Shopper Media Reality: Why It’s Time to Rethink In-Store Networks

Execs Negotiating Shopper Media

THE RETAIL MEDIA NETWORK frenzy may be approaching the end of the beginning, as Shopper Media bring more In-store retail media options to CPG Brands. Now, the hard work starts.

For CPG brands, the story-within-the-story revolves around a growing number of in-store networks designed to reach shoppers where the vast majority of final purchase decisions are still being made. Call it “shopper media.”

In the food-drug-mass channels, 84% of transactions are still taking place in physical stores, while FMI The Food Industry Association estimates that just 6% of grocery items were sold online in the full year 2023.

This is the fourth part in a series. Republished here by permission from CPGmatters.

As we have been reporting here in recent months, that reality compels brands to consider where their newly-repurposed retail media budgets will best be spent. So far, a handful of very large, primarily digital networks have soaked up the lion’s share of the ad investment.

CPGs have a long history of providing marketing support for their brands across the broad physical retail landscape, not only at the largest chain accounts. Distribution power is brand power.

For this reason, although the big numbers and hype have surrounded digital retail media sales, shopper media retain a significant value-creation opportunity for brands that has barely been tapped:

  1. Frequency of visits. Four out of five shopping trips are still in-person. Even for regional retailers, this can add up to millions of monthly opportunities to present messaging from brands, on screens, via audio and on personal digital devices.
  2. Loyalty penetration. Retail media works best when messages and offers are finely personalized. As frequent shopper participation approaches the saturation point, they present a superb mechanism for brands. With appropriate access, they can leverage first-party and zero-party data to efficiently present offers that motivate repeat consumers and influence potential ones.
  3. Aligned with product distribution. Half or more of all CPG product is distributed across numerous regional and independent retailers. Brands intuitively recognize that physical distribution power is the foundation of lasting success. So far, their retail media messaging has not matched that level of coverage.

Not surprisingly, retail media networks remained top-of-mind at last month’s Shoptalk conference in Las Vegas, both on the presentation stages and in the aisles of the exhibit floor. CPG and grocery attendance was light, and the presentation topics focused on the large retail media and commerce media networks, with little to no mention of the fast-moving consumer goods sector.

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Retail Media Scale: CPG Brands’ Conundrum

Execs Negotiating Media w Screen

HOW DO BRANDS UNDERSTAND retail media scale as they plan spending?

In previous articles in this series, we addressed the challenges CPG brands face in dealing with retail media networks. It summarized brand marketer spending trends and described why brand teams are challenged when it comes to making decisions about retail media investments across their entire distribution networks.

We discussed the struggle brands face as they endeavor to support their retail distribution networks with proportional retail media investments across all their distribution channels. With hundreds of small retailers seeking a fair share of the pie, CPGs simply don’t have the bandwidth for empirical decision-making.

Regional and independent retailers are not the only ones concerned about the concentration at the top of the Retail Media Network hierarchy.

CPGs are also wrestling with this, and the conversation is beginning to bring trading partners together in search of workable solutions which enable a fair share of retail media spending to find its way to numerous retailers who are not on the top-ten RMN list.

“The network is the piece that’s missing.”

– Adam Zimmerman, Ideal by Design House

At the handful of larger retailers where retail media is a must, joint business planning discussions have become more complicated, as CPGs work to establish new practices that incorporate traditional trade marketing along with the type of targeted messaging that retail media enables. Negotiations must now address how outcomes can be measured and what merchandising support will be required in the stores and fulfillment centers.

At February’s 2025 NGA Show in Las Vegas, two panel sessions were devoted to the existential challenge faced by independent grocers as they seek sufficient retail media scale (i.e., audience size) to be relevant to national brands. Wholesalers and retailer networks represented at the conference discussed their efforts to deliver targetable shopper audiences with sufficient scale and measurability to justify CPG investment.

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Retail Media Network Gaps Hold Peril for Brands

Retail Media Networks Mind the Gaps

JUST WHEN YOU THOUGHT the retail media conversation couldn’t get any hotter, we hear high-profile executives from the largest Retail Media Networks (RMNs) and their technology suppliers on podiums and podcasts talking up a glorious future for brand advertisers.

RMNs were a recurring theme at last September’s Groceryshop event in Las Vegas and this month’s NRF ’24 Big Show in New York promises no fewer than 24 sessions on “Retail Media” topics. No wonder – the take from retail media sales this year is projected to reach $52 billion in the U.S. market alone, according to Coresight Research.

RMNs are retailer-owned digital and in-store channels which convey messages and offers to shoppers from CPGs and other third-party businesses. They have exploded in popularity over the past few years, due to the added revenue they can attract for retailers and the personalized audiences they can deliver to advertisers.

Right now, big RMNs wield heavy clout when it comes to scooping up those alternative revenues. The most prominent – Kroger Precision Media, Walmart Connect, Albertsons Media Collective, Target Roundel, Dollar General, Instacart – can deliver audiences in the tens of millions or more. These certainly boast wide geographic coverage that is important for brands.

It’s easy to be dazzled by the scale of those audiences and the purported advertising efficiencies and targeting capabilities of their networks. Savvy advertisers must also recognize that sheer, provable reach is only the first piece of the puzzle.

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In-Store Marketing Experts Demystify the Shift to Digital

in-store marketing banner

THE SHIFT TO DIGITAL over the past 12 months raises questions about the ongoing relevance of stores and in-store marketing. Not to worry – even as more shoppers buy more of their goods online, stores remain the primary selling channel – for most categories.

Retail has never evolved faster. The ripple effects will continue to impact this industry for many years, even after the chaos of the COVID-19 pandemic fade in memory.

For this expert roundup, our good friends at Tokinomo gathered some of the most influential voices in the industry to share what they expect is next for in-store marketing. I was privileged to participate and offer some detailed comments.

How will in-store marketers respond? My esteemed colleagues and I offer a range of observations and opinions, encompassing: “The Year Ahead”; “In-Store Promotions Tools”: “Hybrid Shopping”; “COVID-19 Impact” and more.

The discussion was a golden opportunity to share some of my best licks with some of the brightest minds in our industry. A few highlights to whet your appetites:

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