A joint study by the Interactive Advertising Bureau and Grocery TV found that 43% of marketers admit they underutilize in-store retail media, even as they recognize its full-funnel value, according to the Shelby Report. The disconnect reveals a structural gap: brands understand the channel works but cannot operationalize it at the point of purchase.
In-store retail media—digital screens placed near shelves, checkout lanes, and endcaps—reaches shoppers when purchase intent peaks. The IAB and Grocery TV research surveyed marketers who deploy retail media budgets and found broad agreement that the channel drives awareness, consideration, and conversion. Yet nearly half report underdeployment, a gap that stems from planning friction, creative bottlenecks, and measurement silos. The median advertiser still treats in-store as a remnant buy rather than a programmatic line.
The mechanism is proven. Shoppers in a grocery aisle or pharmacy queue are seconds from a wallet decision. A screen showing a recipe using a specific brand of olive oil, or a promo for a snack on the shelf two feet away, converts at rates digital marketers call implausible. The Grocery TV network alone reaches 58 million monthly shoppers in over 6,000 stores, per the company's own filings, and brands running synchronized creative—same message across digital, social, and in-store—see double-digit lifts in basket penetration. The problem is not efficacy. The problem is execution.
Most marketers still plan retail media as a fourth-quarter add-on, not a year-round channel. Creative gets repurposed from social or out-of-home, ignoring the dwell time and context. Measurement flows through a different attribution model than e-commerce or search, making it hard to justify budget internally. The 43% underutilization figure reflects a planning gap, not a channel flaw.
A small physical-product brand can steal the play without a six-figure media buy. Start by identifying one retail partner that runs in-store screens. Grocery TV, Cooler Screens, and Vengo operate networks where brands can buy placements starting at a few thousand dollars per month. Pitch a four-week test in 20-30 stores in a single metro. Create one piece of vertical video: 15 seconds, product front-and-center, one benefit, one call-to-action. If the product is on the shelf, show exactly where. If it is not, direct to the retailer's dot-com pickup.
Run the creative during the daypart your customer shops—morning for coffee, evening for dinner ingredients. Tag the campaign with a unique promo code or SKU variant so you can isolate lift. Track basket data through the retailer's loyalty program or a first-party survey at checkout. Compare sales in test stores versus matched control stores. If you see a 10-15% lift in unit velocity, you have proof of concept. Scale to more stores, more metros, or layer in a second product.
The cost structure favors the disciplined. A $5,000 monthly buy on a regional Grocery TV network reaches roughly 1.5 million impressions in-store. Creative production is a one-time $800-1,200 expense if you use a template-based editor and stock footage. Measurement costs nothing if the retailer shares scan data. The entire test runs under $8,000, and the win is a repeatable playbook that competes with brands spending ten times more but spreading budget across channels that do not convert at the shelf.
The broader pattern: marketers are awash in attribution complexity and default to channels with clean dashboards. In-store retail media delivers the result—sales lift in the physical aisle—but requires brands to close the loop manually. The 43% gap will narrow as networks build tighter retailer integrations and brands realize that the last three feet matter more than the first three thousand miles of the funnel. Until then, the underutilizers leave margin on the table for anyone willing to test, measure, and iterate in the aisle.
In-store retail media converts at the shelf, but 43% of marketers underutilize it due to planning friction and measurement gaps.
Editorial & Disclosure Notice: This article was written with artificial intelligence from public sources and is published without individual human review. Artificial intelligence and other digital tools are also used for research, analysis, editing, formatting, and production. Errors, omissions, outdated information, or inaccuracies may occur. References to companies, brands, products, services, organizations, or individuals are for informational and editorial purposes and do not imply endorsement, sponsorship, affiliation, partnership, or approval unless expressly stated. All trademarks and other intellectual property remain the property of their respective owners. Opinions, analysis, estimates, and commentary are informational only and should not be construed as financial, investment, legal, tax, medical, procurement, or other professional advice. Information may be corrected, clarified, or updated after publication. Corrections or removal requests: jenny@pops4.com.
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