What’s changing inside the store? 7 shifts shaping retail media in-store

Retail media has matured quickly in recent years, but the real shift is now happening inside the store. While online channels have long attracted innovation and investment, the physical retail space is evolving into a dynamic, data-rich media environment.

From intelligent targeting to unified measurement, these in-store retail media trends reveal how advertisers and retailers work together to redefine the in-aisle experience.

Generative AI is entering the aisle

Retailers are starting to apply generative AI tools to accelerate creative production for in-store formats. While this technology has already shown its value in e-commerce, helping marketers generate headlines, visuals and product content, it’s now beginning to shape in-store campaign workflows as well.

According to McKinsey, generative AI could add up to $4.4 trillion in value across industries, and retail marketing stands to benefit through AI-assisted asset localisation, visual adaptation for shelf displays and context-aware creative planning.

Targeting gets smarter and generational

With the help of AI and real-time audience signals, in-store targeting is now happening based on generational cohorts, not historical assumptions. Rather than blasting the same ad at every passerby, media networks are using anonymous, real-time data to activate content only when, for example, a Gen Z-heavy audience is detected near a display.

Nielsen highlights this shift in its Retail Media Trends 2024 report, highlighting how privacy-safe technology enables relevant, moment-based targeting without relying on individual IDs.

Omnichannel isn’t optional anymore

Today’s campaigns are expected to seamlessly span multiple touchpoints. A consumer might see a brand message on social media, receive a promotional email, and then encounter the same narrative in-store. That kind of omnichannel retail media experience isn’t a “nice-to-have” anymore; it’s the baseline.

GroupM’s This Year Next Year outlook shows that brands are funneling more spend into networks that can deliver continuity across digital and physical retail environments, reinforcing the same story wherever the shopper goes.

In-store programmatic buying is a reality

Programmatic advertising is no longer limited to online platforms. Retailers now offer demand-side platform (DSP) access to in-store inventory, enabling automated media buying based on rules like location, time slot, real-time audience composition or campaign objectives.

As Retail TouchPoints reports, this brings flexibility, scale, and campaign-level transparency into the aisle, bridging digital's capabilities with the contextual power of physical retail.

Performance thinking comes to physical retail

Advertisers increasingly want performance outcomes from their in-store media spend. They don’t just want proof that an ad played; they want to know how it influenced behavior, like driving visits to a category, increasing sales lift or generating loyalty redemptions.

IAB Europe’s latest insights confirm that retailers offering closed-loop attribution, linking ad delivery to actual outcomes, are attracting more committed brand partners who are accustomed to performance-based KPIs from digital.

Building for scale, not just screens

It’s no longer enough to install digital signage. The leading retail media networks are investing in scalable infrastructure, integrating CMS platforms with edge processing, audience analytics, ad servers and reporting tools.

eMarketer’s US Retail Media Forecast notes that the backend stack, not just the screens, will define how quickly and profitably in-store retail media can grow. The winners will be those who can support national rollouts, dynamic creative optimisation and DSP connectivity without technical bottlenecks.

Unified measurement is the end goal

Advertisers are demanding consistency across formats. Whether an ad is seen on a homepage, in a mobile app, or near the frozen food aisle, they want one standard for measuring impact. That means audience reach, qualified views and attention thresholds must be tracked uniformly across channels.

According to joint research from Kantar and IAB, solving this retail media measurement challenge is one of the industry’s top priorities. The ability to report full-funnel performance, from exposure to outcome, will become a core differentiator for retailers offering in-store media.

Final thought

In-store retail media has evolved from static signage to intelligent, targeted and measurable engagement. As advertisers look for greater efficiency and relevance, the physical store transforms into a media channel that syncs with the rest of the marketing ecosystem.

Check out the full breakdown of in-store retail media trends we’re seeing across the industry.