P2PI LIVE Keynote: In-Store Retail Media Is All That
Andrew Lipsman put the focus on in-store retail media during his day two keynote Thursday at P2PI LIVE & Expo. The founder and chief analyst at Media, Ads + Commerce discussed the inevitability of stores’ digital future.
Retail media is evolving across ad formats and channels, and “digital advertising’s third big wave reached $50 billion in ad spending faster than the first two waves — search and social — and is destined to surpass them,” Lipsman said during his presentation at the Renaissance Schaumburg Convention Center in Schaumburg, Illinois.
The Next Major Media Channel
Physical retail is the new TV, Lipsman said, with top retailers’ in-store audiences comparable to the major broadcast TV networks.
As media and commerce converge, the lines are blurring between retailers and media companies, but brands aren’t yet prioritizing investment for in-store retail media.
U.S. retailers will begin to follow the lead of non-U.S. retailers by evolving into more areas of the physical store.
The Retail Media Flywheel
For the next major media channel to achieve its potential, RMNs need to activate their “in-store retail media flywheels,” Lipsman said.
Building a retail media flywheel drives exponential — not linear — growth. The retail media flywheel‘s foundation is first-party data from retailer loyalty and membership programs
Amazon’s new flywheel of media, ads and commerce established the framework for the retail media flywheel. Even Amazon understood that the most powerful version of the retail media flywheel would be built around physical store commerce.
Walmart’s adaptation of the retail media flywheel is charting the course for the future of omnichannel retail media.
Best Buy + CNET is likely the first domino to fall in a cascade of category-adjacent RMN + digital publisher partnerships.
Elevating the Physical Store Experience
In-store retail media outperforms every other major media channel in terms of ad experience and ad attentiveness. Shoppers want in-store retail media to inform and remind them about products, helping establish both mental and physical availability. Shoppers prefer in-store retail media at the front of store, while the center aisle is the biggest opportunity.
Experiential Retail Media
In-store retail media can be experiential — like product samples — which drive incremental sales and customer lifetime value. Experiential retail media will integrate creator content to enhance physical store experience.
Measurement Makes Markets
In-store audience measurement will help agencies plan and RMNs sell advertising across targeted physical store footprints.
Brand lift measurement will help national media teams from endemic and non-endemic advertisers invest in brand-building.
Sales lift measurement will become faster and more scalable to prove effectiveness and enable campaign optimization.
Incrementality measurement will reach in-store advertising and prove that it drives unplanned purchases that drive brand and RMN growth.
Full-funnel measurement will bring short-term sales and long-term branding effects into the same conversation.
Closing the Loop
Ultimately, measurement must evolve toward incrementality and capture the full-funnel effects across channels and time.
Lipsman’s final takeaways about the future of in-store retail media were:
- Physical stores are the next major media channel. High attentiveness and proximity to POS should attract national media budgets.
- Experiential retail media will elevate in-store CX and drive LTV. Product sampling, interactivity, and creator content will transform physical stores.
- In-store retail media measurement will enable market growth. It’s about reach, quality, and performance – and all three need to be measured.
Following his presentation, Lipsman sat down for a fireside chat featuring Shock Torem, SVP of media solutions at Vestcom, and Paul Brenner, president of audio out-of-home & chief strategy officer at Vibenomics.