM]

I for one, welcome our Minority Report-esque, iris-scanning, individually-targeting, brain-washing, Advertising-based, Wal-Mart overlords.

[Wwhat @ Oct 10th 2007 10:21AM]

They knew you were going to say that, in fact they made you say that without you realizing it.

[Mike @ Oct 10th 2007 7:58AM]

They already have about 50-70 displays around my super walmart in Robinson, PA.

[Scooter @ Oct 10th 2007 8:06AM]

more stuff to ignore

[mike @ Oct 10th 2007 8:18AM]

That's new? My local WalMart has those all over. It's a recent one, buitl maybe 2-3 years ago.

[Harvey @ Oct 10th 2007 8:44AM]

Isn't Engadget being a little hard on Wal-Mart's marketing efforts? As I was reading about "This dynamic approach to filling customers' heads with ideas of what to purchase'" I noticed the article was framed by a Becks beer ad, a Microsoft ad, and the obligatory University of Phoenix ad.

[Andy S. @ Oct 10th 2007 9:48AM]

I didn't even see those ads, thanks to the Mozilla Adblock plugin.

But since Mozilla plugins don't work in meatspace, I guess I'll just have to continue my habit of never, ever shopping at Wal-mart.

[Shibathedog @ Oct 10th 2007 9:24AM]

they have these in the wal-mart where I live. I'm not sure if they do all that stuff though, they probably just play random ads, but DAMN are they weird. Since there are so many so close to each other they have this weird echo effect, and you feel like your in city 17 or something hah.

[westy @ Oct 10th 2007 9:28AM]

They don't mean just plain ads will show on the displays; the system monitors how much of an item there is and how much is being bought to display ads that will drive sales on slow items "of value" to the customer. If they run out of an item, the ads will stop displaying for that item.

It's so much more than a TV with commercials playing from a DVD or VCR.

[h8rain @ Oct 10th 2007 9:48AM]

I guess are among the few that understand what they are trying to do.....

Personally I think it is a very cool idea. I mean they are going to dynamically display ads on items based on sales/stock level. Like it or not, that is an out-of-box approach that no one has tried yet (at least applying the data trends). I mean a manager could could look at an inventory report and decide to advertise that product, but instead a program is analyzing the data. Then it is automatically displaying ads for that product.

[Wwhat @ Oct 10th 2007 10:26AM]

Over here you on a regular basis see ads on TV for products only to find no shop stocks them at all, seemingly the companies don't even have a distributor and yet show ads, I don't think many ad pushers and maker care if the product is actually in stock/available/wanted.
It's like those spam emails that forget to put how to get what they spam, they are so deep into the act of spamming itself that the purpose of the ad becomes irrelevant. (BTW, please never buy from spammers, thanks.)

[eladd27 @ Oct 10th 2007 9:36AM]

They've got these at the WalMart in Belton, MO and KC, MO...doesn't bother me at all to have them around..

[Fuzzmanmatt @ Oct 10th 2007 10:00AM]

My local Meijer store has this crap... It's just one more thing to ignore, one more thing to frustrate the people running the place, and one more thing keeping me from remembering what I went there for in the first place.

[Wwhat @ Oct 10th 2007 10:28AM]

I like how the picture has the shoppers actually look at the screen, very believable..

[Voices.com CEO @ Oct 10th 2007 10:45AM]

We've worked with EK3 and they are an outstanding group of technology professionals. Their systems power the largest narrowcast network in Canada, that of Tim Horton's coffee shops. The displays are extremely powerful considering your viewing targeted messages at the point of purchase.

[Steve @ Oct 11th 2007 12:17PM]

If Walmart really wanted to free me up to get my shopping done in their store, I wouldn't have to spend 30 minutes in the return line when I have a return. These people SUCK in the biggest way, and my body goes through a major energy drain everytime I walk in the store. It really is cheaper to pay more somewhere else! Life is short, don't waste it at Walmart.

[dj-kenpo @ Oct 10th 2007 12:26PM]

my buddy chris works at that company . I guess he's working on that. sounds just as obnoxious as the screens they have at timhortons, but for the middle scale canadian cities (think endless suburbia type cities) they love this shit becuase it makes them feel high tech. I hate suburbia.

[dj-kenpo @ Oct 11th 2007 3:54PM]

in retrospect everything about this comment should be ignored and deleted.

[Flalex @ Oct 10th 2007 3:33PM]

they just installed a bunch of regular flatpanels at the aisle ends at our store, wonder if this is them or something else (North Bay Ontario)

[Magallanes @ Oct 10th 2007 5:28PM]

OBEY!, Marry and procreate!

creepy. :-/

[ratnikh @ Oct 10th 2007 9:29PM]

While I appreciate the clever use of technology to try to sell me things I don't want or need that they have a surplus of... (/sarcasm) I find those displays annoying most of the time. The Wal-Mart by me has TV's playing ads all the time, and for the most part they are either intrusively loud, or placed so high that they are generally not visible. The grocery stores have also begun placing lcd screen at checkout that play some sort of food television, ostensibly helping me make tasty, nutritious meals with the foods in aisles 5, 8 and 14, which, (oh surprise!) happen to be on sale right now!

Most advertising is annoying and intrusive. On broadcast television it's the price we pay in the current corporate structure to watch without paying a fee. When it begins to oversaturate to the point where they are advertising the products with clever ads *above* the products, it's going a bit far.

This is corporate thinktank stuff, without much thought behind it. Here's hoping that someone finds a clever way to "assist" with the in-store ad display process as it swiftly becomes wholly networked.

[Lug @ Oct 10th 2007 10:05PM]

Be nice if first the Walmarts in Canada would have stuff in stock, and not get things 2 weeks late.
Most Canadian stores blow balls as in service and stock wise, just that we as Canadians are dumb as fuck and settle for this crappy service. Hurray for interweb purchases. So let them stick the tv's in stores, probably have to end up selling them cause they're out of stock of all other tv's.

[John C @ Oct 16th 2007 2:32AM]

Hmmm. Benefit to the retailer aside (which there clearly is), I wonder about the environmental footprint of these new energy sucking screens vs. that of the 'old fashioned' printed banners.

-"When I was your age, packaging and signage were still images"
-"What's a still image?"