# IAB Survey: 43% of Marketers Underutilize In-Store Retail Media Despite Full-Funnel Results

*Grocery TV and IAB research reveals a documented gap between channel belief and deployment, opening ground for physical brands.*

By **Jenny Huang Goodman MPA MSc MHSA, Principal** — The Stash Edge, Hako Shikin LLC.
Published 2026-10-18.

Canonical: https://www.pops4.com/stash/articles/in-store-retail-media-iab-grocery-tv-survey-finding-2026-10-18t15-6
Subject: In-store retail media (IAB + Grocery TV survey finding)
Tags: in-store retail media, grocery tv, retail media networks, point-of-purchase, channel arbitrage, physical product

---

According to The Shelby Report, new research from the Interactive Advertising Bureau and Grocery TV found that **43 percent** of marketers say they underutilize in-store retail media even as they acknowledge the channel drives results across the full funnel. The survey identifies a documented deployment gap: brands see the mechanism work but have not moved budget or attention to match.

The mechanics are screens and audio placed at point-of-purchase in grocery, convenience, and retail environments. Shoppers encounter branded content while in decision mode, basket in hand, often within sight of the shelf. The IAB research shows marketers understand this placement drives awareness at top-of-funnel and conversion at bottom, yet nearly half report underdeploying.

The underlying mechanism is attention at the moment of highest commercial intent. A shopper scanning the pasta aisle is seconds from a purchase decision. A thirty-second message on a ceiling-mounted screen or endcap display reaches that person when consideration costs are lowest. Unlike social or search, which must pull a consumer from another task, in-store media intercepts existing shopping behavior. The brand pays for reach inside the store, not outside it, and the conversion window compresses to minutes instead of days.

The deployment gap exists because legacy budgets flow to digital channels with established attribution and bidding infrastructure. In-store retail media lacks the dashboard familiarity of Meta or Google, so marketers underfund it even when post-purchase data shows lift. Grocery TV and similar networks now offer programmatic buying and measurement, but adoption lags.

A small physical-product brand can test the channel without a national grocery contract. Approach a regional grocer or independent chain and propose a pilot: **$1,500** to **$3,000** for a four-week local screen placement in ten to twenty stores. Provide the creative as a fifteen-second looping video file. Negotiate reporting: total impressions, store traffic during campaign weeks, and scan data if the retailer shares it. Run the test in stores where your SKU is already on shelf, so the path from screen to basket is direct. Track sales velocity in test stores against matched control stores without the media buy. Document the lift, then expand or shift budget from a lower-performing channel.

Alternatively, participate in a retailer's existing in-store network. Chains like Kroger and Albertsons operate retail media divisions that sell screen inventory. Minimums vary, but some networks allow buys starting at **$5,000** for a regional flight. The brand submits creative, selects store clusters by geography or demo, and receives impression and attributed sales reporting through the retailer's platform. This路径 offers speed: no hardware negotiation, no creative production beyond a standard video spec, and measurement built into the retailer's closed-loop system.

The broader pattern is channel arbitrage. When a survey shows **43 percent** of marketers underutilize a medium they believe works, early movers capture attention at below-equilibrium cost. In-store retail media is now where podcast advertising was in 2018: underfunded relative to efficacy, which means inventory remains available and CPMs stay low. A physical-product brand that moves budget into the gap before competitors do buys share-of-voice at a structural discount. The window closes as deployment catches up to belief, so the play is immediate testing and fast scaling if the data confirms.

## The takeaway

**43%** of marketers underuse in-store retail media despite full-funnel proof, creating a pricing and attention window for early physical brands.

---

## Publisher

**Hako Shikin LLC** — Virginia Beach, Virginia. Founded 1997. ASI 217876 · DUNS 18-204-6339.
Principal and author: **Jenny Huang Goodman MPA MSc MHSA**.

- Author: https://www.huanggoodman.com/about
- LLM context: https://www.pops4.com/stash/llms.txt
- MCP endpoint, for AI agents: https://mcp.pops4.com/mcp
- Client dashboard: https://dashboard.pops4.com/
- Catalogue: 70,000+ products, 200+ brands