Customers

BrightSign Powers New Digital Kiosks at Sam’s Club

Background
Kollins Communications recently partnered with BrightSign and Visual Communications to create a best-in-class, in-store digital customer experience at Sam’s Club stores throughout the United States. The fully digital project, which was commissioned by AT&T Services, encompassed a comprehensive digital retail kiosk to merchandise AT&T
Wireless, TV and Broadband without conventional printed signage or price tags of any sort.

Objectives
AT&T Services tasked Kollins Communications with creating a compelling kiosk display to give customers a fresh point of sale experience in this high-traffic, big box retail setting. It was important to present a consistent image to reinforce AT&T’s brand exclusivity and identity in every store, and to encourage an intimate environment for
customers to shop and discover new products.
The motivation to implement an all-digital solution was driven by the need to enable instant updating of product offerings and pricing — solving the paper price-tag, graphics and poster updating lag on nationwide deployments. Transitioning to a digital platform also made it possible to explain details about the various phones and other devices on display, using digital price tag video screens in lieu of traditional placards.
Functionally, AT&T Services wanted to be able to remotely monitor the kiosks for operability and functionality, while also being easily serviceable in the field with plug-and-play components. And reliability was key, demanding the highest level of kiosk uptime and 24/7 support to quickly resolve any issues as they arise.

Solution
AT&T’s new digital kiosks enable customers to take an in-depth look at its 5G Wireless, TV and
Broadband offerings. Rich, informative content is distributed to multiple digital screens by
BrightSign’s media players. An attract loop playing on a pair of 50-inch monitors prompts visitors
to view current exclusive AT&T/Sam’s Club offers, while three 4x38-inch LCD digital price tag
screens display animated pricing, manufacturers’ features & benefits, terms & conditions, and
promotions.

Apple and Samsung devices are available for customer evaluation, secured on MTI product stands
with charging cables centralized out of sight. The placement of devices varies by Club, and the
digital displays are easily adjusted to reflect orientation variations via a seamless CMS interface.
Special care was taken to ensure the kiosks were durable enough to perform flawlessly in this
high-traffic, heavy-use retail setting. Using network commands through BrightSign players, the
kiosks go into a sleep mode approximately 30 minutes before and after Club hours to conserve
power and extend digital screen life. The Samsung commercial displays also receive a repeating
reset command throughout the day to ensure they are using the correct settings, and to avoid
tampering. Lastly, every kiosk features its own “toolbox” with necessary tools, spare parts and
cleaning supplies to keep the kiosk functional and looking like new.

Kollins Communications turned to BrightSign for this large-scale deployment where reliability was
a key priority. Between January and April 2021, a total of 569 kiosks were installed in Sam’s Club
stores in every US state, with the exception of Alaska. Kiosks arrived at each location preassembled,
with each having been tested while in an 85% assembled state, allowing for
installations including electrical, data and assembly to be completed on site in less than four
hours. Between one and 16 kiosks were installed each night, all of which were fully operational by
the following morning.

Results
The project easily achieved the intended objectives of featuring AT&T's recently launched
exclusive marketing arrangement at Sam’s Club, offering a brand-specific digital experience. Even
with recent pandemic-related restrictions on Club traffic, reports on customer interaction along
with dramatically increased sales transactions lend credibility to the investment in the kiosk and
accompanying ongoing support.

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