Much of the discussion around Retail Media focuses on digital channels such as retailer websites, apps and ecommerce platforms. In fact, over 90% of Retail Media revenue is currently invested online, with the two biggest players, Amazon and Alibaba, accounting for around half of total spend. However, Retail Media extends beyond online environments. Physical retail spaces, particularly supermarkets, continue to play a critical role in influencing consumer behaviour and purchasing decisions. While online Retail Media continues to grow, only 8% of UK shoppers buy groceries exclusively online, while 55% shop exclusively in-store and a further 37% use a combination of both. Understanding what Retail Media is, and how it works both online and in-store, is becoming increasingly important for brands looking to build effective Retail Media and shopper marketing strategies. (Source: Toluna Audience In Focus Survey, January 2026, GroupM, Statista, KPMG analysis)
Retail Media refers to advertising delivered through a retailer's owned channels, platforms and environments. This can include:
In simple terms, Retail Media allows brands to advertise directly to shoppers through spaces controlled by retailers themselves.
Retailers hold valuable insights into customer behaviour, shopping habits and purchasing patterns, making their platforms highly attractive to advertisers. Importantly, those platforms are not limited to digital channels - physical retail environments remain a core part of the Retail Media ecosystem.
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Although much of today's Retail Media investment focuses on ecommerce and digital channels, Retail Media also includes physical retail environments. Supermarkets, shopping centres and retail destinations all provide opportunities for brands to communicate with shoppers while they are actively making purchasing decisions.
This distinction is particularly important in grocery retail, where the majority of shopping still takes place in-store. For many brands, physical Retail Media remains one of the most effective ways to influence behaviour close to purchase.
Retail Media has grown rapidly because it offers something advertisers increasingly value: proximity to purchase. Unlike many traditional advertising channels, Retail Media allows brands to communicate with consumers closer to the moment they are ready to buy.
For online Retail Media, this might mean appearing within ecommerce search results or retailer apps. For physical Retail Media, it means influencing shoppers inside stores while they compare products, consider promotions and make purchasing decisions.
Retail Media also benefits from increasingly sophisticated measurement capabilities. Retailers can often connect advertising activity to:
This ability to connect advertising exposure with commercial outcomes has helped accelerate investment across the category.
In-store Retail Media refers to advertising formats located within physical retail environments such as supermarkets, convenience stores and shopping centres.
These environments remain highly influential because consumers are already engaged in shopping behaviour. Unlike many media channels, supermarkets place brands directly within the purchasing journey — consumers are not simply browsing content, they are actively evaluating products, comparing options and making decisions.
This combination of attention, context and purchase intent makes physical Retail Media particularly powerful.
In-store Retail Media can take many forms, including:
What makes these formats effective is their proximity to decision making. However, not all touchpoints perform the same role.
One of the most valuable locations within the supermarket environment is the entrance. Front of Store digital screens reach every shopper entering a store and provide an opportunity to influence consideration before category decisions have been made. This is one of the reasons supermarket DOOH has become such an important component of modern Retail Media strategies.
In-store Retail Media combines three powerful ingredients:
Attention
Consumers are actively shopping and focused on purchasing decisions.
Context
Advertising appears within a relevant retail environment.
Purchase intent
Consumers are already preparing to spend money.
Research consistently shows that shoppers are more likely to switch brands, make impulse purchases, discover new products and deviate from shopping lists while shopping in-store.
Compared with online grocery shopping, in-store shoppers are:
(Source: Toluna Supermarket Study 2023, N=750.)
For advertisers, this creates opportunities to influence behaviour in ways that are difficult to replicate elsewhere. Physical Retail Media becomes part of the shopping journey itself rather than interrupting it.
As Retail Media continues to evolve, supermarkets remain one of the most commercially valuable environments available to advertisers. They combine:
British households also make an average of 17 supermarket trips every month, creating repeated opportunities for brands to build familiarity and reinforce messaging over time (Source: Kantar Worldpanel Touchpoints 2025).
This is why supermarket advertising continues to play an important role within the broader Retail Media ecosystem. Rather than competing with online Retail Media, supermarkets complement it, helping connect awareness, consideration and purchase within a single environment.
In-store Retail Media is not in competition with online Retail Media. The strongest strategies combine both.
Consumers move constantly between online and offline environments. A shopper might:
This is why connected Retail Media strategies are becoming increasingly important. Digital channels can build awareness and target audiences before a store visit, while physical Retail Media can reinforce those messages closer to purchase. Together, they create a more connected shopper journey.
Retail Media no longer begins and ends inside a store.
Increasingly, brands are combining OOH, supermarket DOOH and online Retail Media to create connected customer journeys. This Streets to Store approach allows advertisers to remain visible throughout the path to purchase while reinforcing messages at key moments. The result is a more consistent and effective Retail Media strategy.
Retail Media is no longer simply a digital advertising category. It is a broader ecosystem that combines digital precision with physical influence. Understanding Retail Media means understanding both sides of that equation.
While ecommerce platforms and retailer data continue to play a critical role, physical retail environments remain one of the most effective ways to influence shoppers at the point of purchase. For many brands, particularly those operating in grocery, supermarkets continue to be one of the most important Retail Media environments available.
Bauer Media Outdoor operates the UK's largest digital supermarket network across Asda, Sainsbury's and Morrisons.
Our supermarket DOOH screens help brands connect attention and intention at key moments throughout the shopper journey. Whether you're looking to support a Retail Media strategy, launch a new product or influence shoppers closer to purchase, we can help create more effective Retail Media campaigns.
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Most supermarket advertising conversations focus on what happens at the shelf.
But by the time shoppers reach an aisle, many of the most important influences have already begun.
The first few seconds of a store visit represent one of the most valuable moments in the entire shopper journey.
Supermarkets are one of the most influential advertising environments available to brands.
Every week, millions of consumers enter stores ready to make decisions, compare products and complete purchases. Some arrive with detailed shopping lists. Others arrive with broad intentions and make decisions as they go.
