‘The Store Is Now a Stage’: The Emergence of In-Store Retail Media
“All the store is now a stage, and I think that's how we need to start to look at in-store retail media," he said. "It's about looking at the physical store as a theater. It's the new cultural touchstone that we all have. It's the place that we go multiple times a week and it can start to fill that void that's being left behind by linear TV.”
“It also has exactly what brands want: a great palette for creativity, brand safety, viewability and it's close to the point of sale,” he added.
In terms of quality, in-store retail media outperforms every other major media channel in terms of ad experience and attentiveness.
Also importantly, Lipsman said shoppers like and want in-store retail media to inform and remind them about products, helping establish both mental and physical availability. According to Vestcom, the number one thing shoppers like is info on sales and promotional offers, but they also like how it helps them discover new products and elevates the store aesthetic, among other things.
Some other takeaways Lipsman highlighted:
- Physical stores influence new product purchases more than any other medium, including social media, retailer websites/apps and search engines.
- High-quality creative doesn’t need to be overthought in-store. Simple creatives can be really effective, and Lipsman is particularly excited to see how this will evolve.
- In-store retail media can also be experiential, such as accompanying media with experiences such as product samples.
- Retail media networks will need to make it easier for brands to plan, execute, and measure in-store ad campaigns if they want to attract more spend.
- It will be critical to measure long-term branding effectiveness alongside short-term sales effectiveness.
- Measurement must evolve toward incrementality and capture the full-funnel effects across channels and time.
“If you want to know why retail media is going to grow so quickly, it's because there is new value that is going to be created through [in-store retail media],” he said. “I think we need to think about it like other mass media such as TV. We need to plant a firm foundation of the dimensions of reach and quality.”