The latest in-store retail media news points to a booming category in flux. Investment is growing and advertiser objectives are shifting as physical stores are repositioned to serve as full-funnel media channels.
The opportunity is real but the same friction points keep showing up. While many in-store programs are live, challenges relating to infrastructure and measurement are considerable.
To understand the gap between potential and reality, Rockbot worked with Coresight Research to survey 250 U.S. retail executives on in-store retail media. Here's what the data shows.
In-Store Retail Media Investment Is Surging, but Execution Challenges Persist
According to survey results, drawn from leaders (VP or above) operating in the retail sector with annual revenues of at least $100 million, in-store retail media is a key priority. 97%
are actively investing to scale in-store retail media capabilities and 87% plan to increase that investment further over the next 24 months.
These results make sense in light of the increasing power of retail media at large (an anticipated $203.9B total market in 2026) and growing revenue potential. In fact, in-store retail media’s share of total retail media revenue is projected to expand by 23% in the coming 12 months from ~7.4% currently to ~9.1%.
Given this growth and potential, why are programs struggling to reach maturity? The latest in-store retail media news from this report digs into that divide.
In-Store Media Is More Than a Conversion Tool
How brands think about in-store media is evolving. For years, the effectiveness of a screen near checkout or an audio spot during peak hours was measured in terms of conversion: did the shopper buy?
This thinking has changed. Namely, brand building has overtaken conversion as the #1 advertiser objective for in-store retail media. New product launches rank second – a signal that brands are now using the in-store environment earlier in the purchase journey.
This makes sense, given that physical stores reach shoppers at a moment of high purchase intent, with dwell time that digital channels can’t match. And retail leaders are responding to the shift. 77% are now deploying dynamic capabilities (including digital screens, audio, and mobile integrations) across their stores.
The tools for full-funnel in-store media exist, but is the infrastructure powering them sufficient to deliver on that potential?
Where Programs Get Stuck
Surveyed leaders identified three primary issues holding retailers back:
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A maturity gap: 52% of retailers have deployed in-store retail media across all stores but only 32% have a mature, fully scaled program with ongoing optimization. This divide indicates that many of the tools and techniques retailers are using may not be perfectly suited to their goals.
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Tech troubles: The #1 barrier to scale, 58% of retail leaders named technology fragmentation as a moderate-to-significant challenge. This is likely tied to high upfront hardware costs, observed by 59% of survey respondents.
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Measurement hurdles: 44% of retail leaders reported struggling to measure the overall impact of their in-store programs. The biggest challenges include an inability to track shopper movement (noted by 55%), inability to capture ad exposure (52%), and limited use of AI to understand shopper behavior (49%).
These aren't new problems, but the data shows that they're getting more expensive to ignore. And each of these friction points – fragmentation, immature infrastructure, measurement gaps – limits retailers' ability to scale programs and retain brand advertiser investment.
Where Do Retailers Go From Here?
The latest in-store retail media news makes it clear that investment momentum alone won't close the gap between deployment and maturity. Our report outlines a path forward built around three strategic priorities:
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Investing in integrated technology to reduce fragmentation
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Improving measurement capabilities to build advertiser confidence
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Embracing in-store retail media's potential as a full-funnel channel (moving beyond a focus on conversions alone).
The report goes further than this summary, covering strategic implications for retailers and technology vendors and data on how leading brands like Walmart and Kroger are approaching the in-store opportunity right now. It also includes the first look at a retailer maturity model that shows exactly where most programs stall – and what will separate the leaders from the rest.
The Rockbot team sees these challenges firsthand across the brands we work with, and this data confirms more broadly what we already hear in the market. And Rockbot's solution is built to solve the infrastructure side of this equation. By unifying digital signage, audio, and content delivery in a single platform, we help retailers reduce the fragmentation that inhibits scale.
Ready to see the full picture? Download the full Coresight Research report – based on a survey of 250 U.S. retail executives – for the complete data, strategic implications, and a path forward for building in-store retail media programs that last.