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.
For advertisers, this creates a valuable opportunity. The challenge is understanding where influence happens. Many brands focus solely on the shelf. But by the time shoppers reach an aisle, a significant amount of influence has already taken place. The most effective supermarket advertising strategies recognise that shopper influence happens throughout the journey, from streets to store.
One of the biggest misconceptions in Retail Media is that influence begins inside the supermarket. In reality, the shopper journey often starts much earlier.
Consumers encounter brands while commuting, travelling, working and moving through everyday life. This is where OOH plays an important role. A shopper may:
Each exposure contributes to awareness and familiarity. This is why Streets to Store planning has become increasingly important for brands looking to connect awareness with purchase.
If there is one location that stands above all others in terms of influence, it is the supermarket entrance. Why? Because it reaches every shopper.
Unlike category-specific advertising, Front of Store media is not limited to consumers already shopping within a particular aisle. Every shopper enters through the same location. This creates a unique opportunity to influence consideration before category decisions have been made.
Front of Store supermarket DOOH can help brands:
For this reason, supermarket entrances are among the most valuable locations within the Retail Media ecosystem.
One of the biggest advantages of Front of Store advertising is that it reaches shoppers before they enter specific category journeys. Not every shopper visits every aisle, and many categories are only purchased occasionally.
Research shows that around 70% of visits from potential category buyers result in no spend within that category (Source: i2c, 2018). This means brands relying solely on category-level visibility can miss a large proportion of potential buyers during any given shopping trip.
By influencing consumers earlier in the shopping trip, supermarket DOOH helps ensure brands are considered before shoppers begin comparing products. This is one of the reasons entrance screens play such an important role in connecting attention and intention.
Once shoppers move deeper into the store, advertising continues to play an important role. Consumers are exposed to:
At this stage, the role of advertising shifts. Rather than creating initial awareness, it reinforces existing preferences and helps make brands easier to notice and easier to choose. For advertisers, consistency is critical - the strongest campaigns create a connected experience from awareness through to purchase.
Category environments remain important because this is where final product comparisons often take place. Consumers may evaluate:
Advertising that shoppers have already seen elsewhere in the journey can make a significant difference at this stage.
Research from Shoppercentric found that supermarket DOOH delivered a 14% faster time to first fixation, a 53% higher share of attention on shelf, and a 4.3 percentage point increase in brand choice. This demonstrates how early exposure can make brands easier to notice and more likely to be chosen when shoppers reach the shelf.
(Source: Shoppercentric Supermarket Research 2023).
Familiar brands tend to be easier to recognise and easier to recall. This is why supermarket advertising works best when it combines multiple touchpoints rather than relying on a single interaction.
As shoppers approach a transaction, advertising can provide a final layer of reinforcement. Point-of-purchase messaging can help:
However, by this stage many decisions have already been shaped by earlier moments in the journey. This is why the supermarket entrance and broader shopper journey remain so important - influence often begins long before a shopper reaches the checkout.
Digital screens have become one of the most effective formats within supermarket environments because they combine:
Unlike many traditional in-store formats, supermarket DOOH allows advertisers to update messaging dynamically based on:
This makes it possible to deliver more relevant and contextual experiences throughout the shopping journey.
One of the reasons supermarket advertising is so valuable is its ability to support both brand building and sales activation.
Attention
By reaching shoppers repeatedly within high-frequency environments, supermarket advertising helps build familiarity and reinforce memory structures.
Intention
By appearing close to the point of purchase, it can also influence consideration and support future buying decisions.
Together, these roles help connect long-term brand growth with short-term commercial outcomes.
Every supermarket location can play a role in influencing shoppers. But not all locations offer the same opportunity.
The supermarket entrance remains one of the few places where brands can reach every shopper before category decisions have been made. Combined with evidence that shoppers don't visit every aisle and that early exposure improves attention and brand choice later in the shopping journey, this combination of reach, attention and proximity to purchase makes Front of Store one of the most influential touchpoints in modern Retail Media.
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, from streets to store.
Get in touch to learn more.
Out of Home is a tried and trusted method for reaching large and diverse audiences and the new wave of DOOH formats has expanded our network's offering - enabling you to amplify your brand's message with data-driven campaigns.
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As Retail Media continues to grow, brands are increasingly looking for ways to influence consumers closer to the moment they buy.
While much of today's Retail Media conversation focuses on online channels, physical retail environments remain one of the most influential parts of the shopper journey. For many categories, particularly grocery, the point of purchase still happens in-store.
In fact, while over 90% of Retail Media revenue is invested online, only 8% of UK shoppers buy groceries exclusively online. The majority still shop in physical stores, with 55% shopping exclusively in-store and a further 37% combining online and in-store shopping.
(Source: GroupM, Statista, KPMG analysis. Toluna Audience In Focus Survey, January 2026)
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