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In-store retail media now runs full-funnel: use low-cost digital screens or cooler clings to test awareness plays inside stores where you already distribute.
43% of retail media buyers
admit they underuse in-store media
$500 to $2,000
for a four-week test in a dozen stores
A survey by The Shelby Report found marketers increasingly viewing in-store retail media—endcaps, cooler wraps, aisle displays, digital screens—as a full-funnel tool, not just a bottom-of-funnel conversion tactic. The shift matters because it means brands now buy store real estate to build awareness and consideration, not only to close a sale at shelf. According to a related IAB study cited by PPC Land, 43% of retail media buyers admit they underuse in-store media, suggesting the channel remains underutilized even as perception changes.
What changed: Marketers historically treated in-store media as the last nudge before purchase—a coupon on the cart, a demo at the endcap. The Shelby Report survey shows brands now running upper-funnel creative inside the store: brand stories on digital screens, educational content near the category, lifestyle imagery on cooler doors. The store becomes a media channel with reach and frequency metrics, not just a conversion zone.
Why it works: Shoppers spend time inside stores with high purchase intent but low distraction. A full-funnel approach lets a brand introduce itself to a buyer who came in for a competitor, then reinforce the message at multiple touchpoints before the shopper reaches the shelf. The controlled environment and dwell time create repetition without the noise of social feeds. Retail media networks now offer targeting and measurement that resemble digital: demo segments, attribution, incrementality studies. A brand can run awareness on aisle-end screens, retarget with a display near checkout, and measure lift against a control group.
The steal for a small physical-product brand: Start with one retailer where you already have distribution. Ask the category manager or retail media contact for their self-serve portal or media kit—most chains now publish rate cards. Identify the lowest-cost full-funnel unit: often a digital screen loop in high-traffic aisles or a static cling on a cooler door. Budget $500 to $2,000 for a four-week test in a dozen stores. Create two pieces of creative: one educational or lifestyle image (awareness), one product-and-price offer (conversion). Run both simultaneously in different parts of the store. Track baseline sales for your SKU in those stores the month prior, then measure lift during the flight. Use the retailer's reporting dashboard to pull impression counts and compare cost-per-incremental-unit to your paid social benchmarks. If the test works, expand to more stores or add a second retailer. If you lack a direct retail relationship, approach a regional chain through a broker and ask to pilot in-store media as a test before committing to broader distribution.
The broader pattern: Retail media is fragmenting into a stack that mirrors digital—awareness at top, retargeting at bottom, attribution in between. The brands that treat in-store media as a full channel, not a trade-spend afterthought, will capture share from competitors still running only price-and-item ads at shelf. The underutilization figure from IAB suggests early movers have runway before the channel saturates.
Test one retailer's self-serve in-store portal with a $500 digital screen loop; measure incremental sales against your prior four-week baseline.
For the operator
Layer in-store media into your retail media mix as an awareness channel; use retailer attribution dashboards to compare cost-per-incremental-unit against paid social.
For the house
When evaluating suppliers for gifting or volume orders, ask if they run in-store media at your target retailers; it signals distribution depth and retail relationships.
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