touch screen monitors in brick and mortaar storess price

In my last three blogs (Get to Know Your Retail Customer: Accelerating Customer Insight and Relevance; Improving your Customer-Centric Merchandising with Location-based in-Store Merchandising; and Maximizing Supply Chain Agility through the “Last Mile” Commitment) I painted a picture that showed an ever-changing landscape in retail, considering that consumers are more in control than ever, mobile (at least somewhat digitally mobile considering the pandemic) and socially connected. They are armed with more knowledge than ever before, as a result, four strategic pillars have emerged that have resulted as leading retailers and brands have deployed a data-centric strategy enabling a customer-first approach. The retailers and brands have integrated more tech (data, analytics, and devices) into every step of the consumer purchase path that is revealing an entirely new retail experiences – starting with production, replenishment and continuing into merchandising, marketing and on to fulfillment and returns— that has an opportunity (and challenge) to shape the customer perception.

The three pillars previously discussed: personalized interactions, customer-centric merchandising, and supply chain agility all share the same thread – all deploy a data-centric strategy enabled by an enterprise data platform streaming data at high volume and high scale, managing and monitoring diverse edge applications and providing data scientists with tools to build, test, refine and deploy predictive machine learning models.

With more than 78% of global retail sales projected to still occur in-store by 2023, traditional retailers are increasingly realizing that the brick-and-mortar footprint is a competitive differentiator and with this realization, they are reimagining stores morphing them from a simple place products to wait to be purchased to micro-fulfillment centers or in-store pickup locations as examples. Blended use brick and mortar enable better pricing and convenience to consumers than digital pure-plays, and physical stores now serve as micro-fulfillment centers—through BOPIS (buy online, pick-up in-store) or curbside delivery—and drive down overall cost-to-serve.

In-store customer insights and engagement opportunities are now possible using data captured from sensors, video, and beacons. This technology allows retailers to measure and respond in real-time to shopper behavior, measure geolocation, traffic, dwell times, and conversion metrics. For merchants, the ability to capture shelf, rack, table, and bin inventory levels allows them to prevent out-of-stocks (lost sales), monitor merchandising (display, pricing, promo, POG), meet compliance initiatives, and share these new insights with trading partners they may have. Traditional retailers now have access to an entirely new data monetization opportunity that many have been missing out on for years.

Cloudera recognizes ten top retail IoT use cases that are transforming brick and mortar stores, as you can see below, and they are transforming all aspects of the retail experience.

In my earlier blogs, we demonstrated some pretty remarkable benefits from the use cases associated with improving customer insight (producing relevant offer response time) or improving supply chain agility (saving nearly $21m/year in product delivery costs). This last use case looks at the pervasive amounts of waste the supermarkets generate, as it is estimated 43 billion pounds of food every year is discarded by supermarkets, according to a recent study.

Retail grocers are committed to doing better, but food waste is still such a pervasive problem that only one supermarket chain earned a B on the food waste “report card” recently issued by the Center for Biological Diversity. Just a handful of chains earned Cs, while the rest of the country’s most recognizable grocery stores scored Ds or Fs.

The leading global mass merchant—that scored highest in rankings—recognized a need to improve cold storage temperature fluctuations on grocery products, understanding that both high and low-temperature variations could lead to excessive shrink (waste).

This retailer deployed Cloudera DataFlow to tap real-time streaming data from thousands of cold storage sensors across its vast network of brick-and-mortar stores. The solution ingested and aggregated data from these temperature sensors with location and on-hand inventory data to predict, monitor, and respond to possible changes in perishable food products such as produce, dairy, and meat.

Predictive analytics allowed the retailer to proactively respond not only to product life cycle impacts, but also the potential risk of cold storage equipment down-time. Automating the closed-loop process using pre-built business rules and alerts gave individual maintenance teams and store department managers actionable instructions to ensure product freshness and reduce waste. The resulting application of streaming data and advanced analytics is expected to be a major contributor to improving freshness, reducing food waste, and cutting cold.

The benefits described in my last four blogs are realized through the Cloudera Data Platform that enables retailers and consumer goods companies to maintain their momentum and accelerate digital transformation by leveraging data from any source whether on-premises, cloud or hybrid platforms—powered by open-source technology. Cloudera delivers this data lifecycle solution through the Cloudera Data Platform, from edge to AI.

