Marketing veteran sees physical retail media as the winner—if we start selling audiences, not spaces

Christian Bönnelyche, Senior Advisor at BizLab, believes retail media in physical stores will claim a significantly larger share of advertising budgets—if retailers play their cards right.

Christian outlines three key factors for success:
1️⃣ Invest in digital screens in stores and build an ecosystem, not just isolated screens.
2️⃣ Sell audiences, not spaces. Shift from selling share of voice to offering data on real contacts. Provide advertisers with insights into their campaigns—who saw the message, when, for how long, and their reaction.
3️⃣ Enable programmatic buying for retail media, so advertisers can purchase based on audience segments. This opens new revenue streams for the struggling retail sector, where every margin percentage counts.

Christian sees investment in digital screens as the foundation for becoming a true retail media player. Paired with a modern CMS, it's one of three critical pillars.

“I believe we’ll see innovative financing solutions emerge, where retailers don’t have to shoulder the entire investment alone. The in-store proximity to ready-to-buy customers is incredibly attractive, and several players are interested in co-investing in this ecosystem,” says Christian.

Retailers must also learn from the broader media landscape and start selling audiences, not just screens. “Technology now allows targeting based on gender, age, time of day, weather, and enables real-time measurement: who saw the message, for how long, and how they reacted. This is how physical stores can truly become media houses.”

Lastly, just like in the digital world, retailers must offer programmatic buying options. “This empowers even smaller retailers to tap into new revenue streams without handling the entire sales process themselves. AI solutions will play a key role in connecting retailers and advertisers, making retail media accessible in entirely new ways,” concludes Christian Bönnelyche.