GameStop Rolls Out Entire Retail Signage Network On Chromeboxes

November 1, 2018 by Dave Haynes

GameStop has long had digital signage in its video and PC gamer-focused stores, but now the full network of screens across 3,800-plus locations is running on ChromeOS and commercial Chromebox players.

GameStop TV features product promotions, game previews, developer interviews and other customized content, as well as advertising. All content is targeted to video game enthusiasts who come into GameStop stores looking at new titles.

The Chromebox set-up is called an upgrade, and was put together and is now managed by Right Media Solutions.  The rollout followed a pilot program in 25 initial locations, which then expanded to 300 locations. Based on positive results of both programs, Right Media says its team completed the full network roll-out in just over seven weeks.

Beyond the current content the players display, Right Media says the hardware can also integrate HTML5 content, as well as onboard Eddystone Beacons. These features can scale to support advancements in digital signage technology and consumer attribution.

“GameStop is gaining more brand traction every year, and part of our success is creating a fun, exciting store environment where our customers like to hang out,” says Mark Qualls, VP of operations at GameStop. “The digital GameStop TV network will add a new dimension of excitement and community to our locations, while at the same time providing excellent opportunities for advertisers.”

“We are very pleased to provide a digital media network solution to GameStop,” says Jeffrey Martin, President and CEO, Right Media Solutions. “The targeted, flexible nature of this platform is an ideal way to reach on-the-go consumers using a dynamic and measurable solution. We are committed to making GameStop TV a leading digital media network.”

I did a podcast recently with Martin, who alluded to this network but wasn’t yet approved to talk openly. Now he is.

This would easily be one of the largest digital signage projects running off Chrome. The other ones I can think of are Coca-Cola in retail and Toyota’s Europe dealers.

Google has been very, very quiet when it comes to signage, but obviously there are end-users buying into the pitch of low-cost, totally cloud based players and platform.

Ironically, the CMS under the hood for this is Scala, with an integration developed BEFORE Scala was acquired by STRATACACHE. CEO Chris Riegel is not, by any measure, a big fan of “smart displays” and little cloud-driven appliances like Chromeboxes.

  1. Tony Downey says:

    Our company is running about 150-200 ChromeOS devices. If you’re okay with the limitations of only running one screen per device, and no failover redundancy, it’s a dream. I’d highly suggest software that can handle internet outages gracefully though.

  2. SignGuy says:

    What happened to the IAdea+SignageLive GameStop Network? https://www.sixteen-nine.net/2016/03/09/projects-1000-gamestops-in-europe-roll-out-using-iadea-signagelive/

    Separate networks or the same one?

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