Editor"s Note: This article by Luke Wilwerding, director of retail solutions at Elo, an interactive touchscreen provider, originally ran on Digital Signage Today, a sister website of Kiosk Marketplace.

It"s no secret that many national retail chains are struggling to keep up with the growing threat from e-commerce sites. And with 77 percent of Americans now owning a smartphone, the shift towards mobile and online purchasing will only increase. So far in 2017, we"ve seen such retail giants as Sears, The Limited, JCPenney and American Apparel close stores, or in extreme cases, shutter their brick-and-mortar presence entirely.

With e-commerce options literally at their fingertips, shoppers are choosing with their dollars where they complete purchases – and if a retailer doesn"t create a satisfactory customer experience, including in-store e-commerce options, shoppers will take their wallets elsewhere.

New York & Company is one national retailer that is converging online and in-store selling by introducing self-service kiosks in select stores throughout the U.S. Serving as a complement to the store associates and traditional checkout area, the kiosks are positioned throughout the store or near the service desk. This gives shoppers the choice of self-service by providing multiple touchpoints throughout the store where they can shop both the store’s physical and online product offering, make a secure purchase and ship their order directly to any address. New York & Company captures all possible sales, expands their point of sale capabilities and gives customers tech options that they are beginning to expect and intuitively already know how to use.

Luxury and smaller boutique retailers are also finding ways to benefit from using interactive technologies in-store. Monica Rich Kosann, a luxury retail jeweler, is using touchscreens at its freestanding location in The Shops at Columbus Circle for their own take on the "white glove" shopping experience. To maximize the availability of their inventory beyond what is in their shop, the sales associates use the screens for personalized assisted selling, where they can comfortably show shoppers the full line of jewelry and demonstrate how different pieces, such as their signature keepsake lockets, can be customized.

As these two examples show, retailers of all sizes can benefit from using interactive technologies in-store. But it"s not a one-size-fits-all approach, and what type of technology a store should incorporate depends on the type of store, its product offerings and what its customers are looking for in a shopping experience.

For the retailer looking to create an omnichannel shopping environment, self-service kiosks allow shoppers to choose an online option while they"re already in your store. This can help prevent a loss of sale if a location is out of stock of an item, while still giving the store credit for that particular sale. Offering ship to store, home or office options also continues to converge online and in-store channels while giving customers more choices on how they shop a brand.

But not all retailers necessarily need a kiosk installment. They can be a significant cost investment, and smaller retailers and boutiques can equally benefit from using digital signage with point of sale capabilities. These touchscreens can range from a tablet size up to 70+ inches depending on the needs of the retailer. By doubling as both signage – that broadcasts beautiful, interactive imagery or dynamic pricing/promotions – and a place to deploy a website, retailers get more bang for their buck while still giving their shoppers the in-store technology options they crave.

It can be overwhelming to choose from the wide range of digital signage and kiosk options available. Retailers researching how to incorporate in these technologies should drill down what they"re looking to get out of it, and make smart choices before making an investment. Some questions to consider:Do I have limited space to display my inventory, but a large product offering?

These questions are a good starting point to think strategically about how to stand out from the crowd and impress customers. Retailers should expect to see their competitors starting to incorporate tech solutions, so the time is now.

If you"re a business owner, you might struggle to decide between traditional brick-and-mortar and e-commerce marketplaces. Which will lead to better profits? Which will lead to failure? The answer isn"t clear-cut.

According to Harvard Business Review’s study on consumer shopping habits, 73% of participants use both brick-and-mortar and e-commerce during their shopping journey.

E-commerce enables your business to reach more customers. Instead of catching the eyes of passersby with an enticing storefront display and sign, a well-placed online ad can reach the screens of thousands of users locally and beyond.

Customers won’t always find what they’re looking for on the shelves of traditional brick-and-mortar stores, or they might find perusing the aisles to be a waste of time. In addition, you may not be able to stock your full range of merchandise in every physical location. E-commerce enables you to bring the full range of choices typically found only in a flagship stop to every shopper.

With a few clicks, an online store provides customers a complete view of what a brand offers, including what’s in stock, the bestsellers, related items and current promotions.

