With in-store purchasing on the rise and grocery retailers facing razor-thin margins, there is little room for error when it comes to long-term sustainability. 100-year-old grocery merchandising principles are being completely reimagined in order to compete. To mitigate margin pressures, grocers are quickly pivoting to integrating digital in-store shopper touch points as a revenue accelerator. Investing in in-store media not only enhances the shopping experience, but it is and will be, one of the most critical factors for grocery retailers to survive or thrive in this economy.
Consumer expectations are at the forefront, driving the need for a better customer experience (CX). Gen Z and Millennials expect to shop on their terms, wherever they are, across whatever channel or device they choose. They expect businesses to know them, just like their online experiences, and they are disappointed when they don’t. If rapid contextual data is not immediately correlated for them to purchase efficiently (with recommendations along the way) they will simply move on to another brand and shop somewhere else. Online and digital experiences have caused a pervasive shift in the retail grocery landscape, arguably for the better. There is no question that online marketing and shopping have raised the bar. The next generation of consumers expect to shop on their terms in-store as well. The shopping experience matters now more than ever and shifting our lens to the in-store opportunity will prove to be a game changer for those grocers who move swiftly. Many are already reaping the rewards to maximize every customer touchpoint.
The Business Case for In-Store Investment
In a recent PWC study, 65% of shoppers say that a better in-store experience, including digital enhancements, would encourage them to visit a physical store more often. Customer satisfaction is closely tied to the in-store experience.
Forrester cited 78% of customers say they are more likely to return to a store with engaging digital displays and in-store media.
Not only can digital media significantly enhance the shopper experience, but it can also lead to higher repeat visits increasing customer loyalty. Sam’s Club is a great example of a forward-thinking brand that is beginning to implement or test new checkout technologies with no registers in the U.S. in select locations and high custom assortments in their clubs in China. 
Grocery retail leaders who are unlocking powerful new shopping insights and driving smarter grocery marketing strategies in this new era are seeing a significant impact. They are rethinking their marketing strategy, staffing efficiencies, new measurement KPIs, and how shopper data can uplevel their stores to unlock new revenue streams.
Grocery Trends To Watch
At the recent GroceryShop conference, industry leaders shared trends, best practices, and the latest innovative thinking as to how they are approaching their shopper experience.
- Meet the Customer Where They Are: This is a central theme of retail strategy that all grocery retailers are honing in on. Whether your shoppers are in-store, offline, searching, or on social media, they expect a personalized experience. They want convenience and accessibility across various touchpoints, allowing them to quickly get to an informed purchase decision, in context. Interestingly enough, there are markets, particularly in Asia with great holistic shopper insight, where US retail will evolve. Online will continue to grow and require new strategies. Notably, however, many countries outside of the US have a higher eCommerce penetration. In short, with the rapid growth of online, in-store will need to quickly evolve to keep pace with online with predictions for even greater impact.
- Take a Unified Omni-Channel Marketing Approach: All shopper touchpoints matter collectively. Integrating in-store and digital experiences are the new normal. Your shoppers do not think about these experiences separately and nor should you. Blending traditional and physical retail with innovative digital strategies to meet customers at every touchpoint, is the path. Agile technologies are now enabling the use of music, digital signage, audio messaging, advertising, and personalized media, to engage directly at the point of decision-making. Grocers can now adjust promotions, offer product recommendations, and enhance in-store offers dynamically based on real-time conditions like time of day, weather, inventory updates, and discounted pricing. Although, the omni-channel integration approach is not just about driving up Sales; it’s about a memorable personalized experience that builds brand equity, customer retention, and loyalty. The right technologies are providing the ability to target, inform, engage, and influence shoppers like never before – all while adapting to customer needs in physical stores and beyond.
