As retailers continue to digitize their stores and expand their retail media networks into the aisle, new opportunities exist for brands to connect the digital and physical experience for their customers. With these new opportunities come new challenges. In this article, we explore some of those opportunities and how to adapt existing digital out-of-home (DOOH) concepts to deliver more personalized in-store experiences.
What does in-store media look like today?
Most of the advertising you’ll see in-store today is video, often very similar to the ads being run on other platforms like YouTube, Instagram and on billboards. There’s nothing inherently wrong with this content, however, it does miss a key opportunity in-store to localize and personalize the content, and in turn increase the ROI for your advertisers.
1. Use in-store ads to help shoppers find where things are
The untapped opportunity is to inspire and inform shoppers while guiding them through the store. Imagine an ad on your front-of-store screens for a chocolate bar. This ad looks like the one your shopper saw on YouTube but with a twist. A dynamic creative element says, “Find me in aisle 3.” Injecting this data dynamically improves the customer experience. We call this giving your screens “utility.” For shoppers, screens change from merely passive displays to providing valuable shopping experiences.
2. Highlight nearby offers with real-time price and promotion data
Now you’ve got them to the aisle, there’s an opportunity to highlight the promotions and offers on products nearby. Leveraging planogram data eliminates the need to manually schedule this content. In addition, dynamic creative can leverage real-time price and promotion data to inform the shopper on key promotions, what they can save and exclusive members-only offers available in the aisle. This turns simple video into personalized content that informs the shopper, and captures those impulse purchases that might otherwise have been missed.
3. Connect in-store media to time-sensitive promotions
There is one final missed opportunity to consider. Digitization of the store creates a more connected store, allowing you to reach your shoppers on their journey regardless of where they are at any point in time. For example, let’s say it’s 3pm and roast chickens have just been marked down for clearance. Historically in-store radio has helped retailers communicate with shoppers throughout the store to alert them to time specific offers available elsewhere in-store.
A data-driven approach to retail media unlocks the ability to connect your in-store radio, just-in-time promotions and the shopper. As shoppers hear the announcement for the markdown of roast chickens in the deli section, they also see their nearest screen showing the 50% off offer, and that there are only 10 left. Again, the screens have gone from being disconnected and passive, to providing value to the shopper and creating a genuine experience of personalization.
What's next?
We hope you found these ideas useful. If you'd like to discuss how Last Yard can help create a connected store, enhance your retail media offering and deliver a higher ROI to your advertisers, get in touch today.
Like to see these strategies in action? Book a discovery call for a quick 15-minute demo with real-world examples you can share with your team.