The pandemic accelerated the digital transformation of nearly every retail business. A study by McKinsey and Company found that e-commerce year-over-year growth in 2020 was two to five times faster than before the pandemic. Retail stores closed down, people stayed at home, and e-commerce increased rapidly.

The Covid boom is not slowing down. Roughly three-quarters of people using digital channels for the first time during the pandemic said they will continue using them when things return to “normal,” according to McKinsey. In addition, Shopify"s most recent trend roadmap expects the e-commerce market to grow by almost $11 trillion between 2021 and 2025, with global sales expected to reach $6 trillion by 2024.

Even as pandemic restrictions end, and many people continue working and watching movies at home, stores are mounting a comeback. It turns out there are limits to buying goods from a screen. Society has a long history of going into a store to buy something. That need is more resilient than the temporary need to buy things online during a pandemic.

According to Raydiant"s second-annual State of Consumer Behavior Report, 46% of respondents preferred in-store shopping over online, with 33% citing the ability to touch and interact with the product.

Brick-and-mortar stores create an experience that a phone, tablet or computer screen can"t provide. With in-person shopping, customers can test a product in real-time, bring it home, and exchange it for a different product or return it for a refund the next day if they aren’t 100% satisfied. Customers don"t want to wait to try out a product, even if waiting means a same-day delivery with Amazon Prime.

A physical storefront can potentially give your customer a more powerful experience and engage their imagination. Online ads can provide dopamine spikes, but these feelings are fleeting and lack the human engagement that comes with asking questions about a product. Interactions in the outside world carry more weight in the human brain due to the confluence of multiple sensory inputs.

In addition, face-to-face interaction holds immense value. A landing page, app UI, or FAQ page cannot recreate the impact of a well-trained sales associate. This in-person advantage can make a difference for a skeptical customer.

March 2022 was the first month since the pandemic hit during which e-commerce sales declined from the same period a year earlier while in-store sales rose, according to Mastercard SpendingPulse, which tracks transactions made over the Mastercard payments network as well as survey-based estimates for spending with cash and checks. The drop in online spending was 3.3%, the first year-over-year decline since November 2013. The rise for bricks-and-mortar stores was 11.2%.

Successful companies are omnichannel, which means combining the magic of in-store experiences, and the convenience and availability of online shopping as well as direct delivery.

Shopify"s survey found a mutual relationship between the two channels: 54% of participants said they"re likely to look at a product online and buy in-store, while 53% are likely to look at a product in-store and buy online.

It"s an even split. Both channels can operate as a showroom. Both channels provide value for retail consumers. And using both allows businesses to meet customers at every touchpoint of the buying process.

Brick-and-mortar businesses cannot simply rely on word of mouth or walk-in traffic. Combining brick and mortar with a digital strategy enables retailers to promote inventory to customers anytime, anywhere.

Conversely, an online-only strategy excludes the benefits of traditional brick and mortar retail: the power of immediacy, same-day purchase and returns, tactile engagement, and community-building events.

Enabling customers to buy online and pick up merchandise in the store is a strategy that bridges the gap between traditional brick and mortar and e-commerce channels. This provides the convenience of in-home shopping with the immediate availability of products at a nearby store, typically on the same day. This also enables a customer to satisfy the tactile experience they desire. Whether it is to just see and feel the size, quality or functionality of an appliance, or to try-on clothing for fit and appearance. They then can make a decision, while they are still at the store, to keep, exchange or return the product, and avoid the inconvenience and possible cost of shipping the item.

Our intuitive and flexible location platform includes dedicated solutions for omnichannel businesses. Our technology helps you get customers to stores as well as optimize their online experience.

Mapbox Movement data provides in-depth insights on where and when people are moving most. Get a quick understanding of high-traffic locations, where you should place your store, and which existing stores are driving the most or least traffic.

Our Isochrone API offers a birds-eye view of your network radius. Enter your parameters, and you’ll know which areas are reachable within a specified time, whether by foot, bike, or car. Make sure your customers know where to find you with an easy and engaging store locator.

For online shopping, checkout must be fast and direct. A poor checkout process loses customers and hurts brand reputation. With Mapbox Address Autofill customers can enter their addresses quickly and accurately into a single search box. Checkouts are faster, and there’s less room for missed deliveries caused by address typos.

