Why in-store video ads are beating social media

“I generally believe the majority of brand choice is made in a retail environment. I think less brand choice is made sitting on a couch or even driving in a car on the way to a retail establishment."

- Jon Moeller, President & CEO, P&G

70%+ of purchase decisions are made in-store. 

From actively browsing soon-to-be customers to those who went in for something else, only to grab your product on impulse, the in-store environment is the place where the majority of consumers’ buying decisions happen. 

57% of shoppers say they want to see, touch and feel items before they buy them, while 68% want to get in-store expert advice on high-value purchases to help them make the most informed choice. And 40% of consumers say they still love the hit of instant gratification that comes with buying in store.

This is surprisingly still true even among younger consumers. Despite being the TikTok generation with reps for being permanently online, 60% of Gen Z still use stores for discovery and 56% for purchases. 

According to Michael Curtis Michael Curtis, EY Global Industry Markets Media Relations & Social Media Leader:

“Despite technology transforming consumers’ retail experience, allowing them to seamlessly shop between online, social media, in-app and in-game, 32% of consumers still crave the personal service that only in-store shopping can provide, according to the latest release of data from the EY Future Consumer Index (FCI) – which surveyed more than 23,000 consumers across 30 countries.

People are returning to physical stores for reasons that investment in artificial intelligence (AI) and technology alone cannot satisfy – 57% of shoppers surveyed want to see, touch and feel items before they buy them."

Your in-store marketing is a last-mile opportunity for brand influence — your moment to target customers at the end-stage of the customer journey when they are ready to make their purchase. 

Many CPG brands are seeing the benefits of stepping up their in-store digital advertising with solutions like sample kiosks, gamified interactive displays and smart carts helping to increase footfall, improve dwell time and drive sales among consumers. 

8 out of 10 consumers say they’ve walked into a retail store because a digital sign caught their attention. 

Digital in-store advertising is highly effective for engagement and helping to move consumers through the customer journey effectively — going far beyond traditional static advertising displays that have become so commonplace that they are easy for consumers to tune out as they shop. 

In the early days of retail, brands used static signage like posters, banners and cardboard cutouts to advertise their products in-store.

The earliest digital signage was used throughout the 80s, when brands used VHS tapes to run their ads on cathode-ray-tube TV monitors.

Ecommerce started in 1979, with more people shopping online with each year from the early 80s. Large-scale retailers such as Amazon were founded in the mid 1990s, offering shoppers convenience and affordability with thousands of product options online. 

But as CEO at Raydiant and former Forbes Councils Member Bobby Marhamat notes, the rise of ecommerce didn’t equal the end of brick-and-mortar retail. It meant a change of focus: 

"It wasn’t the death of brick-and-mortar but the beginning of brick-and-mortar needing to look different from what it had been. Knowing that they couldn’t compete on price or breadth of inventory, brick-and-mortar retailers knew they had to compete on experience instead.

A 2020 study of independent bookstores found that because they couldn’t compete against Amazon on price and convenience, brick-and-mortar stores focused on creating community, providing hand-selected product curation and offering a place for people to convene over shared interests. By creating a great in-store experience for customers, independent bookstores grew despite Amazon’s presence—a 49% growth in the number of stores in the U.S. between 2009 and 2018."

But as shoppers became more tech smart, retailers began to step up their in-store marketing digital displays and other tech-centered approaches.

To compete with online retailers, in-store stores and chains began to rethink in-person retail — experimenting with things like immersive AI displays, an array of high-tech digital signage and pop-up stores.  

Retail media networks were also a big part of the disruption of traditional in-store retailers. Retailers now had access to huge amounts of first-party customer data, primarily from loyalty programs and online shopping, and could help brands target consumers with ads across digital platforms – including in-store digital screens. 

Retailers became media owners, giving brands the ability to allow brands to target consumers with hyper-personalized messaging based on their past purchases, browsing history, and demographics. This delivered brands a closed-loop attribution model, allowing them to directly link ad spend to sales — something not possible with traditional media.

COVID also sparked a huge shift in consumer behavior. Online shopping increased by around 75% compared to pre-pandemic times, with consumers coming to appreciate quick and easy browsing and the convenience of shopping over the internet. 

While many brick-and-mortar stores shut down and many brands opened up e-commerce outlets, rather than ditching in person shopping, many consumers reimagined their everyday customer journey, incorporating offline and online channels when browsing and purchasing. 

40% of consumers say they still love the hit of instant gratification that comes with buying in store, while​​ 80% of consumers use their smartphones inside physical stores to Google product reviews, compare prices of products, or find alternative store locations. Many consumers embraced click and collect, browsing and purchasing an item online to pick it up in store later. 

