Navori’s Computer Vision And CMS Used For New Retail Media Efforts in Mexican Walmarts

November 3, 2023 by Dave Haynes

Whale accounts that are high up on Fortune magazine lists are typically hard or impossible for suppliers to get OKs from to make some PR hay about a project, but the Swiss CMS software firm Navori Labs got the OK from Walmart’s Mexican business division to showcase how the retailer is using digital signage and audience measurement technology.

Navori says in new PR that its combined solution is live across all 173 Walmart Supercenters in Mexico and 180 of 200 in-country Sam’s Club locations, with the remaining 20 stores to follow. The solution is focused around a tall, thin display totem married to a camera that feeds Navori’s computer vision platform Aquaji.

From the press release:

The integrated Navori Labs QL digital signage and Aquaji analytics solution allows Walmart de Mexico y Centroamerica to gather customer engagement metrics and offer valuable analytics, including shopper demographics, to DOOH advertising partners that advertise their brands across their in-store digital media networks. Navori Labs is the only digital signage supplier to also offer an in-house-developed marketing analytics solution, ensuring seamless interoperability with QL’s digital signage content management and playout workflow.

Navori Labs came on to Walmart de Mexico y Centroamerica’s radar earlier this year when business leaders expressed an interest in developing a digital signage strategy that would also support programmatic DOOH advertising, ad campaign management and proof of playback reporting. Navori’s Aquaji solution provides shopper demographics and foot traffic data directly within QL’s CMS, alongside proof of play data for ads.

The data is valuable for both Walmart de Mexico y Centroamerica and its advertising partners, as all parties can access deep analytics that help them enhance campaign strategies based on real- time, store-level customer behaviors captured through Aquaji cameras.

At present, each store has one camera near the entrance that can automatically swivel to anonymously track customers. The camera is installed with a “Totem” that also includes a large built-in portrait display for digital signage content presentation, powered through QL software.

Walmart Connect expects to add more QL-powered displays and Aquaji cameras in strategic store locations moving forward, including integration with existing system-on-chip (SoC) displays that show digital signage content. 

“The Totem has an audience measurement camera that provides us with invaluable data, as it helps us better understand our customers’ consumption habits in order to offer segmented strategies based on our advertisers’ campaign objectives,” said Jonatan Fasano, Head of Product, Walmart Connect Mexico y Centroamerica.

In addition to adding more screens and cameras, plans include deploying additional QL features including its advertising campaign module, advanced content scheduling, and context-aware automation for content play-out. The latter two features will allow network operators to automate all content management based on business rules, reducing the need for manual, day-to-day content management tasks.

In the meantime, the unified solution is helping DOOH advertisers monetize their campaigns by selecting the days and times when their target demographics are most known to be in the store. This is among the standout benefits that Navori Labs CEO Jerome Moeri had in mind upon bringing Aquaji to market.

“As the first to market with a unified digital signage and analytics solution, we are now seeing the benefits of this technology in action for Walmart de Mexico y Centroamerica and other Navori customers,” said Moeri. “Rather than piece together software solutions from disparate vendors with inconsistent success, the native interoperability of QL and Aquaji offers our customers in retail and other vertical markets with an out-of-the-box solution that produces immediate results upon deployment to make smarter business decisions and improve the customer experience. We look forward to extending the solution into additional heavy foot traffic areas of Walmart de Mexico y Centroamerica’s to capture an even broader set of data for stores and advertisers.” 

While it is pretty rare for companies of this size to green-light supplier PR, it would have been even more rare if some tangible results were published. Lotsa people would love to see some actual data, but among those who’d be interested are competing big box retailers.

I believe in the US that Walmart is working with STRATACACHE and Wovenmedia works with Sam’s Club.