As an omnichannel business, you can guide customers toward what they want online, give a good first impression, and provide them with an in-store experience that will keep them coming back. Traditional brick-and-mortar stores can do better by leveraging the online world. On the other hand, e-commerce platforms can’t ignore the benefits of providing a seamless experience between in-person and online shopping.

According to researchersDr. L.D. Rosenblum, Dr. Harold Stolovitch and Dr. Erica Keeps, here is the breakdown of how our five sense processes information:

Clearly, human beings are highly visual in nature, and this is a fact that is particularly important when you’re running a physical store. One of the main reasons why people decide to shop offline is to see merchandise in person, and this is all the more reason to design winning retail displays.

The best way to make a lasting impression is to immerse your customers in a particular environment or setting. Check out the example below. The displays themselves are simple, and the retailer only makes use of a few simple racks and fixtures.

But because all the other elements of the store (i.e., the color of the walls, the cold-weather items, and the text “it’s cold outside”)  follow a unifying theme, the overall effect is quite powerful. It engulfs customers into the “cool” theme of the store, creating an immersive experience.

Keep this example in mind for your next display. Recognize that you don’t necessarily have to build something fancy. If you have a strong theme and ensure that all the components of your shop are in line with the story you want to tell, you can create a compelling and immersive experience using just a few simple products and fixtures.

In a survey by Ripen eCommerce, they found that the top reason people shop in brick and mortar stores instead of ecommerce is that physical retail enables shoppers to touch and feel items in person.

The key takeaway here? Create displays that encourage people to touch and feel for you products. If your items are sitting on a shelf or a table while still inside their respective boxes, you could be missing the chance to connect with your customers.

So, take your products out of their packaging and get shoppers to really experience your merchandise. Ulta Beauty, for example, does this with their hairdryers. While other stores keep the products in their boxes, Ulta has their hairdryers out for people to touch and feel them.

Need an easy and affordable way to breathe life into your visual merchandising? Use plants. Doing so doesn’t just make your displays more attractive, they can also create healthier and more pleasant shopping experiences.

In an interview with Retail Focus, Joey-Michelle Hutchinson, associate vice president at CallisonRTKL, said that having more greeneries in retail environments “makes them feel more inviting, which in turn decreases customer stress levels and increases their dwell time.”

Having more “green” displays clearly has some benefits, so consider incorporating plants into your designs.For inspiration, look no further than homeware retailer Harper & Grey House. Plants are a staple in their displays and the greens do a tremendous job in accentuating their merchandise.

Cross-merchandising is a subtle but effective way toincrease basket sizes and average order values. The practice promotes product discovery and entices shoppers to look at items that complement what they’re already buying.

There are a number of ways to implement cross-merchanding. One is to merchandise items that go together. You could, for example, create a display with a blouse, jacket, and matching purse.

Another idea? Display gift cards next to relevant products. Have a look at what Target is doing. The retailer has some baby-centric gift cards next to some toys in the store’s baby section to remind shoppers about their gift cards.

Speaking of little ones, have you considered creating kid-friendly displays? The practice can be quite effective particularly if you cater to Gen X and Millennial consumers.

Even the most creative displays will fall flat when they’re not well-lit. So invest, in the equipment to make sure that your products are displays in the best possible light.

Is your store on the small side? Consider using portable displays so you can make better use of your space. Such displays are easier to move so you can quickly re-merchandise your shop or make room for other things if necessary.

Portable displays can also help in keeping your visual merchandising focused and on-point. Since you have limited space, you’re forced to only display the most important and most high-impact products.

The following cookware display at Crate & Barrel does exactly that. The top part of the display has images of the items for sale along with a quick description of what each product is and what it does.

Colors can make or break your retail displays, which is why it’s essential to select the right color scheme. A big part of this will be driven by the colors of your products. If most of your items are come in pastel shades for instance, then those colors will be quite common in your displays.

That being said, how those products are displayed together matters a great deal. There are various ways to mix and match colors, so have a think about how you’ll do it in your displays.

The folks at Live By The Sword salon did an amazing job merchandising their shelf of Amika products, which come in a variety of colors.By really leaning into the colorful nature of Amika’s items, they were able to set up a vibrant display that pops.

Take this example from The LifeStyled Company. The team created a display featuring Babe Australia’s products, most of which come with predominantly white boxes and labels.