Take a consumer looking to buy a new eyeshadow palette. They may have found a video of their favorite beauty influencer on TikTok trying out the new palette. They check out reviews online and comments on social media sites on the palette’s performance on community-based sites like Reddit. 

Then they head to their local Sephora to try it out. While there, they may also Google eyeshadows similar to the palette or whether it would work with their skin coloring. Then they try the palette out with a sales assistant. They then leave the store, considering their purchase — only to visit another branch location to buy the palette the following week. 

In this age of retail, consumers are looking for a seamless omnichannel experience that supports online research, makes shopping fun and easy, allows them to buy goods quickly and gives them an immersive, enjoyable shopping experience. 

"The retail aisle is undergoing a revolution. No longer just a corridor of stocked shelves, the aisle is fast becoming a powerful stage for storytelling, brand engagement, and real-time shopper interaction.

In an era where digital and physical retail are converging, digital in-store media is emerging as a critical lever for differentiation—and a lucrative new revenue stream." - VusionGroup, C-Store Dive

Highly targeted campaigns

The most effective digital advertising approaches in store include targeted, personalized campaigns with several different touchpoints embedded throughout the store. 

These campaigns are highly targeted, adapted to match shopper behavior, time of day, inventory levels or location. Brands can use AI and computer vision technology to detect and analyze consumer demographics and behavior in real-time, as they browse products in store — allowing them to adjust messages and displays to match the consumer in front of them. 

Specialty food retailer The Fresh Market, known for its gourmet cheeses and international wines and beers, rolled out customized digital end caps displays. Using real-time data, they automatically amended their promotions, customizing them by store location, local preferences and seasonal buying habits — refining their consumer targeting with dynamic content that reflected their needs, interests and location. 

Deloitte reports that around 75% of consumers are more likely to buy products from brands that deliver personalization, likely spending approximately 37% more because of this. Personalized in-store shopping experiences driven by digital displays can increase spend by up to 50%. 

Kiosks and interactive displays

Sample kiosks are also on the rise with snack-food manufacturers using interactive kiosks to introduce consumers to new product lines, encouraging them to try out their new products in a fun, interactive way. In high traffic areas of a store, sample kiosks are a brilliant tool for building brand awareness and encouraging immediate purchases. 

Interactive displays are big, gamifying the in-store shopping experience as well as retailers typically do online. Think interactive displays that promote scavenger hunts for a limited-edition product, Crash Bandicoot-style racing games on large screens that shoppers can log into with branded QR codes, and broadcasted virtual reality adventures connected to VR headsets. Gamified kiosks are also on the rise, providing virtual gaming opportunities like digital spin the wheels on the screen of vending machines that share free products. 

Interactive gamified displays have been shown to increase store dwell time, engagement, and social sharing, promoting sales and growing brand awareness both online and off. In the words of ODICCI, “Shoppers who play with your brand are more likely to buy from your band.”

While augmented reality and AI are also bringing a new layer to interactive, immersive digital displays, like Sephora’s virtual artist display, uses AR to overlay virtual cosmetic products like eyeshadow and blush over users’ faces, giving them the chance to try out different makeup products quickly and hygienically. 

The app allows shoppers to sample and try out thousands of different shades of lipsticks, shadows, blushes, and other products. The app deepens engagement by providing step-by-step makeup tutorials. 

Sephora has seen impressive results from the tech with AR users showing 90% higher conversion rates than non-users. Other CPG beauty brands are also finding great results from AR, with brands like Estee Lauder reporting 2.5 higher conversion rates from lipsticks sampled with AR. 

"The interactive and enjoyable nature of AR keeps shoppers in the store longer, which generally correlates with higher spending. Industry reports indicate that immersive technology like AR can significantly increase dwell time in retail. In one instance, a beauty AR experience resulted in an average in-store dwell time of over 4 minutes, far exceeding typical engagements. Longer engagement provides more opportunities for associates to upsell and for customers to add items to their cart baskets." - Moody Mattan, Brand XR

Digital end caps

Digital end caps are another way brands can draw attention to certain products in store. Targeting consumers deeper in the store who are browsing the aisles, end caps are a great way to draw attention to new or limited-edition products that consumers may not be aware of and may overlook when trying to find their tried-and-true favorites. 

Smart carts

Smart carts are also becoming a popular way to improve brand awareness and increase sales. Unlike other forms of digital advertising around the store that consumers can more easily push outside their awareness, smart carts demand engagement. 

Smart carts allow shoppers to identify and scan products to easily track cost and check for any in-store deals or coupons, which arrive instantly. Brands can use smart carts to direct shoppers to their products in store (thanks to in-built GPS), share personalized discounts and help increase sales with push ads. 

