Online vs in-store retail media: what's the difference?

Physical retail environments continue to play a vital role in influencing consumer behaviour, particularly in categories such as grocery, where most purchases still take place in-store. Only 8% of UK shoppers buy groceries exclusively online, while 92% still shop in-store at least some of the time (55% shop exclusively in-store and 37% use a combination of both). For brands looking to build awareness, influence consideration and drive sales, understanding the difference between online and in-store Retail Media is becoming increasingly important.

(Source: Toluna Audience In Focus Survey, January 2026)

The reality is that both channels have different strengths. One offers precision and data-driven targeting. The other provides real-world visibility and influence close to the point of purchase.

The strongest Retail Media strategies use both.

What is online Retail Media?

Online Retail Media refers to advertising delivered through a retailer's digital platforms and data ecosystem.

This includes advertising on:

• Retailer websites
• Ecommerce search results
• Retailer apps
• Sponsored product listings
• Off-site advertising powered by retailer data

When consumers browse products online, Retail Media helps brands increase visibility and influence purchase decisions within digital shopping environments.

What is online Retail Media good for?

Online Retail Media is particularly effective for:

Precise audience targeting

Retailers can use first-party data, shopping behaviours and loyalty information to reach highly relevant audiences.

Performance measurement

Brands can measure impressions, clicks, conversions and sales outcomes with a high level of granularity.

Ecommerce integration

Advertising often appears directly alongside products, creating a seamless path from discovery to purchase.

These capabilities have helped fuel the rapid growth of Retail Media over recent years.

What is in-store Retail Media?

In-store Retail Media refers to advertising within physical retail environments such as supermarkets, convenience stores and shopping centres.

While online Retail Media continues to grow, physical stores remain one of the most influential environments for shaping purchasing decisions.

This is particularly true in grocery retail, where consumers continue to make many decisions while shopping in-store.

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What does in-store Retail Media look like?

In-store Retail Media can include:

• Digital screens
• Supermarket entrance media
• Point-of-sale advertising
• Shelf-edge displays
• Floor graphics
• Sampling activity
• Experiential activations
• Car park and external retail media

Increasingly, digital screens are becoming one of the most important formats within physical Retail Media because they combine the flexibility of digital advertising with the influence of real-world environments.

What is in-store Retail Media good for?

Influencing shoppers close to purchase

Consumers inside stores are actively shopping, comparing products and making decisions. This creates a valuable opportunity for brands to influence behaviour closer to purchase.

Research shows that in-store shoppers are:

• 40% less likely to have a shopping list
• 3× more likely to deviate from their shopping list
• 3× more likely to think they can find better deals
• 3× more likely to switch from their preferred brands
• 5× more likely to try new brands
• 3.5× more likely to make impulse purchases

compared with shoppers buying groceries online (Source: Toluna Supermarket Study 2023, N=750).

Building visibility in physical environments

Unlike digital advertising, physical Retail Media exists within the shopper's surroundings. It cannot be scrolled past or hidden behind another tab.

Driving consideration and discovery

Many shoppers remain open to influence while shopping. Effective in-store Retail Media can increase visibility, encourage trial and support brand switching.

British households also make an average of 17 supermarket trips every month, creating repeated opportunities for brands to reinforce messaging and build familiarity over time (Source: Kantar Worldpanel Touchpoints 2025).

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The key differences between online and in-store Retail Media

Although both channels sit within the wider Retail Media ecosystem, they operate in very different ways.

Environment

Online Retail Media exists within websites, apps and ecommerce platforms.

In-store Retail Media exists within physical environments where consumers interact directly with products and make purchasing decisions.

Attention

Online audiences often divide their attention between multiple platforms, tabs and devices.

In-store shoppers are focused on completing a shopping mission. As they move through a store, they are actively evaluating products, prices and promotions.

This creates a different type of attention – one that is closely connected to purchase behaviour.

Targeting

Online Retail Media relies heavily on audience and behavioural data.

In-store Retail Media benefits from shopper context, location and proximity to purchase. Increasingly, retailers are also using data to improve targeting and measurement within physical environments.

Measurement

Digital campaigns often provide immediate reporting through clicks and conversions.

Physical Retail Media can be measured using a range of tools including audience measurement, sales uplift studies, loyalty card insights and footfall analysis.

Why supermarkets remain so influential

One of the biggest misconceptions about Retail Media is that digital growth automatically reduces the importance of physical stores.

In reality, supermarkets remain one of the most commercially valuable touchpoints in the shopper journey.

Consumers enter supermarkets ready to spend money, compare products and make purchasing decisions. Many will discover new products, switch brands or make unplanned purchases during a single visit.

This is one of the reasons supermarket DOOH has become such an important part of the Retail Media conversation.

Unlike category-specific advertising, supermarket entrance screens can influence shoppers before they reach an aisle, helping brands build familiarity and reinforce consideration before product comparisons begin.

Research also shows that contextually relevant DOOH creative delivers a 17% uplift in advertising effectiveness, reinforcing the value of delivering relevant messaging in the right retail environment (Source: Moments of Truth study by Bauer Media Outdoor, JCDecaux and Posterscope).

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Which works better?

There is no clear winner in the online vs in-store Retail Media debate because both channels solve different challenges.

Online Retail Media excels at:

• Audience targeting
• Performance marketing
• Ecommerce conversion
• Detailed measurement

In-store Retail Media excels at:

• Physical visibility
• Shopper influence
• Proximity to purchase
• Real-world attention

The most effective Retail Media strategies combine both.

A digital-only campaign may deliver strong targeting but miss the influence that physical visibility can provide inside stores.

Equally, a physical-only campaign may miss opportunities to engage shoppers earlier in the journey.

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How online and in-store Retail Media work together

Rather than competing, online and in-store Retail Media are increasingly working together as part of integrated campaigns.

Consumers move constantly between digital and physical environments.

A shopper might:

• Discover a product online
• Research it on mobile
• See related OOH advertising during a commute
• Encounter the brand again on a supermarket entrance screen
• Purchase the product in-store

This is why connected Retail Media strategies are becoming increasingly important.

Building consistency

Using consistent messaging across online and in-store environments helps reinforce familiarity and improve recall.

Connecting streets to store

OOH and supermarket DOOH can bridge the gap between digital awareness and in-store conversion, helping brands remain visible throughout the shopper journey.

Combining awareness and conversion

Online Retail Media can build awareness and target audiences before a shopping trip.

In-store Retail Media can reinforce those messages closer to the point of purchase.

Together, they create a more connected path to purchase.

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Retail Media is bigger than digital

Retail Media is no longer just about ecommerce advertising.

As brands look for ways to connect digital precision with real-world influence, physical retail environments continue to play a critical role.

For many categories, particularly grocery, the moments that matter most still happen in-store.

The most successful Retail Media strategies recognise this and combine online and in-store channels to create stronger customer journeys, greater visibility and more effective outcomes.

Want to learn more?

Bauer Media Outdoor helps brands connect with shoppers throughout the journey from streets to store through the UK's largest supermarket DOOH network.

Find out how supermarket advertising can support your wider Retail Media strategy.