Timely displays are sure to grab the attention of your customers. Keep a close eye on your retail calendar and make sure that your visual merchandising coincides with relevant shopping events and seasons.

For instance, during last year’s back-to-school season, Target dedicated an entire corner to school supplies and relevant merchandise. The area of the store was filled with large, back-to-school displays that were impossible to miss.

If you’re running multiple stores, make sure your displays reflect the tastes and preferences of each location. Pay attention to local trends and popular products in the area and ensure they’re front and center in your displays.

You can shed light on these insights using your POS reporting and retail analytics. Identify the top categories or items in different cities and use the data to inform your merchandising decisions.

It also helps to call out the name of each town or city. For instance, the homeware retail chain Home Goods has a sign that reads, “Happy to Be in Cerritos” in its Cerritos branch.

Got a bunch of quotable quotes up your sleeve? See if you can incorporate them into your retail displays. When done right, a bit of text can complement your products and encourage shoppers to take a closer look.

And as a bonus, walls or displays with quotable quotes are a magnet for Instagram users. With the right display, you’re bound to gain a bunch of social shares and tags along the way.

If you’re looking for ways to showcase your full product lines without cramming your shelves and racks with too much merchandise, then see if you can use technology to “extend” your displays.

Case in point: when the online retailerShowpolaunched their pop-up store in Los Angeles, they chose to display a small selection of products in the shop.

Showpo even took things a step further and used another table to capture customers’ details in-store. To encourage people to provide their email, they threw a 15% discount that can be redeemed online.

In retail, space conveys value. The more space there is in a store or display, the higher the perceived value of the merchandise. This why many luxury retailers display items in standalone cases while discount stores overstuff their shelves with merchandise.

The right amount of space to use in your store depends on how you want to be perceived. But one thing is clear: if don’t want people to think that your products are cheap, then you’ll want to use fewer items in your display.

Take a look at this window fromSaks Fifth Avenue. The display features a single mannequin and table on which there’s just one pair of shoes. Aside from the paintings on the right, there aren’t a lot of details to distract people from the products.

Upcycling — the practice of using old or discarded materials to create something new — can help you build out-of-the-box retail displays. In the example below, we can see that the retailer used old chairs to create racks on which to hang their merchandise.

Now, don’t get us wrong: traditional racks and fixtures are still essential. But hopefully, this example encourages you to reimagine the use of old items. You never know — that old chair, box, or frame could be just the thing that would get your display to stand out.

If you’re celebrating a special holiday or occasion in your store, use your shop displays to show your festive side. Materials like balloons, tassels, garlands and other party supplies could help your displays pop.

With retail being more competitive than ever, there’s just no room for uninspired and mediocre retail displays. Now, more than ever, you need to constantly cook up in-store visuals can stop people in their tracks and encourage them to buy, share, and come back.

And remember that no matter what kind of display you have, it won’t be effective if it doesn’t showcase merchandise that your customers want to buy. That’s why it’s important to make data-backed decisions when it comes to merchandising. Use your POS or inventory management system to generate sales and product reports that will inform your decisions around what items to show off in your store.

Francesca Nicasio is Vend"s Retail Expert and Content Strategist. She writes about trends, tips, and other cool things that enable retailers to increase sales, serve customers better, and be more awesome overall. She"s also the author of Retail Survival of the Fittest, a free eBook to help retailers future-proof their stores. Connect with her on LinkedIn, Twitter, or Google+.

When online shopping first broke into the retail industry, retailers needed a way to distinguish between these new digital shops and their physical locations. That’s how the phrase “brick-and-mortar” came to mean a traditional business or retail outlet with at least one physical location in the community.

Examples of brick-and-mortar businesses include Target, Dick’s Sporting Goods, and Trader Joe"s. Although most of today’s brick-and-mortar businesses also have a virtual presence where shoppers can browse, buy, and return products, brick-and-mortar sales are still 10 times greater than digital sales. Even Amazon, one of the largest and most well-known digital retailers, still maintains brick-and-mortar infrastructure in the form of both permanent storefronts and temporary pop-up stores.

Unlike virtual businesses, which give customers the ability to self-serve without needing to interact with a sales representative, brick-and-mortar stores provide an engaging in-person experience that digital channels will always lack.

