Retail

Case Study: Costco Canada - TV Wall Digital Signage Expansion

About Costco Canada

The Costco story began in 1976 when Sol Price introduced the first membership warehouse concept in San Diego, California. Seven years later, Jim Sinegal co-founded Costco Wholesale, opening the first warehouse in Seattle in 1983.
By 1993, Price Club and Costco merged, forming the most successful warehouse club model worldwide. Today, Costco Canada serves over 10 million members, generates more than CDN$25 billion annually, and operates as one of the country’s largest retailers.

What makes Costco unique:

• Commitment to Quality – Streamlined product selection (about 4,000 SKUs vs. 30,000 in a supermarket) to ensure the best value.
• Entrepreneurial Spirit – Innovation-driven teams across all levels.
• Employee Focus – Competitive wages and benefits that attract high-energy, talented staff.

The Challenge

Costco Canada’s in-store TV walls were meant to entertain and, most importantly, inform customers about the latest television models. However, years of relying on generic, cheaply made A/V equipment resulted in:

• TVs displaying inconsistent content (some turned off, some showing unrelated programming).
• Equipment constantly failing and needing replacement.
• A lack of programmatic scheduling, leading to missed opportunities in customer engagement and TV sales.

Costco needed a reliable, scalable, and cost-effective TV wall solution that would:

• Provide a consistent, professional customer experience.
• Increase consumer awareness of TV features and promotions.
• Directly drive TV sales across their Canadian warehouses.

The Solution

Costco partnered with CE Labs, leveraging its proven retail expertise and product ecosystem. Beyond delivering a reliable, enterprise-grade TV wall solution, CE Labs simplified rollout logistics by creating standardized purchasing forms for each location.

This ensured:

• Each warehouse received exact quantities based on its layout.
• No risk of over-shipping or under-shipping.
• Simple reordering for expansions, replacements, or remodels.

Core Products Supplied Across Costco Canada Warehouses:

Product		Description
MP90		4K HDR10 Digital Media Player w/ 64GB SD
UHD860		1×8 4K/60 TV Wall HDMI Distribution Amplifier
UHD460		1×4 4K/60 TV Wall HDMI Distribution Amplifier
UHD260		1×2 4K/60 TV Wall HDMI Distribution Amplifier
UHX70M		4K HDMI 2.0, 70M Extender, CAT6/6A
UHX120M		4K HDMI 2.0, 120M Extender, CAT6/6A
CX5-4K		5m HDMI 2.0 Cable 26AWG
CX3-4K		3m HDMI 2.0 Cable 26AWG
CX2-4K		2m HDMI 2.0 Cable 26AWG
CX1-4K		1m HDMI 2.0 Cable 26AWG
CAT6-150		CAT6 UTP 550Mhz Cable 150′ w/ RJ45 Connector
P/S – MP90		Power Supply: MP90
P/S – UHDx60		Power Supply: UHD860/UHD460/UHD260
P/S – UHX70M		Power Supply: UHX70M
P/S – UHX100		Power Supply: UHX100M/+
Remote 90		Replacement MP90 Remote Control

By providing both technical hardware and administrative tools CE Labs ensured Costco Canada could scale its video wall deployment with precision and minimal operational burden.

Key implementation steps:

1. Pilot Program – CE Labs partnered with Costco to build pilot installations in select Canadian stores. The CE Labs team visited active warehouses, observed customer engagement, and tailored designs to store layouts.
2. Proof of Concept – Installed synced video walls running live campaigns. Regionalized promotions and in-store deals were pushed directly through CE Labs’ CMS.
3. Scalable Rollout – Once proven, CE Labs developed installation manuals, warehouse purchasing forms, and technical training for staff. Every rollout was calculated to avoid over- or under-shipping equipment.

The Results

The collaboration between Costco Canada and CE Labs produced measurable results:

• Consistency Across Stores – Every TV wall displayed synced, region-appropriate promotional content.
• Improved Reliability – Enterprise-grade CE Labs hardware eliminated recurring failures and downtime.
• Customer Engagement – Costco members now experienced informative, engaging video wall content designed to drive purchasing decisions.
• Operational Efficiency – CE Labs’ centralized CMS allowed for remote troubleshooting, campaign scheduling, and real-time content updates, minimizing store-level workload.

Beyond Deployment: Ongoing Partnership

Even though CE Labs had successfully shipped, installed, and rolled out hardware across Costco Canada, the work didn’t end there.

We deepened the partnership by aligning CE Labs’ CMS team with Costco’s marketing department to drive creative initiatives:

• Collaborating on marketing ideas and video creation tailored to regional audiences.
• Delivering language variations in both English and French for seamless customer communication.
• Producing custom trailers with Universal Studios and other content partners for high-impact promotions.
• Managing the end-to-end content control, ensuring that what played on Costco’s TV walls was not only accurate and timely, but also aligned with their evolving marketing strategy.

This ongoing relationship ensured that Costco Canada didn’t just get a hardware solution — they gained a strategic media partner capable of supporting their long-term growth and retail media initiatives.

Conclusion

By replacing unreliable, off-the-shelf A/V equipment with CE Labs’ enterprise-designed TV wall solution, Costco Canada transformed its in-store experience. The new system not only enhanced the shopping environment, but also strengthened TV sales performance across the country.

And with CE Labs continuing to guide content strategy, multilingual campaigns, and creative media partnerships, Costco Canada enjoys a future-ready retail media network that blends technology, marketing, and customer engagement seamlessly.