Why In-Store Media Should Be 10-15% of Your Retail Media Budget

Retail media has become a serious revenue and margin line for many Australian retailers. Within that mix, in-store media is still underweighted in many strategies even though it reaches shoppers at the point where purchase decisions are made.

A useful benchmark is to think about in-store media representing around 10 to 15 percent of your total retail media activity over time. Australian retailers are using in-store networks to create high-margin retail media assets that generate incremental revenue from their existing store footprint.

The Role of Retail Media in Your Business

Retail media is attractive because it combines first-party shopper data, high-intent audiences and the ability to sit close to purchase. Most networks have grown first through onsite sponsored products, display and offsite audience-led advertising. In-store media is the next natural layer because it extends that model into the physical environment where products are actually chosen.

That gives retailers a channel that can influence product selection, pack choice, basket size and premiumisation. By partnering with Instore Retail Media, retailers can turn their stores into a retail media network and give suppliers a practical way to invest in those high-intent moments.

Why In-Store Deserves a Meaningful Share

In-store media should not be treated as an afterthought or a residual line item. It plays a distinct role in the shopper journey and supports outcomes that other channels cannot fully replicate.

It can influence:

• Brand choice within a category
• Trade-up to a premium product
• Incremental add-on purchases at checkout or service points
• Reinforcement of seasonal or category campaigns close to the shelf

A 10 to 15 percent planning range is useful because it is large enough to matter commercially, but still manageable for a retailer that is building capability in stages.

What That Range Can Look Like in Practice

Consider a retailer with a growing retail media business across onsite, offsite and data. If in-store currently contributes only a small share of activity, there may be a significant opportunity to build it into a more meaningful part of the mix.

That usually involves:

• Upgrading and standardising selected in-store assets
• Packaging those assets into products that advertisers can buy easily
• Creating clear measurement and reporting to support repeat investment

The Instore Retail Media end-to-end management model is designed to support this shift, from infrastructure to advertiser demand and accountable reporting.

The Profitability Angle

From a commercial point of view, in-store media can be attractive because it creates additional revenue from assets that may already exist in some form. It can also support better use of store environments and create a stronger reason to invest in digital upgrades over time.

This is especially compelling when the operating model is managed externally and aligned to performance. That is why the Instore Retail Media approach is built around incremental revenue and monthly income while the day-to-day management of the network is handled externally.

How to Work Towards 10 to 15 Percent

You do not need to move directly to that range in one step. A staged approach is more realistic.

Phase 1: Establish the Base

• Map your existing inventory
• Clarify ownership across commercial, operations and marketing teams
• Select a small number of stores and formats for pilot activity

Phase 2: Build Products and Reporting

• Create clear in-store products within your retail media offer
• Standardise execution and creative guidelines
• Introduce simple reporting that suppliers can trust

Phase 3: Scale With Confidence

• Expand into more formats and store clusters
• Bundle in-store with onsite and offsite activity
• Use data from early campaigns to refine pricing, packaging and network design

Bringing Stakeholders on the Journey

Moving more budget and attention into in-store media requires alignment across leadership, operations, marketing, category teams and suppliers. Each group needs to understand the value exchange.

• Leadership needs a credible growth and margin story
• Operations needs assurance there will be no additional burden on store teams
• Marketing and category teams need alignment with shopper strategy
• Suppliers need a clear execution and measurement model

That is where a fully managed commercialisation partner can make a real difference, because the technology, sales, maintenance and reporting are aligned into one operating model.

A Practical Checklist

If you want to understand whether in-store media is under-represented in your current strategy, ask:

• Do we know the revenue potential of our current in-store assets
• Are in-store formats included in campaign planning by default
• Do suppliers see our in-store channel as a scalable media product
• Do we have a path to improve infrastructure, content and reporting over the next 12 to 24 months

If the answer to several of these is no, there is a strong case to reassess your in-store strategy. If you want to understand what a 10 to 15 percent allocation could mean for your network, you can book a consultation and review the revenue potential of your real footprint.