Despite retail media’s growth, in-store measurement is still playing catchup

Granted, a lot of the hype driving significant growth among RMNs is the ability to link shopper data with viewership on CTV and other digital platforms. But some companies are now taking steps to help improve stats that support in-store media efforts, which remain a part of campaigns — things like foot traffic, conversion rates, unique visitors, engagement levels and others. 

Meanwhile, the IAB plans to announce a set of standards around in-store media during its Connected Commerce Summit in New York City on Sept. 18. Measurement guidelines will be shared, alongside definitions to clarify terminology; recommended formats for ad placements; and clear definitions of store zones where media can be placed.

Last week, in-store ad provider Vibenomics partnered with measurement firm Pathformance to develop more advanced in-store measurement tools that aim to tackle inconsistencies in evaluating and delivering in-store impressions. The first effort will address in-store audio with an eventual goal to assess in-store video, given how much digital out-of-home networks are leaning toward that medium. 

“We felt like it was important for brands to more easily access this type of capability,” said Paul Brenner, svp of retail media and partnerships at Vibenomics. “We have to generate more results for the market to grow … We now have a resource we can turn to and make them inherently part of the process.”

“It is a complex place for brands to understand what’s working and to get the standardization and measurement and consistency across all their activations,” said Elizabeth Johnson, Pathformance’s CEO, who pointed to the symbiosis of her company’s brand-driven contacts and Vibenomics’ buy-side connections. “ Ultimately, having this cohesive network [via the partnership] is really understanding what works so brands can reinvest their investments back into the retail media networks the right way,” she said.

Back in August, another alliance looking to advance in-store measurement took hold, when retail ad-tech firm Swiftly said it plans to partner with mar-tech firm Advantage Solutions, which works with retailers and manufacturers. The partnership in this case pairs Swiftly’s tech solutions to Advantage’s omnichannel capabilities, thereby enabling retailers to have a better understanding of, and control over, the digital relationship with their shoppers.

“Everybody remembers a time when they’ve gone into a store, seen an end-cap, a sign, maybe an in-store coupon, or a shelf talker, and those are definitely driving sales impact — but that’s hard to measure,” said Sean Turner, Swiftly’s co-founder and chief innovation officer. “You can’t run an A-B test in the same way that you can with digital, and you can’t expose the same group of users and hold all other creative testing control group, hold all other activities constant and really measure that incrementality.” 

That’s why Swiftly and Advantage partnered up, to use data to try to build these answers via leveraging test-and-control methodologies and other tactics.

It doesn’t help the cause for in-store media that it costs retailers significant investments in tech to reap the rewards of measuring its impact on consumers — in these more cost-conscious times, that’s not always the top choice, explained Lori Johnshoy, head of global retail, media network & CPG industry strategy at LiveRamp, which is providing clean-room technology to let retailers, brands and networks share data in privacy-safe environments.  

In-store “is kind of the OG of retail media,” said Johnshoy, who spent years working on in-store efforts at Target’s Roundel RMN. “As we’ve evolved, a lot of technology has come into place that has allowed on-site and off-site to be more measurable when it comes to understanding performance … But there’s so much capital cost that goes in to updating screen walls or updating end caps with digital screens. You’re kind of at the mercy a lot of times of your store teams to raise their hand and say, ‘This isn’t working,’ or ‘We’re not capturing it.’”

But Aisha Khan, who just joined GroupM as executive director, global commerce client acceleration from L’Oréal, took a more positive view of the state of in-store. She looks at it from a digital OOH point of view, and from that angle, there’s a lot to understand and absorb. It’s analogous to an Olympic swimmer standing next to an Olympic weightlifter — the weightlifter looks much stronger, but the swimmer is just as good an athlete.

“In the context of digital out of home, which is essentially what in-store retail media actually is, in-store retail media is actually very compelling, and actually is quite an advanced ability to have sales attribution, even if it’s directionally,” said Khan, citing foot traffic metrics, zip code lift metrics, historical sales period metrics, or year-over-year sales metrics as examples. “So there’s a component of ways that you can actually directly attribute sales to in-store retail media.”