Why Screens Alone Don’t Create a Successful In-Store Retail Media Network

Since the dawn of the digital age, retailers have made determined efforts to harness the potential of new screen technology to enhance their customer journeys, brand engagement and product sales, encouraged by studies like one from Grocery TV in June 2026 that found no fewer than 62% of shoppers have purchased an item directly after seeing it on an in-store screen. More recently, retailers have also been switched-on to the standalone revenue generating potential of in-store screens, often confident that deploying digital signage to stores is the same as creating an in-store retail media channel. 

What’s often missed is an understanding of the differences between digital signage and in-store retail media. They both use screens as the canvas of communication, but the commercial, administrative and technological details that underpin them can be very different. Failing to consider these differences and deploying at breakneck speed can lead to missed expectations.  

In this article, Nikk Smith, Founding Director at Pixel Inspiration, breaks down what can happen when retailers place focus on the speed of deployment of a digital estate, rather than thinking through the commercial foundations.

Perils and pitfalls of the gold rush

Recent changes to privacy legislation in the digital advertising world have added significantly to the value of first-party retailer data. Brands understand this and appreciate the benefits of getting their message closer to the point of decision over a reliance on more heavily regulated third-party aggregators. This creates demand and budgets for online and in-store advertising inventory.

Spend across onsite, app and in-store retail media networks is already in the Billions and projected to grow rapidly. Coupled with the sales uplifts on products achievable with well-placed campaigns, the numbers are genuinely persuasive. Retail media isn't valuable just because a screen can be shown to move a sale, it's valuable because that screen is inventory, and inventory has a market price. 

Globally, retail media is now a $145–175 billion category, and is growing year on year. In-store is still the smallest part of that and is forecast to reach just $1.06 billion by 2028, or 0.8% of total retail media spend, which is why many retailers see this as a future opportunity to explore. It's fair to say that quite a few retailers have succumbed to a gold rush mentality, chasing the market by rapidly deploying new screen inventory into stores, but the ones building sustainable retail media businesses are the ones treating screen space as an asset to be priced, sold and measured on its own terms – a commercial platform, not just a technology rollout. It's a distinction that’s easy to mis-understand.

Move too fast and the results can be predictable, with inconsistent placement, poorly specified software, and commercial models no one can sell against. Screen inventory ends up with little or no advertiser value, contracts get broken and, in at least one case, a supplier went out of business after over-promising on networks it couldn't follow through to scale.

That company was Stratacache UK, a retail media tech firm that closed its doors in May 2026. Its fate illustrates the perils lying in wait for retailers and providers who deploy commercially unviable solutions. Stratacache offered partner retailers the in-store technology in return for a revenue share of the advertising placed on the retail media network, but in several cases either failed to deploy any significant inventory or struggled to monetise what they did deploy.

It’s essential to realise that a screen, on its own, is not a retail media channel. Rushing to install the technology without a well-researched and viable commercial model behind it is a costly mistake. Such blunders can be avoided by understanding the core principles of what makes a good network:  audience reach, consistent formats and capable software coupled with the shrewd use of first-party data are key to driving serious commercial value. 

Where are retailers right now with in-store media?

It’s fascinating and highly informative to look across the current retail landscape and see the brands that are leading the field in the implementation of viable in-store media. 

Tesco are leading the way in terms of creating a cohesive strategy; the partnership with dunnhumby, the global customer data science giant, playing a vital role in this market- leading approach. Together, they have created Tesco Media, which delivers a compelling case to brands keen to access the purses and wallets of Tesco customers. More than 20 million UK families now hold a Clubcard, which provides a wealth of first-party data that can be leveraged by Tesco’s commercial team and systems to drive its in-store screen strategy and decisions on where displays should be placed across their estate. 

By connecting its screen and online inventory to the same data platform that understands how their customers discover and purchase products across stores, web and app, Tesco is able to leverage its data to provide knowledge and insight into those purchasing habits and preferences to deliver media that provides maximum appeal to advertisers and brands.  

First-party data is key to retail media value

Customer data can be gathered in various ways, basic footfall trackers are the starting point to identify audience volume, but transactional information gives much detail on spending habits, patterns and correlations, which is what helps define a retail audience to an advertiser.  The most effective data source in the modern retail estate is the loyalty cards distributed by many major brands. The data tells retailers so much, not just about individual customers’ preferences but also about the times, days and stores where certain products are particularly popular, as well wider purchasing patterns such as links between categories and the typical effects that different types of promotions have on behaviour. 

