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Wal-Mart TV tunes up targeted ads

MARINA STRAUSS

Globe and Mail Update

Latest comment posted at 12:05 PM EDT 30/10/06

In-store screens to show product ads that can be tailored to the clientele ...Read the full article

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  1. Marc D from Canada writes: I love the comment 'paradigm shift'. It's no such thing. It's a simple and basic extension of advertising billboards in stores, combined with shills trying to get you buy more and more and more, whether you actually need it or not. Again, technology gets over-hyped while people ignore the real problem that Walmart represents.
  2. Tom Randall from Winnipeg, Canada writes: Phase two of the project with involve retinal scanning of customers and beaming individualized commercials directly to specific customers. Good morning Mr. Randall
  3. Chevalier Malfait from Toronto, Canada writes: Phase three will involve installing TV monitors so that Wal-Mart employees know they're being watched, so they can forget about taking breaks and the company can avoid any nasty future lawsuits. Memo to world: Shut Wal-Mart down. Now.
  4. Andrew Horberry from Toronto, Canada writes: Of course, if you had an RFID tag embedded in your Wal-mart frequent shopper's card - or any other card for that matter - it wouldn't just be 'Hello Mr Randall', it would be 'We've got a great offer on that stuff you bought a caseload of just two months ago, check out aisle 143 where Brad will be happy to help you'.
  5. Timothy Nessus from Somewhere, Canada writes: Great! More noise that won't let me do my shopping in peace and quietness.....
  6. Stude Ham from Outremont, Canada writes: once again the human sales person has been replaced by some artifice of the digital technologies. as for that kind of obnoxious distraction which can be seen at many gas pumping outlets it is always ignored by me. now why did i come to this store?
  7. Stu S from Ottawa, Canada writes: Wow, one million people a day shop at Wal - Mart. Thats just disgusting. Doesn't anyone realize that everything is so cheap beacuse it's made by Asian children. Way to support those ten year old workers!
  8. James Tod from Vancouver, Canada writes: Why don't I shop at Walmart again??? hmmmm...
  9. Ellen McCully from Sarnia, Canada writes: As we speak a Wal-Mart superstore is being erected in my community, a population of 70,000.
    This store will be open 24 hours a day and sell everything under the sun. I’m at a loss to understand how my community can support this endeavour and what effect it will have on the rest of our local retail businesses. By default, most of the jobs on that pay level will be absorbed by Wal-Mart as well. What precarious position does this leave my community in? When will we learn?
  10. Carlos Costa from Newmarket, writes: This technology will allow Wal-mart to create more revenue, and use that revenue to become more efficient and further reducing their pricing which will increase their dominance in this market. Wal-mart is like a fast moving train that is gaining steam and will eventually wipe out call retailers in it's path if this is allowed to continue. We'll be waving good bye to Zellers in less than 4 years.
  11. Tine Cruickshank from Canada writes: I don't think that these ads are more targeted than the ads we expose ourselves to everyday. I think they will just be more overt at least there will be no mistake that everything that comes across that screen is an ad. Pretty soon, people will stop looking at it. I mean, because you knew it was an ad do you really remember what the banner at the top of this page was trying to get you to do?

