I consider clear commercial ownership one of the most important foundations of in-store retail media. In addition to technology and data, retailers need to decide what they offer advertisers, how those promises are delivered in stores and how in-store retail media connects with the retailer’s broader marketing and wider commerce media activities.
The work involves retail management, marketing, category teams, media sales and IT. Each function has its own role, but it must also be clear who resolves conflicts between different commercial objectives.
What should in-store retail media achieve?
A retailer may be looking for new media revenue, a category manager may be focused on growing category sales, and an advertiser wants to capture shoppers’ attention. Marketing needs to ensure that the communication is consistent with the retailer’s brand.
Well-executed in-store retail media can also improve the customer experience by providing timely, relevant content that helps shoppers make purchase decisions. In-store campaigns should also feel like a natural part of the shopping environment and fit into the daily work of store staff.
Balancing these objectives requires practical decisions. How much visibility should be reserved for the retailer’s own communication? Which advertisers should have access to the network – only suppliers, or also other brands? How should media sales be aligned with supplier relationships?
These questions should be addressed before sales begin. At the same time, the retailer can assess which capabilities need to exist internally and which can be provided by partners.
As we previously wrote with Aleksi Rautakorpi in the article In-store retail media is moving from experimentation to practical implementation in the Nordics, in-store retail media is moving from pilots towards continuous and scalable business. As that happens, the importance of commercial leadership also increases.
Commercial ownership is visible in everyday decisions
Consider a situation where an advertiser wants visibility close to a product category at the same time as the retailer is running its own campaign in the same area. Both may have a valid commercial objective. Who decides how the visibility is allocated?
Similar decisions are needed around pricing, content approval and scheduling. Retailers also need to prepare for exceptions: what happens if the advertised product sells out, or if the agreed campaign is only partially delivered?
Clear rules help sales teams make offers that can also be delivered in practice. They also allow partners to manage their own responsibilities without every decision requiring a separate negotiation.
The person with commercial ownership does not have to do everything personally. Technology, content production and media sales can be handled by different partners. The role is to lead the collaboration, ensure that objectives are aligned and make sure that responsibilities are clear to everyone. The person must also have the authority to resolve issues that are not covered by the agreed rules.
Ease of buying requires a clear division of responsibilities
An advertiser needs to know what they are buying, where the advertising will appear, what materials are required and what will be reported after the campaign. Pricing and schedules also need to be clear.
This requires an agreed workflow, from confirming inventory availability and checking creative materials to launching the campaign and managing customer communication.
In-store retail media also requires an understanding of the store environment. Screen location, content readability, product availability and other communication in the store all influence what kinds of campaigns should be offered. These factors need to be considered already at the sales stage.
Once the workflow is clear, it also becomes easier to assess the technology. The retailer knows what the software needs to support, what can be automated and where human decisions are still required.
Measurement promises need to be defined in advance
Sales teams need to know what can realistically be promised to the advertiser about campaign results. Before the campaign starts, the objectives and the data used to evaluate performance need to be agreed. Promises must reflect what can actually be demonstrated with the available data and measurement methods.
Ad delivery, estimated reach and sales development during the campaign measure different things. Estimating the incremental sales caused by advertising also requires an assessment of how sales would have developed without the campaign.
Advertisers should know in advance what the report will contain and what conclusions can reasonably be drawn from it. Reviewing the results is part of the commercial process: the findings should be used to plan the next campaign and agree on any necessary changes.
Retail management should appoint commercial ownership already during the planning stage and define the authority that comes with the role. Who decides pricing, who resolves conflicts over visibility and who is responsible for the promises made to advertisers?
When there are clear answers to these questions, sales, stores and partners have a common foundation for their work. That is when in-store retail media can be developed beyond individual campaigns into a consistent and scalable part of the retailer’s business.
