Report introduces new framework to help retail media networks unlock incremental CPG investment
In-Store Marketplace (ISM), the retail industry’s first centralized platform for digital in-store media integration, released new research, conducted in partnership with Catalyst Media Consulting, that highlights a critical gap in how in-store media is evaluated across stakeholders, and introduces a path forward rooted in alignment and product movement.
The report, In-Store Media Has a Measurement Problem – Just Not the One You Think, finds the biggest barriers to scaling in-store media are twofold: a measurement alignment gap, where brands, retailers, agencies, and retail media networks (RMNs) evaluate success in the physical store differently, and a measurement capability gap, where existing tools and methodologies — often adapted from digital — aren’t fit for purpose in a physical environment, making it difficult to quantify impact in ways that align with how brands assess other in-store activations.
The research draws on interviews with leading brands, agencies, and retail media executives across the U.S. and the U.K. While much of the industry has focused on building digital-style attribution models for in-store media, the findings suggest that approach may be overly complex for the physical store environment.
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“Much of the industry has approached in-store media with what we call ‘digital envy,’ or the belief that it needs the same one-to-one attribution as e-commerce to prove its value,” said Paul Brenner, SVP of Global Retail Media and Partnerships at ISM. “We’ve overcomplicated the problem by forcing digital thinking onto a channel that operates very differently. Brands ultimately measure success based on whether the product sells, and aligning measurement to that reality makes it far easier to justify investment.”
The report identifies the use of four different scorecards to evaluate in-store activations as a core source of friction: media effectiveness for agencies, retail sales performance for merchants, media revenue for RMNs, and category efficiency for brands. Even when an activation drives positive outcomes in one area, misalignment across these metrics can prevent it from being recognized as a success and stall future investment.
“When a brand’s media team demands one-to-one attribution to satisfy their Media Mix Scorecard, but the retail merchant cares about moving pallets to satisfy their Retail Sales Scorecard, gridlock occurs,” said Collin Colburn, VP of Commerce and Retail Media at IAB. “We must stop treating measurement as a unilateral digital mandate and instead align our metrics to the mutual goal of all the parties.”
As the industry works to bring greater consistency to in-store media, efforts by the IAB to standardize in-store impressions represent an important step forward, establishing a common language around audience and enabling CPM-based buying. However, impressions alone don’t define success in a physical environment, where outcomes are ultimately measured by product movement.
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To address this challenge, the report introduces a new measurement framework called the Shopper Purchase Rate (SPR). SPR evaluates in-store media performance through three core components: dollars spent, units sold, and shopper behavior across defined segments.
SPR is designed to work within existing retail methodologies, including matched-market testing and pre/post analysis, enabling RMNs to isolate incremental impact and demonstrate the contribution of digital in-store activations to product movement.
Importantly, the SPR framework adapts to different retailer insights and CPG personas. From category leaders defending market share to challenger brands seeking awareness, RMNs can tailor measurement to the unique objectives of each brand, bridging the gap between legacy activations and new digital initiatives, unlocking incremental budgets, and aligning all stakeholders on a common language for success.
