June 12, 2023
Source: Walmart
Will Walmart Add In-Store Radio and Product Sampling to Its Retail Media Network?
Walmart Connect, Walmart’s retail media arm, is testing the sale of ads on in-store radio and integrating in-store sampling programs with online offerings while vowing not to disturb the shopper experience.
“The next frontier of retail media is in-store experiences,” said Whitney Cooper, head of omnichannel transformation at Walmart Connect, in a blog entry.
Walmart’s in-store media offerings include TV wall ads on in-store screens, self-checkout ads that can verify when the ad leads to a future digital or in-store purchase, and sponsored store events.
For the first time, brands can now purchase ads on Walmart Radio by region or store.
Ms. Cooper said the ads “create a new upper-funnel touchpoint for brand marketers and out-of-home (OOH) buyers to create awareness, because in-store audio is about connecting with customers wherever they are in the store — they don’t have to pass the brand in the aisle.”
Walmart is taking sampling in-house and integrating it into digital campaigns. The retailer, for example, will pair a demo cart with QR codes that link to a curated Walmart.com landing page.
“For suppliers, these demos create a massive opportunity to drive discovery and conversion, such as when launching a new product or driving an always-on presence for core products. For customers, this creates an experience to look forward to,” Ms. Cooper said.
Any in-store advertising must be “additive and relevant” to the shopping experience. Ms. Cooper told Advertising Age that the repetitive nature of Walmart Radio annoyed associates in the past and the prior version of Walmart TV, featuring embedded screens in endcap displays, didn’t engage shoppers enough.
“We’re working with teams across Walmart to assess new formats to make sure we are creating amazing customer experiences without interrupting store operations,” she wrote in the blog.
Insider Intelligence estimated that while on-site placements will remain north of 80 percent of retail media spend for the next few years on the momentum behind search and display ads, the big push is behind “more off-site inventory in formats ranging from CTV (connected TV) to digital out-of-home to in-store.”
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Discussion Questions
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS: What do you think of the potential of in-store media, whether radio, sampling, TV or self-checkout ads? How will in-store retail media pushes affect the shopping experience?
Poll
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I’m hard-pressed to think of any company where in-store media adds to my experience. We don’t go to stores to be entertained, we go to shop. And yes, shopping itself may be the entertainment – I get that. But it won’t be enhanced by anything Walmart is going to put over the speakers or on TV screens.
Our research of in-store media back in the 80s found that as long as the media was silent, shoppers were not unhappy.
Our research of in-store media back in the 80s found that as long as the media was silent, shoppers were not unhappy.
No matter how well executed, this tactic just results in more intrusive “white noise”.
A comparable situation might be the ads we “get” to listen to when pumping gas…on the positive side I know who Maria somebody or other is in spite of my best efforts to tune Gas Station TV out.
In terms of opportunity, with the # of “eyeballs” available, it makes sense. I wonder about the conversion rates, and I suspect Walmart will do this, so that question will soon be answered.
The in-store aspect of retail media is set to explode and Walmart’s coordinated sampling, ad, and radio programming scheme is just the beginning. Integrating in-store, out-of-home, and online is no longer a pipedream thanks to third-party providers that are boosting retailers’ ad-serving prowess. Much more to come on this, including my next podcast interview that drops tomorrow.
Something tells me that shoppers will soon be inundated with more in-store media than they have an appetite for. There is substantial risk that retailers are going to over execute this idea until they find the optimal mix. Just by saying it out loud, Walmart apparently already knows they could “disturb the shopper experience”. It’s a smart cautionary note to keep in mind.
If done appropriately, product sampling may add to the experience: Costco and Trader Joe’s find great success with their samples. I am not sure some of the other initiatives add much to the customer experience but, if done in a subtle way, they should not detract from it too much. That said, this is a sensible initiative by Walmart that adds more strings to its bow in terms of retail media, which is becoming an increasingly important revenue driver. Moreover, focusing on in-store engagement is something that helps differentiate it from Amazon.
In the mid-80s, we started an in-store media company. We weren’t the first. We were preceded by Silent Radio. One of our sales pitches was: If you get a kid to walk around the store yelling “Heinz ketchup,” you will sell more Heinz ketchup and more of the other brands. We researched over 50 categories with real data and found the phenomenon (not surprising) to be true among all but one category—in-store prompts of any kind spark the shopper to react.
The extent of the Walmart program and the idea of putting it department makes ultimate sense. Coordination of the various tools will enhance the performance of participation. The real question is will the vendor go to the in-store media depart then the buyer or vis-a-versa?
Vendors, be prepared to open your wallets!
to be true among all but one category
Gene, you can’t just leave us hanging there !! What was that lone exception ??
Craig, I gotta leave you hanging. That was in the mid-eighties, and I really don’t remember. We tested 51 categories. All I remember is that one of them did not respond.
Craig, I gotta leave you hanging. That was in the mid-eighties, and I really don’t remember. We tested 51 categories. All I remember is that one of them did not respond.
Craig, I gotta leave you hanging. That was in the mid-eighties, and I really don’t remember. We tested 51 categories. All I remember is that one of them did not respond.
