How Physical Stores Are Integral to Retail Media Network Success
A new white paper from Placer.ai affirms that grocery chains and superstores are helping brand partners connect with new audiences with retail media networks (RMNs) and underscores the use and effectiveness of in-store deployments.
According to an analysis by the Santa Cruz, Calif.-based location analytics and marketing intelligence company, ads pushed in stores have the potential to be seen by more people than digital ads. “And by embracing holistic strategies that account for physical visits as well as virtual ones, major chains in these categories are able to unleash the full power of their retail media offerings,” the analysts asserted in the white paper.
[Read more: “Walmart Adds Video Storytelling to Searches”]
The report examined the use of RMNs in superstores such as Walmart and Sam’s Club. Walmart, which has seen foot traffic grow in the past year, amplifies its online ad platform with efforts at its stores, including on-site radio ads, product demo stands and TV screens positioned in various departments. The Walmart-owned Sam’s Club banner has also experienced a lift in mission-driven shipping at a time when it upgraded its RMN program to include more on-site promotions and sampling stands.
Placer.ai also delved into RMN deployment by major grocery chains in the United States, calling out Albertsons Cos., Ahold Delhaize USA and Sprouts Farmers Markets for helping to lead the charge. Ahold Delhaize USA’s AD Retail Media platform, for example, reaches shoppers in an omnichannel way, with different approaches and opportunities across its owned banners. The white paper also highlighted The Kroger Co.’s partnership with Chicago-based Cooler Screens, an in-store platform with smart screens that replace traditional refrigerator doors; Placer.ai noted that those ad efforts can be tailored based on foot traffic and demographics at particular stores and markets.
This summer, Placer.ai revealed that it was partnering with Fishers, Ind.-based in-store digital ad provider Vibenomics to gauge the impact of in-store retail media in a more precise way. The full Placer.ai white paper is available online.
Bentonville, Ark.-based Walmart operates more than 10,500 stores and numerous e-commerce websites in 20 countries. Walmart U.S. is No. 1 on Progressive Grocer’s 2023 list of the top food and consumables retailers in North America, while Sam’s Club is No. 8. PG also named Walmart one of its Retailers of the Century. Sam’s Club, a division of Walmart Inc. that operates nearly 600 clubs in the United States and Puerto Rico, is No. 8 on the list. Meanwhile, Kroger, Albertsons, Ahold Delhaize USA, and Sprouts are Nos. 4, 9, 10 and 51, respectively, on The PG 100.