    It's when people can't tell that it's an ad that I get worried.
  12. i. ignatius from Mt. Pleasant, Canada writes: hey #4 ... that's the beauty of opt-in loyalty card systems. The more you shop, the more you save, and the better tailored the savings will be to your needs. I would be happy to have an RFID chip on a card that tracks the fact that I purchase more Baco Noir wine than other types, and hence, that the LCBO can give me a volume discount over time on my common purchase. I don't care that a bottle of vodka is on sale, as i don't touch that stuff. knock a buck off the bottle of Baco for me! So the 'tracking' of customers does have merit, as long as you're aware and you opt in for that level of tracking. those that refuse tracking will simply pay the higher prices that subsidize this system. Walmart is the first mainstream retail company with the moola to implement such a solution, and don't be surprised when EVERYONE in the retail environment jumps on the bandwagon. The cost of this hardware is so inexpensive today, it actually does make sense to the bottom line of retailers! And if humans could do the work that technology does, at the same price level as what technology offers, than humans would be used to perform the same work. However, i doubt that any single human can follow me around long enough to track my purchasing habits in as cost effective a manner. Think of the 'hand in my pocket' commercial to imagine the human equivalent following you around watching your every purchase manually :-) Thank you for shopping at [insert your favourite store name here]
  13. Patrick Dunn from London, Canada writes: Great a new technology (well sort of) to help sales. I hope they can sell even more product and therefore increase the size of their orders so I can enjoy even lower prices! To the posters above: Fine don't shop there. My money goes to the lowest asker. I don't shop with charity in mind! You probably don't either!
  14. Valerie Spentzos from Vancouver, Canada writes: Just one more reason never to enter a Wal-mart store ---- a place I wouldn't go near in a million years, and can't believe people actually shop there.
  15. David K from Guelph, Canada writes: Never mind Mr Randall, how about 'resistance is futile, you will be assimilated'. Technology in and of itself is not a bad thing but the use here is simply to pry more money out of the wallets of shoppers who can't afford most of what they are buying in the first place, this is impulse buying gone mad. As to those who say 'my loyalty is to the lowest price', there is a greater cost here that the entire economy will eventually be paying in lost jobs and services. Wal-Mart? :-P
  16. Roop Misir from Toronto, Canada writes: Anything for boosting sales and the bottomline, eh? Long live consumerism capitalism!!
  17. Chevalier Malfait from Toronto, Canada writes: #13 Patrick Dunn: As a matter of fact, I do shop with 'charity' in mind--charity in the sense of its Latin root, *caritas*, 'lovingkindness.' This being a quality that the 19th-century, 'workers have no rights' Wal-Mart bosses seem to lack. As for saving money--certainly a goal I support--there are other outlets, such as Costco and numerous dollar stores, which offer low prices without treating employees like feces, and which don't run every single small business out of a community. It's not an 'either-or' situation. Again, it is my hope that Wal-Mart either changes its ways, or gets shut down by the increasing number of people refusing to shop there.
  18. Gerry Vee from Winnipeg, Canada writes: To posters 12 & 13. You seem to believe that these sorts of systems are intended to benefit you. Sorry, they aren't. They're meant to increase profits for the company. I'd rather pay 10% more for items like I might buy at Walmart and see the money go to a local owner or at least a canadian owner, rather than continue to pour money into the Walton vault, already jammed way too full of cash made off the backs of many under-valued employees and illegal workers.
  19. Bob Rollheiser from Canada writes: Childern in third world countrys have to eat too. If they can earn a living such as it may be, in factorys supplying the opulant west, better than posing for various charity's tv adds. Given that western civilisation no longer values work, who is going to make the products we demand? The kids working at McDonalds? As Christmas approaches, Ebeneezer Scrooge's question about work houses is given a contemporary answer.
  20. Helen Rez from Victoria BC, Canada writes: We have renamed this retail giant that gobbles up local businesses and forces suppliers into near-bankruptcy. In our house, we call it Mall-Wart. We vote with our dollars and never shop there. (We also boycott McDonald's, which we call Rotten Ronnie's.)

    #13 Patrick Dunn, please watch the newly released documentary 'Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Prices' available at your local video/dvd rental outlet. You may change your mind about shopping at the Wart.

