It’s Full Speed Ahead for CVS and Screens In-Store
CVS is all in on in-store retail media, stressed Parbinder Dhariwal, VP, general manager, at CVS Media Exchange (CMX), as it quietly builds an in-store screen network to support its ambitions.
Screens are being positioned in multiple locations throughout the store, including the pharmacy, and the retailer is testing digital endcaps.
CVS is bullish around programmatic media, through both in-store audio and screens, and Dhariwal noted that is fundamental to its strategy this year. Recent research conducted through their enterprise organization found that approximately 52% of its consumers found the information they see on screens incredibly useful to their shopping experience, he said.
What's more, one in five consumers will purchase or make an action as a result of what they see on the screen, which has significant ramifications given that the retailer has 5 million people coming through its stores each day.
Dhariwal joined Andrew Lipsman, independent analyst and consultant with Media, Ads + Commerce, and Peter Bond of The CPG Guys for a breakfast discussion Wednesday, Jan. 8, at CES in Las Vegas that focused on the challenges and opportunities of in-store retail media.
Lipsman noted although digital endcaps are among the last places retailers invest for retail media given their difficulty, they carry great promise: “That is the most effective ad format in retail media today. It drives the most click-through [and] the most incrementality.”
“The mechanism by which this works is that you have high-quality context and creative close to the point of sale,” he added. “That is the holy grail for marketing.”
The PR of Measurement
Tracking with all conversations surrounding retail media, improving measurement remains the critical component of advancing an effective strategy, and CMX is working with the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) as part of its standardization efforts.
Importantly, retail media has a PR problem, Dhariwal said. “We've gone in as we've built certain retail media networks, and we strong-arm the marketing departments to spend money. … I think we've got to take just a step back and we've got to be able to drive performance for every single dollar that's coming through our networks.”
Though some are more ready to evolve than others, most CMOs are still anchored more toward the past, said Lipsman. His recent survey exploring upcoming retail media investments found they’ll be primarily allocated to on-site, with off-site following and in-store near the bottom. “It’s not on their radar. They're not thinking about it.”
Having a large retailer like CVS push forward with in-store screens will help raise awareness of its importance, Lipsman said. “You have to see it to understand it. Once you start to see these stores look more like media channels and have a level of ubiquity, that alone is going to do a lot of the heavy lifting where all of the sudden these CMOs are going to walk into the stores and say, ‘Oh, I need to be on top of this.’”