In-store sampling has been found to be the most powerful in-store advertising method for driving sales uplift, in an analysis of 12,500 brand campaigns.
The report, authored by independent analyst Andrew Lipsman based on data from SMG, found sampling campaigns saw sales of the product increase by 95.2% on average.
“There is no better way to stimulate purchase of new products that the opportunity to see, feel, smell and taste it,” Lipsman said.
It was far and away the most effective ad canvas, with hotspots – displays in the highest traffic areas of a store – proving the second most effective, driving a 54.9% increase in sales.
These were followed by free-standing display units (51.3% sales uplift), freezer unit wrap (44.9%), ‘experiential’, for example interactive screens or multimedia kiosks, (43.2%), and floor stickers (34.4%).
Across all formats, digital displays were found to be more impactful than static ones at boosting sales. Digital gondola ends, for instance, outperformed static gondola ends in SKU sales lift (11.9% versus 10.0%) and brand sales lift (9.1% versus 5.1%).
“Dynamic digital content has the potential to break through with shoppers in a way that static in-store media cannot,” Lipsman said. “The digital medium allows for more compelling content and eye-catching creative to stimulate the senses and capture shoppers’ attention.”
Across 38 different in-store ad formats, the digital endcap delivered an average brand return on investments of £3.08 and an average brand sales uplift per store of £388.
Another finding from the research was that proximity of the display or activation to the product and/or checkout contributed to higher sales lift.
Advertising on fixtures, which are the closest to the product at the shelf, had the highest average sales lift at 30.4%. Checkout displays, which are often used to feature impulse products close to the checkout, came just behind fixtures at 29.4%.
“In-store retail media isn’t a new concept, but it is undergoing a paradigm shift as physical store digitisation unleashes new opportunities for retailers and marketers,” said Lipsman, from Colosseum Strategy.
“Retailers capture benefit by modernising their stores and elevating the in-store customer experience,” he said. “There is new potential to integrate content experiences that engage consumers and help drive them closer to purchase.”
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