QR codes

QR codes are another effective way to combine online and offline channels, supporting many consumers’ preferred ways to find information (online!), and create a less frictionless omnichannel experience. QR codes can give shoppers quick access to product information, online reviews and promos and allow them to pay using their mobile wallets or favorite payment apps. 

Take this in-store campaign from Reese’s, supported by Visibubble. Visibubble’s interactive platforms were placed throughout the snack aisles in Jumbo, a retailer in the Netherlands. It featured a series of messages — tempting consumers to find out more about the chocolate using the adjacent QR code:

73% of consumers prefer short-form videos over any other type of content to search for products or services. While the average person spends over 17 hours a week watching videos online on TikTok, Instagram, YouTube and Facebook. 

And the love for video transitions to the offline world is one of the most effective ways to capture consumer attention in store and introduce them to new products. While many brands continue to rely on static digital displays to capture consumers’ interest while browsing in-store, videos are more effective at both capturing consumers’ attention and helping them retain information — with people retaining 95% of information from video compared to 10% from text. 

Video is also up to two times more effective than text in improving a consumer’s evaluation of a product, making it an ideal medium for introducing consumers to your product and showcasing products with longer product demos. 

Many brands are also incorporating geo-targeted messaging to personalize their video content. Geo-targeting allows you to customize videos based on store location, language and locally-available products, increasing message relevancy. These personalized videos can lead to up to 10x higher engagement than traditional video. 

Video is especially effective for QSR brands, allowing them to feature their ingredients and products with sensory-focused content like burgers sizzling over a flaming grill that can stimulate appetite and drive purchases. Videos are a brilliant marketing strategy, allowing you to highlight your freshest ingredients, the way food is prepared, and various customization options in far greater detail than you would with static images.  

McDonald's used digital menu boards integrated with dynamic video displays to showcase their product line, meal deals and limited offers. This content was automatically customized to show relevant products at different times of day, such as breakfast items showing before 12 and burgers, fries and shakes showing during peak lunch and dinner times. 

AI was also used to collect local data, including details on weather for that location, local favorites and current inventory — ensuring high relevancy to consumers. For example, on hot summer days, a local franchise could push shakes and Mcflurry’s in locals’ preferred flavors.  

Following the roll out of these video displays, McDonald's reported a 20% increase in sales and a 7% rise in check size for each store. Digital Signage today reports that other QSRs could experience up to a 38% increase in revenue with similar-style menu boards. 

Find out about 7 of the key advertising trends for 2025 in our past post. 

Let’s take a look at the tech stack behind in-store advertising. 

Brands need a content management system (CMS) for their digital signage. Brands can use a CMS to create, schedule and distribute dynamic content across screens around their store. Acting as a centralized, remote hub, a CMS gives you full control over the content that shows up on your digital signage; the what, the how and the when. A great CMS supports full media asset management including images, videos and HTML5. 

Previously resigned to the world of outdoor billboard ads, more and more brands are also adapting Digital Out-of-Home (DOOH) platforms for in-store. Brands use DOOH platforms to automatically buy and sell ad space to their in-store digital scenes. DOOH platforms can use real-time data to automatically target customers based on factors like the weather or their location and recent events. You can combine multiple data points to improve the effectiveness of your ad targeting.

Many brands are also using computer vision technology to track and understand consumer behavior and see how their advertising efforts directly impact in-store sales. Computer vision technology uses a combination of cameras and sensors to track consumers’ journeys throughout a store, uncovering when they grab samples from kiosks, linger longer in a particular aisle, and stop to take a look at a digital display. 

You can use it to track and analyze key metrics such as foot traffic, dwell time, demographics and engagement levels. The technology can track and compare consumers’ interactions with in-store advertising to their final purchasing decisions, giving brands granular insights into how their advertising is impacting buying behaviors and directly impacting sales. 

AI and machine learning are also essential in real-time creative optimization, allowing you to automatically refine your messaging to better target consumers based on factors like their buying patterns, demographics, their location or the time of day. 

According to McKinsey and Company: 

“To truly enhance the impact of targeted promotions, companies can use gen AI to highly tailor copy and creative content that resonates more strongly with groups and subgroups of consumers than traditional marketing communications. Marketers have long aimed to improve the customer experience and influence consumer decisions by creating convenience or offering better prices. The next step is to make the buying experience even more convenient or enjoyable through greater relevance.”

AI can take this data and track consumer response, combining this data to predict which creative elements will resonate best with specific audience segments, engaging in automated A/B testing and ongoing data analytics to automatically improve the effectiveness of your ads over time and get deeper insights into how your consumers engage with your advertising and your brand. 