    Mall-Wart is a wonderful example of the ugly underbelly of globalization.
  21. Lloyd W. from T Town (not Toronto), Canada writes: #14, Yes, people do actually shop there. They are more concerned over saving 3 cents on an item than they are about saving their own jobs.
  22. i. ignatius from Mt. Pleasant, Canada writes: #15 ... wow ... you say at this technology is used to 'simply to pry more money out of the wallets of shoppers who can't afford most of what they are buying in the first place' ... what on earth is that saying about our population? that all we need is a shiny glossy ad and someone who can't afford to purchase a product will go and purchase a product? you can advertise till the moon turns green and still generate zero revenue if people are either ignoring your advert, or haven't got the $$$ to pay for your product. credit only takes you so far. you can't vacuum out of someone's pocket money they don't have! technology that can track my purchasing habits SHOULD be able to generate data that would allow ANY retailer the ability to know WHAT i want to purchase when i visit a store. walmart, zellers, HBC, or a mom&pop organic food store. this is open technology and everyone can take advantage of it! And if a retailer knows what I want, they should be able to offer me prices that makes me want to remain loyal to that enterprise. That's just basic retailing 101 ... in the past, we simply had observant store clerks/owner who would recognize that mr. smith has been in 5 times in the past month purchasing black socks ... the store clerk/owner, if they're wise, would say to mr. smith ... hey, you like black socks ... i can get you a deal if you continue buying from me ... why are people so afraid of this? 50 years ago it WAS human driven ... now we have electronics and database software that can do that for us ... is it really any different? Again, if you're deathly afraid of technology, you have a choice ... DON'T SHOP AT RETAILER XYZ IF THEY USE TECHNOLOGY ...
  23. Patrick Dunn from London, Canada writes: In response to the people claiming that they'd surely pay higher prices if they had the choice to do so (of course with conditions!) : There is a difference between stated and revealed preferences. Maybe my 'charity' is to the ideals of a free society, you know the one we live in which allows us to spend our hard earned money as we see fit. Under your logic I guess we should offer to pay twice what we do for stamps seeing how there is a human side. Or better yet lets give more money to the government so they can tender contracts to the highest cost bidder because surely there are needy mouths to feed at the other end. Something doesn't seem right now does it? Oh and I have seen the WalMart video, a tear came to my left eye, I think, so I went to WalMart and bought a box of tissues.
  24. Gerry Vee from Winnipeg, Canada writes: ignatius, you still don't get it, do you? The intent is not to provide you with anything other than a false belief that you are going to get some sort of deal in the long run, otherwise the system would already put money back in your pocket. It doesn't and isn't intended to do so. The intent is to get you to buy what they want to sell, not to give you bonus bucks on your next purchase of black socks. Do you think the Waltons are worth some 45 BILLION dollars because you buy a dozen pairs of socks and they in turn sell them to you for less each time you buy them? And their worth has dropped by some 15 BILLION since daddy passed away. The technology is meant to give Walmart the advantage, very much like a casino. It's not bad enough you're already shopping right IN the store, they're going to bombard you with commercials while you're there? And you see nothing slightly manipulative or even condescending about that? And as for loyalty, they have a million people shopping in their stores at any given moment on any given day. I don't think they'll miss me or even you.
  25. Sal Navarro from Toronto, Canada writes: In the not-too-distant future, there will only be ONE retailer: Its low-price/bulk stores will be called Sam's Club. Its mid range department/groceries stores will be called Wal-Mart and its high-end/luxury stores will be called Walton's. The majority of sales will be made in what we now call 3rd world countries and the products sold will be manufactured by robots or underpaid seniors at north american sweatshops. Start getting used to it.

