Most people go shopping with a purpose in mind — a gallon of milk, a pair of shoes, a box of envelopes. Yet often their decisions about what to purchase come down to an ever-so-brief moment in the store.
That’s what makes in-store retail media networks (RMNs) so intriguing: They give advertisers a perfectly timed opportunity to influence the makeup of a consumer’s shopping cart before it reaches the register.
For this purpose, endemic ads, which promote products that are immediately available for purchase, pay the largest dividends for retail media networks such as In-Store Connect by Quad, a networked system of digital displays. Conversely, “non-endemic” advertisers see RMNs as a way of accessing a sizeable new audience and promoting products or services that are not available in the store (for instance, an insurance company advertising within a grocery store).
Let’s look at five real-world ways endemic advertising is changing how brands and retailers drive sales and engagement.
Address shoppers when they’re in the buying mood
Endemic retail media ads help brands and marketers break through the clutter, reaching shoppers at the crucial “moment of truth” in a purchasing cycle. While non-endemic ads have benefits of their own, creating a sense of urgency is not one of them. In many instances, non-endemic RMN ads require extra action from shoppers at another time and place.
Strengthen brand visibility and loyalty
Done right, endemic ads on in-store retail media networks help shoppers feel "seen," which can translate into incremental sales. That's reflected in eMarketer research showing that about a third of shoppers (31.5%) will immediately decide to purchase a new brand or product that they just learned about in a store. By comparison, only 10% of shoppers make an immediate purchase following discovery on brand websites. In-store endemic advertising can help open shoppers' eyes to new and unexpected options.
Create flexible, fast-to-market campaigns
Endemic ads can bring more flexibility and responsiveness to relationships between retailers and brands. The in-the-moment nature of digital displays encourages different ways of thinking about promotions by shortening lead times and opening up new cost-effective opportunities around events such as limited-time offers or product introductions. RMN collaboration also allows brands to help retailers drive adoption and engagement for their loyalty apps; on-screen ads can include QR codes that lead to digital coupons available only via the retailer's app, for example.
Influence impulse purchases
Research shows that impulse shopping is part of our nature, and not only for "treat" items such as a carton of gourmet ice cream. Impulses influence purchase decisions on things we need, too. About 70% of U.S. shoppers say they regularly make unplanned purchase decisions to some degree, according to Resonate. So even though a brand may not be on a shopper's initial list, it still has a chance to sway decisions — and endemic advertising on in-store retail media can be a powerful influence in the moment.
Drive incremental store revenue
The proof points for endemic advertising show at the cash register. An academic study of scanner panel data from a large U.S. grocery chain in 2022 found that in-store displays, when optimally distributed across a store, increase store revenue by about 11%. The study, published in the Journal of Retailing, was conducted by marketing professors from Indiana University, Lehigh University and Singapore Management University. The researchers also found that the closer the ads were in the store to the aisles where the products were on the shelf, the better they performed.
The future of endemic advertising in retail media networks
As retail media networks continue to mature, expect endemic ads to evolve right alongside them. Future growth will center on tighter integration between contextual advertising and first-party retailer data. This combination allows brands to fine-tune messages for precision targeting and measurable conversion rate optimization.
Consumer packaged goods (CPG) companies are also showing growing interest in unified measurement frameworks that bring together both endemic and non-endemic ad performance. That shift reflects a larger industry goal: holistic transparency into how every marketing dollar translates into advertising ROI across touchpoints.
The road ahead points to smarter, more connected retail ecosystems — where digital shelf insights, shopper data and in-store experiences work in sync. In this environment, endemic retail media ads redefine how brands connect with customers and drive in-store conversion.
Key takeaways:
Ameet Srivastava is VP of CPG Sales for In-Store Connect, Quad’s system for helping retailers reach shoppers in-store through a scalable network of digital display screens. Ameet is a veteran of the consumer-packaged goods industry, with almost a decade at Procter & Gamble. Based in San Francisco, Ameet focuses on helping brands use technology to engage consumers online, offline and everywhere in between.
What is endemic advertising?
Endemic advertising refers to messages that naturally fit within their environment. Endemic retail media ads appear in a retailer’s ecosystem and are tied directly to the products or categories being sold. Think: digital shelf screens, in-aisle signage or online banners for items that are available nearby.
Non-endemic ads promote products or services unrelated to what’s being sold in that space. For example, a healthcare ad shown in a grocery aisle would be non-endemic.
Endemic ads succeed because they rely on contextual advertising and meet shoppers where interest is already high.
In-store Connect by Quad delivers endemic advertising to shoppers in aisle.
In-Store Connect by Quad uses in-aisle digital screens to deliver real-time, product-specific ads that match what’s on the shelf. It’s a clear illustration of endemic media aligning context, timing and shopper intent.
For retailers, in-store retail media networks, like In-Store Connect by Quad, turn foot traffic into a high-margin revenue stream.
As Resonate reports, about 70% of U.S. shoppers say they regularly make unplanned purchases, and a study by The Harris Poll, presented by Quad, reports that 77% of consumers say branded in-store experiences directly influence what they buy.
For CPG brands, endemic ads reach shoppers in this critical moment of decision. Flexible digital signage lets brands launch fast, localized campaigns and track results through digital shelf analytics and real-time conversion rate optimization.
Together, retail media networks and endemic advertising drive relevance, engagement and incremental sales that help both brands and retailers grow.