By giving consumers the opportunity to actually touch and feel your products, interact with your product displays, and have face-to-face conversations with your salespeople, you offer an enhanced customer experience. Offering this same type of convenience and immediate, one-to-one engagement would be much more difficult through online-only stores.

Additionally, the types of in-store display designs you use—as well as the layout and atmosphere of your retail location—can give brick-and-mortar retailers a key competitive advantage. Effective retail displays can encourage impulse buys, emphasize sales and promotions, and provide consumers with an on-brand experience that stops them in their tracks. During periods of heavy foot traffic, as during the winter holidays, this sense of urgency felt in response to certain displays, layouts, and designs is greatly heightened.

Lastly, brick-and-mortar stores are still successful in the digital age because not every business can go entirely virtual. Grocery stores, for example, have never been quite successful at online retailing, because most grocery shoppers prefer to examine the products for freshness and quality before making purchases.

In industries such as clothing or cosmetics, consumers often prefer to check out the products in store before buying them online. This process is known as “showrooming.” On the other hand, some consumers prefer the opposite—browsing online and buying in-store—to avoid delivery fees or potential security breaches. Many retailers who understand this variance in consumer shopping preferences have learned to offer a seamless omnichannel experience to support different customer journeys.

Unlike online retailers, brick-and-mortar retailers face expenses related to rent, utilities, building maintenance, theft, and other operational costs. Physical locations may also come with certain restrictions, impeding retailers’ ability to alter their storefronts, show new displays, change the store layout, and keep up with evolving consumer expectations.

However, the costs associated with operating a brick-and-mortar business can be worth it if you can offer an engaging in-store experience that drives sales. As online sales continue to rise, improving display designs, store layouts, and customer service must become a top priority for brick-and-mortar retailers.

Ecommerce has changed the face of brick-and-mortar retail. Although the benefits can still outweigh the potential costs, brick-and-mortar businesses need to be careful and strategic about the way they approach decor, merchandising, and customer service within the retail environment.

Succeeding as a brick-and-mortar store in 2020 and beyond will require retailers to pay close attention to the types of displays and experiences they offer. Everything from the colors you use in your design to the flow of traffic patterns throughout your store can have an impact on sales.

Brick-and-mortar displays need to be on-brand, versatile, and engaging. They should maintain cohesion with digital channels and offer “Instagrammable” moments for consumers. These kinds of impactful sensory experiences are what keep consumers coming back—instead of opting for the quicker, easier online option.

The team at InStore Design Display understands the ins and outs of the retail environment, from the unique logistical challenges associated with brick-and-mortar locations to the need for brand consistency across both physical and digital channels. We’ll work with you to design and develop brick-and-mortar displays that tell your brand story and, ultimately, drive sales.

If you have a brick-and-mortar display idea in mind and want to see it come to life, you’ve come to the right place. Check out our free guide to the future of brick-and-mortar retail.

The first solution of its kind, ISM, is a one-stop shop for retailers where they can manage their in-store presence. Before this, stores had to negotiate digital signage, audio advertising, and in-store displays. However, with ISM, in-store media publishers can more effectively manage campaigns and simplify access to audio and display inventory.

What better way to engage consumers than while they are out on their feet spending money? Engaging them with relevant advertising — right in their faces — will encourage them to dish out more dollars. Everything is about skinning the cat most efficiently.

The ISM platform was developed to do just that. It provides a centralized ecosystem that brings efficiency to campaign management for in-store pubs through the ISM Ad-Server and ISM portal and offers oversight ofretail mediapricing, yield management, and buying activity reports.

Retailers working parallel to in-store pubs can integrate ISM directly into their retail media platforms. Providers like CitrusAd can expand their unified offering to include in-store without integrating the contrasting in-store media systems.

“The goal here is to provide in-store as an incremental revenue component to the retailer,” says Paul Brenner, Chief Strategy Officer, Audio Out-Of-Home, Vibenomics. “We want retail media to grow, and advertisers want to utilize digital in-store specifically. This benefits in-store publishers by bringing their digital media to life. Retail media should spend their ad dollars in the space where consumers are shopping and stop fighting for ad dollars outside of that space. In-store retailers will see revenue increases if they combine this common solution.”

Retail media may have started as a digital commerce-only platform used by retailers to advertise and promote products online, but it is much bigger now.