This information can be used to help advertisers decide where best to place their online and in-store campaigns – and this is the crux of well-executed and therefore viable retail media: when brands and advertisers can be sure that their campaigns are going to be seen by the target audience that fits their needs, their confidence in the channel increases and, as a result, more media spend flows into the space.  

Whilst getting content onto a screen is what digital signage is all about, the platforms that power signage are not necessarily the same as those that power a screen-based retail media network. With retail media, advertisers need to be able to deploy campaigns to the specific audiences that a retailer’s 1^st party data describes – this can only happen when the underlying software platform allows targeting of content by audience, which the platform then correlates to a package of displays & time slots. In addition, a true retail media software solution needs to keep track of the occupancy percentage of each screen,  ensuring bookings never exceed 100% of the available inventory (which is fixed based on the typical time a customer has the opportunity to see content). Signage platforms don’t do this – they work on an infinite loop basis, allowing unlimited content to be targeted at a screen, which means that media buyers are unable to know whether there is unused space they can target.  These aspects may sound like a small differences, but from a software perspective, they’re huge. 

The blunders retailers must avoid

Let’s look at the most common mistakes retailers make when they rush to install an in-store screen network:

• Inconsistent screen placement and lack of coverage. Without consistent in-store positions, across the widest geography possible it is much more difficult to market the network - and will become more-so as others expand their reach. Advertisers like to target the widest audience possible, but don’t like to waste budget. This is what instore retail media should excel at, but it can only do so when an advertiser can get granular with their targeting but still reach a large audience. 

• Capability of the infrastructure. Choosing the right software and hardware at the outset of your in-store screen implementation is absolutely essential. It determines the commercial viability of your network over the long-term. Low-cost software platforms may be tempting, but do not provide the control needed to ensure the contractual compliance that brands need. If you can’t manage and provide proof of delivery against the commercial terms you’ve sold against, trust is lost and advertisers will look elsewhere the next time.

• Lack of future planning. Programmatic advertising is set to claim an increasingly large share of the market. Only five per cent of current processes are driven by programmatic technology, but it is predicted that this will soon rise to as much as 30 per cent. If your software, networking and processes don’t support programmatic selling, you risk missing out on a significant chunk of additional revenue in the medium and long term. 

Make screens a long-term investment

Every retailer has heard the old adage “Buy cheap, buy twice” – and it definitely applies to the purchase decisions related to delivery of in-store retail media networks. A high-quality display can often remain viable for eight or more years, and will typically come with fewer issues during its operating life, while a less expensive option could struggle to make it to three. A five-year warranty from a proven manufacturer can be depreciated with confidence. 

Practical steps to build a quality network

Let’s itemise the measures you can take to ensure your new in-store media network launches from a firm footing. 

1. Keep it simple at first: Start with where your current advertiser budgets actually are, and build consistent inventory in those categories and positions. That should act as an MVP and deliver the right results to validate the business model of a wider deployment.

2. Identify non-endemic positions: These are locations in the shopper journey where you can deliver advertising messages without disrupting the consumer experience. These may include pumps on a garage forecourt, or dwell zones around the post-checkout area. Non endemic campaigns give you net new revenue opportunities, but are only suitable for certain places in the customer journey.

3. Choose your software well: Ensure you invest in a solution that can manage contractual selling of digital media space, and that is future-proofed to support programmatic selling across the widest marketplace possible. 

4. Choose the right hardware: Invest in equipment that has a warranted, depreciable lifespan so that it gives you solid service and can be easily replaced or upgraded when the time comes. 

The most compelling conclusion of any analysis of in-store retail media is that you need so much more than a screen to make it work. 

Commercial value comes from:

• Consistent, broad coverage

• Selection of fit for purpose hardware and software – remembering that retail media needs much more capability than pure play digital signage

• The implementation of insights and audiences driven by first-party data 

• Providing the proof that campaigns have delivered

It is tempting to rush to install screens to keep up with the herd. But racing ahead without a sound, coherent commercial model and technical implementation strategy can be an expensive mistake.