75% of shoppers who viewed a digital display in-store recalled the brand message, compared to those who could not recall utilizing traditional signage.*
The bottom line is that digitally engaged shoppers are more engaged and spend more. - Personalize for a Frictionless Shopping Experience: Creating a seamless shopper journey that feels personal requires new thinking. Reverse engineer your thinking from product to shopper identity. The next generation of shopper tends to gravitate toward brands that resonate with their personal values – like sustainability, inclusivity, or social responsibility. Gen Z sees brands as a part of their identity and lifestyle. When a brand positions itself as something they can personally relate to or see themselves in, it becomes more than just a product—it becomes a reflection of who they are. This thinking shifts the experience from selling to representing – where the consumer is not just purchasing a product, but buying into a brand that reflects their identity, values, and aspirations. This is why authenticity and engagement are critical when shaping your shopper experience. Successful brands are focused on community, movements, and their platforms because they know Gen Z feels they are the brand. And yes, even the grocery store you choose represents who you are. The expectation is that you engage in meaningful ways and it is less about pushing a specific product but more about the holistic personal experience. Brands like Colgate and Lowes are taking the concept of frictionless to the next level, becoming people-obsessed, tapping into fandom, and elevating to experiential experiences like gamification and in-store reminders based on the individual shopper.
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Leverage Shopper Data Intelligence to Shape CX: The best CX is when a business knows you. Imagine if you could have rich data intelligence at your fingertips to deliver an experiential, interactive connection at every customer touchpoint and POS. That is where grocery retailers are going. Rich intelligence enables you to serve only the most relevant, purchase or product offers, dynamically. With loyalty data integration and unified customer profiling married with contextual scheduling based on dwell time, location, season, etc. The potential for customer connection is limitless.
Even more powerful, creating interactive experiences based on preferences, inviting requests, and building even stronger connections. -
Utilize Retail Media as a Lever: Finally, grocers have a new way to connect with their shoppers and it’s paying off. Retail Media is the fastest-growing ad market, estimated to reach $128.9B by 2028. It can be used as a powerful lever for grocery stores to open up new revenue streams, increase customer engagement creatively, and create personalized in-store experiences. Many retailers are leveraging partners and larger retailers are creating their own in-house Retail Media Network (RMN) to capitalize on this opportunity. RMNs enable grocers to get their products in front of shoppers both online and offline. There are new channels such as music and digital signage. These touchpoints are having a significant impact. RMNs maximize your ability to leverage your in-store environment for unique audience reach, whether it be through digital signage, audio, or visual media. Your physical grocery store can be turned into valuable advertising real estate, by partnering with brands to deliver tailored targeted ads or promotions through in-store media channels. While some retailers have invested in their own RMN, that is not necessary. There are trusted industry technology partners who are working with grocers to sell ad space directly through programmatic systems, very quickly generating additional revenue streams while your customers are shopping. While Retail Media has sparked differing opinions and investment analysis, the strategy has become increasingly less polarizing with in-store as the next frontier. New budgets that previously did not exist, as well as resource allocation discussions, are emerging. The advanced technologies to enable these unique connections with shoppers in the retail media arena are powerful and groundbreaking. Forward-touch grocers like Walmart, Schnuks, and ShopRite are rolling out digital shelf tags that can ping shoppers when they are searching for products on their mobile app in-store. These industry leaders are taking control of building in-store, fully leveraging shopper and loyalty data to offer unique experiences and brand opportunities for advertisers as well.
A Critical Path: Unified Media Planning
Given these trends and the rapid advancement of retail media, the industry must move beyond traditional planning methods. With complex retail media organizations, unified media planning is essential. Retailers are quickly evaluating interdepartmental budgeting, differing resources, skillsets, and data that are now required to implement a unified media strategy. It is safe to say there’s confusion over which budget to allocate for these initiatives. Balancing sales and marketing-focused approaches can be challenging. While the focus leans more toward sales than marketing, both elements play a crucial role. Increasing sales can lead to reduced brand awareness if the marketing budget is scaled back too much. Attribution for personalized marketing is also an essential consideration when analyzing future spending allocations. Maintaining the appropriate budget balance is key and thinking through how to create synergy among teams is important as well while the process matures.
