Toyota Rolling Out ChromeOS-Based Signage Network Across 3,000+ European Dealers
November 30, 2016 by Dave Haynes
Hat Tip to @digitaloohnews for spotting this …
Toyota’s European auto division has rolled out a ChromeOS-based digital signage solution to some 3,000 of its showrooms, and the company says it plans to have as many as 10,000 screens running off Chromeboxes, across 3,600 dealers.
Google’s blog references a program built around Asus Chromeboxes and a custom-built signage app, likely developed by the Belgium firm Fourcast, a Google Cloud partner who worked with Toyota on the deployment with a “packaged, end-to-end solution, and ensured the systems were delivered on a tight, five-day timeframe.”
Steven Simons, IT Manager for Customer Retail and Product Systems at Toyota Motor, Europe, says the shift to Google’s ChromeOS was prompted by the company’s disappointment with a mainstream signage solution.
“We first experimented with digital signage in our showrooms in 2014 to display information about our cars in ways that reflected what customers saw online,” says Simons on the Google blog. “However, the system we were using was expensive, unstable and difficult to maintain and manage.”
“So, we turned to Chrome in late 2015 and replaced our existing digital signage with Asus Chromeboxes connected to 42-inch flatscreen TVs. We manage and program all of the devices centrally from Toyota headquarters. Retailers just install the Chromeboxes and TVs, and they’re up and running. That way, retailers can focus on their customers rather than on technology.”
Salespeople are using the screens for assisted selling, and a version of a car configurator – a common online tool for personalizing and pricing cars in the research stage of buying – is on screens, as well.
“Consumers typically come in with plenty of online research in hand, and they can pick right back up with these configurations in store on our digital signage,” says Simons. “Across Europe, 100,000 customers a month use the signage.”
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