Will retail digital media’s growth extend into stores?

With looming changes to cookies set to undermine online targeting, retailers and brands are reconsidering ways to reach consumers in stores.

The attention comes as larger retailers are building massive advertising platforms online in order to take advantage of their access to customer data to personalize ads on their apps and websites. Through programmatic buying, retailers are extending such advertising not only to magazine content and influencer marketing but to digital shelf-edge displays and in-store audio, according to Advertising Age.

“With cookies going away and brands focused on the contextual environment, if you’re a CPG looking to reach a principal grocery shopper, how much more contextually relevant can you get?” Ryan Fuss, senior VP of global media solutions at Stingray, which in January purchased InStore Audio Network, told Ad Age in an article exploring in-store audio.

Kroger in 2020 partnered to automate its audio ad buying process to current programmatic standards, allowing the targeting of in-store shoppers depending on time of day, weather and local events.

“Our associates and customers are our number one priority at Kroger, and this is a new way for us to reach them with more meaningful content,” Cara Pratt, SVP, Kroger Precision Marketing at 84.51, said in a press release. “It allows us to provide them with up to date and timely information on their favorite brands, helping to improve their shopping experience. It also allows our brand partners to reach customers at a pivotal point in the buying process — the shelf.”

According to the Out of Home Advertising Association of America (OAAA), in-store advertising can also include shopping cart panels, above-aisle or end-aisle displays, checkout counter dividers, digital screens, branded clocks and floor graphics. Old-school methods include live product demonstrations and sampling.

In a recent blog entry, L.E.K. Consulting said, for the most part, in-store advertising remains non-programmatic and disconnected from the online advertising businesses. L.E.K.’s entry stated that while merchants often still control in-store advertising as part of the merchandising process, advertisers “are increasingly seeking an integrated omnichannel offering and the ability to more precisely target and optimize placements across ad types.”

• How In-Store Music Can Play A Role In Retail Media Networks – Advertising Age
• Vibenomics Teams Up with Kroger to Help the World’s Largest Brands Reach Customers at the Point-of-Sale – Vibenomics
• In Store Advertising – Out of Home Advertising Association of America (OAAA)
• The Retail Advertising Boom: Time for Retailers and Advertisers To Take Action – L.E.K. Consulting