    On the plus side, more ad dollars spent on Wal Mart TV means less add dollars going to regular TV which means less annoying commercials for stuff I don't want! Yay!
  26. Vern McPherson from Toronto, Canada writes: Walmart, home of the waxy doorway greeting and the rat's maze of shelving and displays. Once in the mazes' midst, one needs a GPS to extricate oneself before the damn store closes or your next birthday arrives. If they could visit you in your home and persuade the politicians not buying from them was unpatriotic they would jump at the opportunity. As long as people are happy being treated as cattle and sold cheap articles manufactured by workers barely making a daily living I suppose the Walmarts of this world will thrive. The place carries 25 thousand products or so but only a hundred or so price points. And the 'feature' items are always at the head of the aisle. Wandering down the path between 'price points' can get you seperated from more of your hard earned money, and a lot faster than you might think. next time I feel the need for a disposable $
  27. Scot Affleck from Prince George, Canada writes: Our Walmart sells more Canadian souvenirs than any other retailer in town. Who knew? Want a t-shirt with a Canadian flag on it? 'Americas Walmart' will sell it to you in my town.
  28. Noel Rieder from Canada writes: Here's a hypothetical version of the future: continued, unfettered globalization leads eventually--say 50 years from now--to a world economy controlled by a half-dozen or so companies--massive mega multinationals, with tens of thousands of lawyers, a board of directors that looks more like a senate, etc. These massive companies will not be tied to specific countries, and there will be no regional loyalty. Instead, they will operate only according to this principle: Keep those who can afford our products buying, and keep those who make our products making them. This is what I think of when I read these stories about Walmart. I'm not anti-capitalist or even anti-globalization, but Walmart, and companies like it, should not watched very carfully by all.
  29. David K from Guelph, Canada writes: Well poster 22, if you don't belive me look at the high rates of debt that are happening both here and south of the border, the credit counselling agencies, the bankruptcies the cash advance people and yet for all this evidence people still go out and buy shiny new toys they can't afford. My cat could have a credit card if she wanted one! People have forgotten how to live within their means aided and abetted by retailers and advertisers who keep flogging 'must have items' that will be next months landfill. I will, however take your advice and not shop at Wal-Mart. PS If I'm deathly afraid of tech, why am I writing this on-line?? :-)
  30. Arnold von Herrs from Vancouver, Canada writes: Down With Wal-Mart!!!
  31. good answer from Japan writes: hmmm. it seems to me that if you support the concept of free enterprise then you should support the concept of Wall Mart( or Mall-Wart which is a very cute name indeed.) As far as I can tell there are no Marquis de Queensbury rules for captialism as it is practised today. Wall Mart just is the inevitable ultimate in a system which so many have whole-heartedly accepted and embraced. It is simply a genius micro-economic idea(selling products for the lowest possible price) executed with ruthless efficiency and well within the rules(or absence of them.). If Wall-Mart were to suddenly disappear in a puff of smoke your communities wouldn`t be miraculously saved. Some other store would just step into Wall-Mart's shoes. Criticizing Wall-mart is like criticizing a hockey team for playing 'the trap' and winning. The only solution is what the NHL did, overhaul the rules. The checks and balances of voting with one`s dollar don`t seem to be enough in this case as more than enough people still seem to be tuning in, more and understandably so as it is increasingly becoming the only game in most towns. While federal government legislation(municipal zoning laws aren`t enough--witness Vancouver`s recent defeat) may seem like a pipe-dream in today's political climate I can`t seem to think of another way. I wonder what the W.T.O. would say to that? As naive as this may sound, if you`re serious about saving your communities it`s time to start writing your MP. This problem is not just going to go away by itself.
  32. i. ignatius from Mt. Pleasant, Canada writes: this is actually getting somewhat comical ... #24 Gerry Vee ... you claim that walmart's goal is to get me to buy stuff they want to sell. so what is the intent of a farmer's market then? is it not to have farmers try to sell me, at their own prices, what they sell? i see something i like, i buy. simple as that. walmart just does that on a grand (global) scale. please separate your hatred of walmart type retailers from the simple fact that technology like RFID, the in-store advertising screens, etc., is all part of the simple process of separating YOU from YOUR MONEY. This is retailing. nothing more, nothing less. It's idiotic to think that a mom&pop store around the corner isn't doing the same thing. Ever purchase a loaf of bread at a convenience store located in your neighbourhood. Do you enjoy paying double what Zehrs or Sobeys or whatever would charge for the SAME product? like i've always said ... if you dislike the technology, do not shop there. period. if/when i shop walmart, i do try to purchase goods that have a made in canada label, or at worst, made *somewhere* in a western country. some goods unfortunately are only made in china. the fact that a plastic thingy at walmart costs $1.93 and the SAME thingy in zellers costs $3.17 should be somewhat telling of WHO is the big bad retailer. But if zellers was offering the plastic doohickey for $3.17 but it was made in Canada, then Zellers will earn my dollars. However, they don't. And neither do any other mainstream retailer. they all offer the same junk, walmart simply does it cheaper. and why? because technology allows them to do so. and the shareholders are happy. Take that to the bank and smoke it! Remember, businesses like walmart do NOT exist because of some social need. They exist to generate profit for the owner. if you don't like what they do, start your own business, earn your customers, just like walmart has done!
  33. Ponders Y from Ottawa, Canada writes: #19 above - if you truly believe that exploitative child labour is a boon to children everywhere, god help you. You need to do some serious reading and catching up, see any in-depth doc on the South's labour force if picking up a modern book on globalization and the labour market is too much for you. There are organizations, humans, and numerous other resources who are up close and personal with the child labour situations in the South and who would be shocked and awed to hear the 'we're helping these poor children' arguments.

    Second: ick, Walmart, truly you are an embarrassing addition to this planet. Whether I am educated or a total suck for ads, it is a tremendous intrusion and annoyance to be bombarded by noise and images intended to relieve me of the notes in my wallet. I formally boycotted you, having finally had that pivotal pang of disgust one day this fall (it sure took me long enough, I acknowledge) - as did one of my most conservative and right-educated pals (and we are your tomorrow my legal-personality friend). It was a real celebration, I'll send you a memo.