“2022 is the year of retail media,”according to eMarketer. U.S. retail media spend increased by over $41B and now accounts for 17.2% of the total U.S. digital spend. It’s booming and will continue to do so.

The nature of retail media has evolved to include DOOH, as well as in-store video displays and audio advertising. For example, as part of ISM,Mood Media providesadvertisers with access to audio and display inventory across 330,000 of their affiliates and retailers through a single integration point.

“The In-Store Marketplace comes at a critical time for the retail media industry. Technology has changed how people use brick-and-mortar stores – even today, shopping looks drastically different than it did three years ago. As new programmatic technology, such as digital in-store audio and displays, becomes increasingly common, brands need a simple way to manage, activate and measure their in-store ad presence. This is where Mood Media saw an opportunity to collaborate with Vibenomics and contribute to the development of the In-Store Marketplace,” says Craig Hubbell, Chief Revenue Officer, Mood Media.

“Collaboration always breeds innovation. We are elevating the customer experience by being a part of cutting-edge offerings that simplify processes and enhance customization. From audio to display, the In-Store Marketplace creates a centralized hub that adds incremental value to our retail customers by integrating retail media tools into one another, making in-store ad management more accessible and effective.”

Over the next 12-36 months, we will see the simplification of ad tech powering in-store media and its inclusion in retail media providing buyers with extensive access to inventory.

“The In-Store Marketplace allows buyers to bundle display inventory and digital audio into a single PMP or cherry-pick your options — whatever approach fits your current needs,” saysChelsea Monaco, VP, eRetail & Commerce Media, Merkle. “Consolidating the big shopper media partners like Vibenomics, Mood Media, Sellr Technologies, FuelMedia TV, and WaterStation Technology facilitates more frictionless engagement with partners and ubiquitous access to the inventory. These benefits were a major takeaway from our research last year, and I imagine they’ll surface again when we repeat our study this year.”

It’s evident there are money bags to grab in retail media, and Vibenomics execs believe that in five years we will see if retail media can retain its actual value. With retail media expected to grow to $70 billion over the next five years, the channel will need to improve measurement and its ability to prove results by continuing to offer innovative ideas, like ISM.

From the outside looking in, it seems that ISM will have a large hill to climb to build a viable network as we’re not yet seeing a huge selection of premium media providers currently signed up for the offering. Still, it fills a niche in a very complicated and diversified landscape of media owners where the buying process needs to be simplified for buyers. It feels like this is a step in that direction, but like everything else in ad tech, it will take time to get it right.

However, this position of dominance has been shaken up by the rising power of connected buying, which has given rise to unified journeys integrating stores and digital channels, all ultimately aimed at a single purpose: serving customer needs. Customers are increasingly benefiting from these developments and contributing to the unification of “on” and “off” channels, the boundaries between which are becoming ever more porous.

Stores are obviously places where people buy things (this is their primary vocation at any rate), but they can be much more. With the integration of digital in customer journeys, more and more stores are being designed to be places where people have experiences. They are transforming the way we buy and appealing to our senses, to create experiences that cannot be offered through a smartphone screen or web interface alone.

With this in mind, an initial strategy is to integrate digital solutions that meet marketing aims related to customers’ emotions, well-being and reassurance. Customers are drawn into a seamless journey that immerses them in a brand experience, with no immediate transactional or conversion aims. QR codes on products to see customer reviews and detailed descriptions, smart mirrors in changing rooms, and interactive terminals to access product catalogs or place an order in-store when a product is out of stock, are all examples of solutions used to enhance the presentation of physical products and give them a new dimension.

A second strategy is to use technology to engage customers with the brand, during both the acquisition and loyalty-building stages. Assistance provided by sales staff trained to help with product personalization, using tablet-type interfaces, is a common example of this. By adopting these kinds of approaches, retailers can access tools to collect key information about existing and potential customers and, as a result, better meet their expectations during interactions with the brand, via store staff or customer service teams. Built around these unified data approaches, and based on data gathered through customers’ online journeys and physical experiences, this strategy opens up interesting prospects for retailers, which can refine and personalize their advice.

Retailers delight consumers, lift in-store sales and enter a digital media business. Product brands build brand equity and drive sales simultaneously while being supported by real-time data and analytics.