
Midwest Grocer Hy-Vee Opts In On Grocery TV Platform For In-Store Media Network; While Appearing To Opt Out On Samsung’s VXT
December 18, 2024 by Dave Haynes
This is intriguing – the Midwest US grocer chain Hy-Vee has announced a partnership with the in-store media network Grocery TV to deploy what it says could be 10,000+ screens across more than 400 stores. That big roll-out comes a bit more than a year after Samsung made a bunch of marketing noise about Hy-Vee using its VXT CMS platform for that same in-store retail media network.
“Grocery TV’s technology allows us to elevate our in-store experience and streamline our retail media execution,” says Kathryn Mazza, SVP of RedMedia, Hy-Vee’s in-house retail media network business unit. “Their team has made integration easy, and we’re excited to offer various brands new ways to reach our shoppers.”
From PR:
With more than 400 retail locations across the Midwest, Hy-Vee will leverage Grocery TV’s in-house technology to power more than 10,000 screens at key shopper touchpoints including entrance, checkout, service departments, aisles, and end caps, a press release stated.
Grocery TV will connect Hy-Vee’s screens to The Trade Desk, enabling RedMedia, Hy-Vee’s retail media network, to manage their off-site and in-store campaigns from a unified platform. To complement RedMedia’s efforts, Grocery TV’s experienced media partnerships team will drive incremental brand revenue by incorporating Hy-Vee into its network of more than 5,000 grocery stores. In addition to brand advertising, Hy-Vee will manage its own in-store messaging through Grocery TV’s Content Management System (CMS).
Starting in February 2025, brands will be able to reach millions of shoppers across Hy-Vee’s stores with high-impact digital advertising, while tapping into greater audience targeting and campaign measurement capabilities.
Fourteen months ago, Samsung pushed out a press release that read:
Hy-Vee retail locations will use the VXT CMS to manage a network of over 10,000 Samsung QBR-Series commercial displays installed in aisles, deli, meat and seafood counters, wine and spirits departments and food courts in all its grocery store locations as well as Hy-Vee Fast & Fresh locations.
These displays deliver a dynamic mix of in-house content, including live cooking demos, promotions, recipes, product pairings, company announcements and menu boards, to engage shoppers. In an initiative to transform its stores into retail media spaces, Hy-Vee’s RedMedia is integrating its digital signage network and the VXT CMS in partnership with Samsung Ads, the advanced advertising division of Samsung Electronics, as one customized program enabling marketers to take advantage of buying in-store digital inventory in combination with Connected TV (CTV). This will provide advertisers with new and innovative ways to reach shoppers with the goal of generating additional sales for those who advertise on the platform.
I have no idea what happened there but VXT is quite new and Samsung presumably/logically would want to build up revenues from SaaS licensing for each display endpoint, whereas Grocery TV is a fully managed service – “From installation to content management, and everything in between, we provide a fully-managed service covered by advertising revenue.”
VXT would also, by necessity, be a general platform coded to serve a variety of purposes, whereas the Grocery TV platform and UX is all and only about grocery.
Samsung likely still has the display side of the deployment.
Too bad they don’t stop wasting money and instead lower there unbelievable high prices.