Enlivening physical stores with multisensory media near the point-of-sale makes sense for chains seeking differentiation. Walmart’s bounty of stores is an unmatched strength, making its in-store media potential even more pronounced.
Relevant, targeted and even localized in-store media will drive product discovery, brand awareness and growth.
What a bad idea. Have we learned nothing from decades of enthusiasm for “Advertising Everywhere”?
As a traveler, I’ve been pleased that airports have learned to pull back on the idea that travelers should be pummeled with ads. Like the seatback tray ad I discussed in my recent blog post “Ad Fail: Dramamine Ads Cause Air Sickness.”
Retailers need to just do their job — create a store environment where people want to shop. Moves like this make the store environment hostile.
My opinion is somewhere between minor success and short-lived irritant. Let’s just say I don’t share Mr. Cooper’s enthusiasm…utterly unbounded as it seems to be.
Grocers want to get consumers into the store because that is where impulse buys occur. Adding more in-store media is a smart move because of shopper engagement and, presumably, enjoyment. If, through focus groups, grocers learn that shoppers don’t want to be bothered with so much in-store media, simply cut back or eliminate them.
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I’m hard-pressed to think of any company where in-store media adds to my experience. We don’t go to stores to be entertained, we go to shop. And yes, shopping itself may be the entertainment – I get that. But it won’t be enhanced by anything Walmart is going to put over the speakers or on TV screens.
Our research of in-store media back in the 80s found that as long as the media was silent, shoppers were not unhappy.
Our research of in-store media back in the 80s found that as long as the media was silent, shoppers were not unhappy.
No matter how well executed, this tactic just results in more intrusive “white noise”.
A comparable situation might be the ads we “get” to listen to when pumping gas…on the positive side I know who Maria somebody or other is in spite of my best efforts to tune Gas Station TV out.
In terms of opportunity, with the # of “eyeballs” available, it makes sense. I wonder about the conversion rates, and I suspect Walmart will do this, so that question will soon be answered.
The in-store aspect of retail media is set to explode and Walmart’s coordinated sampling, ad, and radio programming scheme is just the beginning. Integrating in-store, out-of-home, and online is no longer a pipedream thanks to third-party providers that are boosting retailers’ ad-serving prowess. Much more to come on this, including my next podcast interview that drops tomorrow.
Something tells me that shoppers will soon be inundated with more in-store media than they have an appetite for. There is substantial risk that retailers are going to over execute this idea until they find the optimal mix. Just by saying it out loud, Walmart apparently already knows they could “disturb the shopper experience”. It’s a smart cautionary note to keep in mind.
If done appropriately, product sampling may add to the experience: Costco and Trader Joe’s find great success with their samples. I am not sure some of the other initiatives add much to the customer experience but, if done in a subtle way, they should not detract from it too much. That said, this is a sensible initiative by Walmart that adds more strings to its bow in terms of retail media, which is becoming an increasingly important revenue driver. Moreover, focusing on in-store engagement is something that helps differentiate it from Amazon.
In the mid-80s, we started an in-store media company. We weren’t the first. We were preceded by Silent Radio. One of our sales pitches was: If you get a kid to walk around the store yelling “Heinz ketchup,” you will sell more Heinz ketchup and more of the other brands. We researched over 50 categories with real data and found the phenomenon (not surprising) to be true among all but one category—in-store prompts of any kind spark the shopper to react.
The extent of the Walmart program and the idea of putting it department makes ultimate sense. Coordination of the various tools will enhance the performance of participation. The real question is will the vendor go to the in-store media depart then the buyer or vis-a-versa?
Vendors, be prepared to open your wallets!
to be true among all but one category
Gene, you can’t just leave us hanging there !! What was that lone exception ??
Craig, I gotta leave you hanging. That was in the mid-eighties, and I really don’t remember. We tested 51 categories. All I remember is that one of them did not respond.
Craig, I gotta leave you hanging. That was in the mid-eighties, and I really don’t remember. We tested 51 categories. All I remember is that one of them did not respond.
Craig, I gotta leave you hanging. That was in the mid-eighties, and I really don’t remember. We tested 51 categories. All I remember is that one of them did not respond.
Enlivening physical stores with multisensory media near the point-of-sale makes sense for chains seeking differentiation. Walmart’s bounty of stores is an unmatched strength, making its in-store media potential even more pronounced.
Relevant, targeted and even localized in-store media will drive product discovery, brand awareness and growth.
What a bad idea. Have we learned nothing from decades of enthusiasm for “Advertising Everywhere”?
As a traveler, I’ve been pleased that airports have learned to pull back on the idea that travelers should be pummeled with ads. Like the seatback tray ad I discussed in my recent blog post “Ad Fail: Dramamine Ads Cause Air Sickness.”
Retailers need to just do their job — create a store environment where people want to shop. Moves like this make the store environment hostile.
My opinion is somewhere between minor success and short-lived irritant. Let’s just say I don’t share Mr. Cooper’s enthusiasm…utterly unbounded as it seems to be.
Grocers want to get consumers into the store because that is where impulse buys occur. Adding more in-store media is a smart move because of shopper engagement and, presumably, enjoyment. If, through focus groups, grocers learn that shoppers don’t want to be bothered with so much in-store media, simply cut back or eliminate them.