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**43%** of retail media buyers underuse in-store media, creating a low-cost, high-intent shelf opportunity for brands with clean creative and a QR close.
43%
of retail media buyers say they are underutilizing in-store…
$100
per store location
10%
lift in per-store revenue during the test week
According to the Interactive Advertising Bureau, 43% of retail media buyers say they are underutilizing in-store media, per PPC Land. The figure comes from IAB research on retail media network adoption. While brands pour budget into digital retail media — search ads, display on retailer sites — the physical point of sale remains underfunded relative to the stated opportunity.
The IAB data defines in-store media as signage, endcap displays, demo stations, shelf talkers, and audio messaging inside the four walls. Buyers report the channel works when activated, but internal friction — approval cycles, production lead times, measurement gaps — keeps spend low. The result: shelf space that could carry a branded message sits blank or defaults to generic retailer creative.
The mechanism is straightforward. A shopper inside a store has already cleared the intent threshold. They are present, card in hand, moving through a category. In-store media intercepts at the moment of highest purchase probability. Digital retail media brings the click; in-store media closes the cart. The IAB finding suggests that nearly half of retail media buyers know this and still underallocate, creating a structural arbitrage for brands willing to execute at shelf.
The small brand steal is to treat in-store media as owned retail real estate, not an ad buy. Start with a single retailer where you have distribution. Design one high-contrast shelf talker or wobbler — bold product benefit, QR code to a landing page with a first-order discount. Print in-house or through an online trade printer for under $100 per store location. Approach the category manager or store lead with the creative and a one-page sell sheet showing your velocity in that store. Offer to handle installation if the retailer permits it. If the retailer requires you to go through their in-store media vendor, ask for the rate card and compare cost per impression against your own digital spend. In most cases, the in-store CPM will be lower and the conversion higher.
Track with the QR code. If you see a 10% lift in per-store revenue during the test week, expand to three more locations and repeat. The IAB gap means your category manager is likely hearing this pitch rarely. You are solving a problem — empty shelf real estate — and bringing your own creative and measurement. The approval cycle shortens when you make the ask easy.
The broader pattern is that retail media is bifurcating. Digital retail media is crowded, auction-priced, and hard to attribute cleanly to incremental revenue. In-store media is underfunded, relationship-priced, and surrounded by purchase intent. The 43% underutilization figure is not a market failure. It is a published invitation.
The branded-identity layer Chiefs of Staff and heritage CMOs route through — your name imprinted on real authorized stock, your pick of 200+ brands and 70,000 products, shipped from one accountable house. Nine editorial desks publish the intelligence those operators read before they sign.
200+authorized brands
70,000products · virtual proof on each
9 deskspublishing daily
1997one house, since
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