Convenience store retail media offers twice the visibility, and garners triple the attention and quadruple the brand recall compared with campaigns in larger stores, research commissioned by Co-op Media Network has found.
The “supercharged” effectiveness of retail media campaigns in convenience stores versus supermarkets was chiefly due to shopper frequency and the typical layout of smaller stores.
The research – carried out in partnership with Lumen Research – saw shoppers wearing eye-tracking glasses navigate different sized Co-op stores: one of 2,106 sq ft and a larger 14,687 sq ft store “that more closely resembles a supermarket”.
The shoppers were given a BBQ shopping mission – a list featuring protein, produce, frozen, ambient and BWS, while the glasses monitored what the shoppers were viewing, the duration of their gaze and retinal movements.
The use of the glasses “provided precise insights into what the shoppers were observing”, as well as the ads that “were within their peripheral vision” and when ads “could have been seen without direct focus”.
Following their shopping trips, participants were tested on brand recall and completed brand choice surveys.
The research “confirms what we already knew – attention drives action” said Mike Follett, CEO of Lumen Research.
“In small stores, shoppers revisit aisles multiple times and so encounter the same ads and messages multiple times, creating a higher frequency of exposure,” he added. “That builds memories through aggregate attention, which drives memory-based outcomes such as awareness, consideration and intent.”
Co-op launched its retail media network in January last year, claiming a UK first for the convenience sector. Co-op Media Network brings together Co-op’s in-house team and long-term agency partner Threefold – an SMG agency that is the largest operator of retail media networks in the UK.
Late last year, it began install hundreds of front-of-store digital screens at its highest footfall locations to “turbocharge” the offering.
“Traditionally, in-store advertising has been viewed by media buyers as a pure sales activation tool that was great for last-minute promotions but not for brand-building,” said Kenyatte Nelson, chief membership & customer officer at Co-op. “However, this groundbreaking evidence now spotlights retail media, especially in a convenience setting, as one of the most powerful brand recall tools.”
The findings “showcase the unmatched impact of Co-op’s small-format convenience stores and the findings position in-store advertising as a dual-purpose channel, driving both short-term sales and long-term brand growth” Nelson added.
Separate Co-op research last year demonstrated that convenience retail media boosted sales in Co-op, but also in surrounding grocery stores of up to fourfold the original sales conversion.
The research – in partnership with Circana – “suggests a positive halo effect for brand’s overall awareness when advertising in Co-op shops, which can lead to longer-term incremental sales uplifts in surrounding non-Co-op stores”.
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