“As more marketing material gets fed into a robust, foundational content data model, gen AI can learn from a feedback loop and create more copy that can be tailored for personalization.”

- McKinsey and Company

As I covered earlier in this post, the typical customer journey jumps between in-store and online and ecommerce. To help make the journey as easy and frictionless as possible, consider how you can integrate your digital signage with your ecommerce platforms. For example, you can add QR codes to in-store screens that take consumers to your online product pages or use in-store touch points to highlight click-and-collect options. 

To target consumers in the post-purchase stage of the customer journey and help encourage repeat purchases and long-lasting customer loyalty, share QR codes that allow consumers to sign up to your loyalty programs for special discounts and offers. You can also encourage repeat purchases by sharing offers to loyalty members and sharing messages to redeem points.

With all the layers of data your tech stack tied to your digital signage can provide you, it’s also important to integrate your in-store advertising with your Customer Relationship Management system to centralize your data and make sure you continue to develop a holistic view of your customers and their interactions. On the other side, you can also make sure you have access to all the customer data you need (such as purchase history, preferences and demographics) to guide your in-store advertising strategies and refine your targeting. 

There are several challenges with in-store media measurement and ROI tracking. The difficulty lies in the challenge to accurately track and attribute sales to specific in-store advertising efforts. In particular, the multi-touchpoint customer journey in which customers jump between different offline and online touchpoints can make it hard to equate certain advertising or other elements with a final sale.

However, new tech solutions are helping to make this easier. For example, shopper path tracking can be used to illuminate and analyze how customers move through a store, tracking each step. There are various ways to do this, such as heatmaps which use various colors to show the most footfall and the most popular areas of a store. 

In addition, POS data overlays allow brands to automatically adjust their in-store displays with targeted offers and messaging near the point of sale based on real-time sales data.  This allows them to directly tie their in-store digital media to sales, while mobile retargeting can help you better track customers omni-channel customer journeys — allowing you to track online channels and in-store via location-based tracking. 

There are also several ways that brands can directly measure the impact of their media. For example, A/B testing allows you to directly compare the performance of two different types of creative or messaging. Pilot campaigns can also be a great complement, allowing you to try out different creative campaigns from smart-cart ads to different digital gamified solutions. 

With the modern customer journey containing up to 15 brand interactions across both online and offline channels and up to 51% of U.S. consumers preferring in-store to online shopping, in-store advertising should be an essential focus of your advertising strategy. 

Right now, less than 1% of retail media spend is allocated to in-store advertising. 

Despite the powerful impact of in-store advertising, many QSR and CPG brands overlook this core part of their modern media plan, investing more of their budget and attention in digital online marketing strategies — meaning they miss out on a fundamental opportunity to influence consumer behavior at the point of purchase. 

To succeed with in-store digital, it's important to align creative, shopper insights and your tech tools. This starts with understanding and mapping out the customer journey — both in-store and online and creating a feedback loop in which the data you collect from your tech stack further guides your in-store advertising strategy. 

You can deepen your insights further by enriching this data with quantitative and qualitative methods such as online surveys and interviews. Use this data to inform your creative for your in-store media from ideation to refining your current campaigns. 

It’s also important to build a strong cross-functional team to own in-store. An effective cross-functional team includes:

• Strategic Lead: Your strategic lead guides the initiative, maps out your strategy and manages the budget. 

• Marketing and Brand team: This team defines campaign objectives, guides messaging, delivers creative and helps make sure your creative and campaigns reflect your brand values. 

• The Store Experience team: This team is responsible for providing essential insights on store layout, shopper flow and prospective screen placement. They are also responsible for setting up your advertising in store and monitoring consumer response.

• The IT team: Your IT team manages your tech stack alongside your digital signage. They handle network infrastructure, hardware and software, data integrations (POS, CRM, and loyalty), cybersecurity and troubleshooting. 

• Shopper and Consumer Insights team: Your insights team can bring deeper insights to your in-store advertising strategy and creativity. They can collect and analyze consumer data from your in-store tech stack and further enrich this data with collect online and through research methods such as surveys and interviews.

With 70% of purchase decisions taking place in in-store environments, in-store advertising is essential to driving sales. 

As more and more brands continue to see the impact of their in-store strategies on increasing sales, retraining customers and growing their brands, I predict more and more brand leaders will become more creative and refined in their in-store advertising strategies — leaning into immersive, highly-targeted displays and engaging solutions like gamified signage. 

From hyper-personalization to AI merchandising, the more innovative and targeted in-store advertising is, the more effective it will be. 

Better in store-advertising begins with an audit of your current in-store strategy. To start, find out what’s working, what’s disrupting your customer journey and cutting into your sales with an in-store audit.