Engaging the right partners in unified planning is also critical. D2C brands typically have a closer connection to their customers, allowing for faster adjustments based on real-time feedback. This agility enables them to optimize retail media campaigns more effectively. CPG brands, by contrast, often rely on distributors and retailers, which creates a layer of separation from the end consumer, slowing down response times. Thinking through a partner who can power your CX and enable you with the right intelligence to mitigate unnecessary layers is important. Continuous change is imminent as more tools emerge and digital options continue to shift. So, the leaders are anchoring their teams on the collective goal–new revenue streams and unique customer connections–to guide a unified planning process.
The Next Generation of Media-for-Business Technology Is Here
Businesses today are unnecessarily struggling with unreliable, siloed, legacy media systems that inhibit their ability to evolve the customer experience (CX) that meets their brand goals and resonates with their shoppers. With disparate infrastructure, these antiquated systems are limited and simply cannot scale. In today’s digital age, brick-and-mortar businesses cannot operate efficiently without agile media technology. Now, business leaders are freed up to focus on the most strategic business imperatives – keeping internal stakeholders aligned and their customers happy. The good news is, scaling your in-location media experience doesn’t have to be so hard. Rapid advancements in the media-for-retail industry, now provide the ability to inform, engage, and influence buyers like never before. Grocers are quickly realizing their in-store strategies, data, and technology need to be upleveled in order to meet consumer expectations and thrive in this experience economy. For example, one of the largest grocery retailers is leveraging rich intelligence to provide a seamless CX across TV, digital signage & music with success. Additionally, grocers are exploring digital sensor capabilities that can track demographics, mapping, traffic flows, and user re-identification across screens. To make shopping faster and more fun, a larger online grocer recently launched a new type of shopping cart that can recognize and weigh items. It will help you find savings and show how much you're spending as you shop. To use, you simply grab an item and place it in the cart like normal. But these carts have sensors that know what item you added and weigh your produce automatically. The next generation of in-store touchpoints to bring your brand to life and connect with your shoppers is here.
The Future of Grocery CX
The shoppers have spoken. Back to reverse engineering, putting the shopper first vs. the products. Grocery shoppers have said in 2024 they expect a seamless digital experience, personalized shopping options, convenience in delivery and pickup, and sustainable practices from the grocery brands they support. Shoppers want a simple familiar CX for all of their shopping needs. Every time a shopper leaves the store, returns diminish. The strategy to capitalize on the time they are shopping requires grocers to be bold. Grocers are finding that customer satisfaction is directly tied to the in-store experience, and digital media can significantly enhance this experience, leading to higher repeat visits and customer loyalty. When you fragment across retailers, loyalty is much less impactful. When customers shop at multiple grocers or retailers, their brand loyalty is diluted. Capturing their attention and engaging them in-store through strong connections can build deep, lasting loyalty. Not to mention the power of influencers. Influencer ROI research shows that one social media influencer can sell as much as ten large retail stores! Influencer Marketing should also be in your strategy as they are pushing products in this generation beyond what retailers thought possible.
If we fast forward five years, keep your eye on experiential technology that will continue to evolve your in-store CX. It will be shaped by a blend of personalization, automation, and omnichannel integration, all fueled by advancing technology and evolving customer expectations. Marrying in-store and online strategies will become table stakes and shoppers will walk if this has not been implemented in some way. Digital app engagement, such as grocery carts in-app, not only creates a dynamic shopper experience, but enables grocers the ability to include retail media ads in the app as well. In-store budgets will begin to dominate because the impact is already rampant with large retailers.
As grocers worldwide navigate the evolving shopper landscape, it’s essential to reflect on the question: after all the time, effort, and investment in driving customers to your store, why not maximize their in-store experience?
Digitally engaged shoppers not only linger longer but also spend more—both during their visit and over time. By integrating digital engagement within the in-store journey, you increase dwell time, boost purchases, and encourage repeat visits. Ultimately, investing in a seamless, digitally enhanced experience isn’t just a smart move—it’s the key to unlocking greater customer loyalty and long-term growth.
