A joint study by the Interactive Advertising Bureau and Grocery TV found that 43 percent of marketers acknowledge they underutilize in-store retail media, even as they recognize its effectiveness across the entire customer funnel, according to Supermarket News. The research surveyed brand marketers and retailers who already have access to retail media networks — the digital screens mounted near shelves, end-caps, and checkout lanes in grocery stores — yet fail to allocate budget or creative resources proportional to the channel's documented performance.
The mechanism retailers are deploying is straightforward: they install networked screens in high-traffic zones within their stores, then sell 15- or 30-second ad slots to brands whose products sit on nearby shelves. Unlike banner ads or social feeds, these screens reach shoppers at the moment of highest purchase intent — standing in the aisle, list in hand, deciding between two jars of pasta sauce. The IAB study confirms marketers see value at every stage: awareness when a shopper enters the store, consideration as they walk the perimeter, and conversion when the screen displays a product they can grab within arm's reach. Yet the budget gap persists, with in-store retail media capturing a fraction of the digital ad spend directed at platforms with lower conversion rates.
Why the channel works comes down to context and proximity. A shopper scrolling Instagram at home may remember a brand, but the path from impression to purchase includes dozens of friction points: saving the post, opening a browser, comparing prices, waiting for delivery. A shopper standing three feet from a screen showing the same product eliminates all of that. The purchase happens in the same visit, often within minutes. Retailers control the environment, the dwell time, and the adjacency between message and product. For physical goods, that compressed decision cycle translates to attribution most digital channels cannot match.
The underutilization IAB documents creates an arbitrage opportunity for smaller brands. Retail media networks price by impression or by screen-hour, and many grocers still sell unsold inventory at steep discounts to fill programming gaps. A physical product brand with five to ten SKUs in regional grocery chains can negotiate a test buy for as little as $500 to $1,500 per store per month, running a simple looping video that features the product, a single benefit claim, and the aisle number. The creative does not require an agency: shoot the product on a clean background with a smartphone, add text in Canva, export as MP4. Contact the grocer's retail media sales team directly — most now list a business development contact on their corporate site — and request a rate card for in-store screens. Ask for end-cap placement near your category. Run the test for 30 days, then compare weekly velocity data from the retailer's sell-through reports against a control store without the screens. If lift exceeds 8 to 12 percent, expand to additional locations and negotiate a quarterly rate.
The broader pattern is that legacy digital ad platforms have trained marketers to accept multi-touch attribution and long conversion windows, while in-store retail media delivers single-touch, same-visit purchases with clean reporting. The 43 percent underutilization figure from the IAB study signals that the channel remains underpriced relative to performance, and that window will narrow as more brands shift budget from Meta and Google to screens inside stores. Physical product marketers who move now lock in lower CPMs and first-mover adjacency to their own shelf space before the arbitrage closes.
In-store retail media delivers same-visit purchases at a fraction of digital ad cost; test with one grocer, measure lift, then scale.
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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