A new national in-store retail media network is forming in the German grocery retail sector, which has set itself the Herculean task of serving the FMCG manufacturers as a single point of contact for the complex world of Edeka cooperative. Under the name Retail Media Alliance, several technology providers and marketers are pooling their infrastructure to make digital advertising space centrally bookable along the entire shopper journey in the store.
Among others, Cologne-based retail media specialist Digooh Media, Emsu, Verve Retail Media and their units Viewento and Arcado are involved in the cooperation. The Digooh marketer Inovisco Mobile Media is also part of the network. The aim of the alliance is to combine the previously fragmented in-store advertising into a consistent media system from the store entrance to the checkout. Edeka Zurheide Feine Kost already equipped its six locations with digital screens from Digooh Media at the beginning of 2024. The Retail Optimiser reported.
According to the technology providers and marketers, the network currently comprises more than 3,300 locations with over 5,000 digital screens. Around 80 per cent of the displays are located in stores belonging to the Edeka group. Further installations exist at individual Rewe shopowners and at retail companies such as drugstore operator Müller.
Relevant contact points connected in store
The retail media network includes various touchpoints along the customer journey: at the store entrance, there are digital steles and 65-inch screens in 4K resolution from Digooh. Screens from the provider Emsu accompany the purchase decision at the shelf.
In the checkout area, the part of the store with the highest dwell time, Viewento’s checkout TV is installed. The system is supplemented by couponing at the checkout with Acardo. The result is the first integrated in-store retail media system that connects all relevant in-store contact points.
Decentralised operation, but bookable nationally
A central goal of the alliance is to simplify the booking of in-store advertising at Edeka stores. Until now, retail media at Edeka was considered comparatively complex for agencies, as different providers and regional structures made standardised campaign planning difficult.
The Retail Media Alliance therefore wants to establish centralised marketing via Inovisco. “Decentralised operation, but bookable nationally. This is the only architecture that works in a co-operative structure,” Raimund Bau, Managing Director of Verve, told Lebensmittel Zeitung.
Pilot project at Edeka in Bayreuth
According to the technology providers and marketers, a pilot project at Edeka Schneider in Bayreuth demonstrates the economic potential of the combined use of in-store screens and offsite activations: the revenue at store level was increased by nine per cent, and at the fresh food counter by as much as 20 per cent. These results should prove that retail media in brick-and-mortar retail not only generates reach but can also have a measurable impact on sales.
The model is intended to offer independent retailers in the Edeka network several advantages. The retailers gain access to national brand campaigns and additional advertising budgets. These are played out on the screens in their own store via the network. At the same time, they have access to their own advertising time for local offers and promotions.
No investment required for retailers
In addition, couponing at the checkout is integrated directly into in-store communication to increase redemption rates and sales. There is no capital expenditure for retailers, as the installation, operation and maintenance of the systems are handled by the partner companies. In the long term, the alliance plans to attract further Edeka retailers to the network and significantly expand the infrastructure.
The Retail Media Alliance is the first nationally scalable in-store retail media network in the Edeka environment. If it succeeds in connecting further stores, the alliance could play a central role in standardising the previously highly fragmented access to in-store advertising space in Germany’s largest retail network.
