An accident waiting to happen?: Major Cooler Screens and Walgreens retail technology deal collapses
A test by Walgreens of technology that replaced some cooler doors with digital screens playing ads has ended up in court.
According to a report by The Wall Street Journal, the supplier, Cooler Screens, is suing the pharmacy chain, saying that Walgreens binned a US roll-out of the internet connected doors and demanded their removal from stores.
Walgreens, meanwhile, insists that the tech didn’t work. It ended its agreement with Cooler Screens in February, according to court documents.
When then CEO Rosalind Brewer toured Walgreens stores featuring the digital screens, she is said to have made the comment, "It's like being on the strip in Las Vegas."
In a LinkedIn post, Brittain Ladd, a supply chain consultant and former Amazon executive, said: “I don't like the screens either and I applaud Ms. Brewer's decision to have them removed from Walgreens stores.”
“In fact, I do more than applaud Ms. Brewer, I give her a standing ovation. And yes, installing the screens does turn a store into a mini-Las Vegas. In addition, the screens make me feel like I am in Tokyo, Japan or Hong Kong.”
He added: “The agreement between Cooler Screens and Walgreens has a feel of sleaziness about it that I've never liked. It appears to be a classic case of a former executive leaving their employer, starting a company, and then returning to the employer to "cut a deal" which results in the former employer buying products or services.”
“In the case of Cooler Screens, Greg Wasson, is the former CEO of Walgreens. Obviously, Walgreens Boots Alliance board of directors didn't find anything wrong with doing business with their former CEO, but I would have never allowed an agreement to be signed. I strongly encourage the next CEO of Walgreens to continue with the suit and remove every screen from their stores. All of them.”
Cooler Screens claims that delays in rolling out the technology made it difficult to sell the advertising space to some media buyers, who didn’t want to advertise on a small scale, and that Walgreens didn’t come through with all the customer data it had promised to help target ads.
Ladd concluded: “As the former CEO of Walgreens, Wasson should have understood that Walgreens IT systems remain in the Dark Ages, and depending on the retailer for data was not a recipe for success. In my opinion, the screens aren’t worth the cost nor do they add as much value as claimed.”
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