    So... what are you doing to alleviate poverty in the long term and create communities, here and abroad, given your billions in profit?
  34. C C from Canada writes: This sounds just like that scene in Minority Report where the protagonist is bombarded by personalized advertisements.
  35. D Worsley from Kitchener, Ontario, Canada writes: Is anyone else creeped out by the 'first moment of truth' quote?
    It's one thing for Winston Smith to lose himself in a dystopian nightmare working for the Ministry of Truth; it's another to be subjected to it for the sake of saving a few cents on the aforementioned 'plastic doohickey.'
  36. Terry H from Moncton, Canada writes: Ignatius you're one scary dude, dude. Perhaps you are on a board of directors of a company just like wallyworld. All they think about is bottom line and profits. Read a few books, like The Bully of Bentonville for one. And do an internet search on walmart worker stories and lawsuits. Wal mart just got convicted and fined $89 million in Pennsylvania alone, for illegally making employees work AFTER their paid shifts are over. And there are more class action suits pending and in place now.
    Wal mart ALONE accounted for over 13 percent of the U.S. trade deficit of $162 billion. Studies have concluded that over 80 percent of Wal-Mart's international suppliers are based in China where labor costs are very low. Wal-Mart is increasingly dealing with international suppliers for this very reason. This is done, of course, at the expense of domestic suppliers, and thus, domestic jobs. So I think people who hate to shop at Wal mart have a right to bitch, because it is usually their friends, their family members, or themselves who are included under the 'domestic job loss' due to Wal mart's purchasing policies. And that my friend, is damn scary. This company should be scrutenized and broken up into regional companies and sold off. Wal mart is the largest company in the WORLD now, and employs millions of people and has sales in excess of $280 BILLION dollars. This is way way way too much corporate power in the hands of a family of such dubious honor. Standard Oil and Ma Bell had to have this done to ensure consumer protection, to allow competition and fair play, and it should be considered now with Wal mart.
  37. Rock n' the Boat from London, Canada writes: An excellent example of a Cancerous growth of Capitalism.
  38. Maritime Chick from Dartmouth, NS, Canada writes: I can't shop at the place. I would rather spend more money elsewhere than shop at WalMart. Realistically, if you watch the sales, you can find products cheaper than at WalMart anyway.

    I read somewhere that WalMart employed 10% of the US population, either directly or indirectly. If that is not scary, I don't know what is. Think about what would happen if this place went bankrupt.

    The other scary thing is how little information there actually is about WalMart. There's an excellent article about their business practices at http://www.fastcompany.com/online/77/walmart.html. This would make any company leery to sell through them ... but then again, most of them are up against the wall and more eager to let the quality of their product get crappier as long as they can sell more - Levis' jeans being a good example. Notice they don't sell their red-tab jeans through WalMart, just another "signature" brand which is not available anywhere else? And they can't make them cheap enough to sew in Canada. Go figure. My conclusion: if you buy at WalMart, you kill industry in North America, you lose jobs & self-sufficiency, you lose your right to complain.
  39. i. ignatius from Mt. Pleasant, Canada writes: #36 ... Terry H ... if you read back, i've repeated stated in any and all technology debates about things like RFID, and these advertising screens, that this technology is OPEN to ALL retailers. Walmart is but one. I am not debating the merits of walmart, however, when the Globe posts an article about retailing technology, and everyone immediately jumps on the "i hate walmart" bandwagon, you've got to separate the technology from the politics. Like i've said in the past, these types of systems are simply the electronic equivalent of how shops used to run 50 to 100 years ago ... when it was all 100% human powered in terms of someone greeting you, and assisting you with your shopping needs (i can remember the old Kresge store in Kitchener back in the early 70s ... they had their flashing blue light special, staffed by a HUMAN to tell you all about "specials" that perhaps people didn't need to purchase, but boy, did people run out and buy whatever crap they peddled ... perhaps Kresge and K-Mart have died because of such evil capitalistic thinking??) Now we have LCD panels doing the same. Get over it! If a retailer is smart, they'll adopt the technology. Or they'll hire humans to do the same. If this helps ALL retailers lower prices to consumers, doesn't that help ALL people rich and poor? Ain't debating fun? :-)
  40. Brian Gardner from Toronto, Canada writes: Folks, the tiny locally owned and family operated IGA around the corner from my house is no more than 1000 square feet (4 isles of grocery, 5 checkouts and a meat counter). They have recently installed 12 LCD screens that give me local news from CBC, the time, weather, etc., introduce me to the staff and let me know about weekly specials.

    Wal Mart is late to the table on this initiative.

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