Innovate at the time of the purchase decision

The world of advertising is going through one of the most transformative phases in recent decades, in which the digitalization of media and the emergence of new platforms have changed the way brands interact with their audiences. On the other hand, consumers have become more demanding, better informed, and more omnichannel. In this new context, Retail Media plays a central role, with the unique ability to bring together data, context, and purchase intent in a single space: the point of sale.

I have the privilege of witnessing this transformation of the point of sale into a fertile ground for advertising, which results from the intersection of technology, data and contextual relevance and which is now available in Portugal, through the first programmatic sales solution for Retail Media at the point of sale.

This step represents much more than a technological evolution. It's a departure from traditional models of planning and purchasing advertising space, marking the beginning of a new era in which digital screens in physical stores are now treated as true digital touchpoints—dynamic, segmentable, and managed in real time—that act at a critical moment: the moment of purchase decision.

Unlike other digital formats that operate at earlier stages of the conversion funnel, in-store displays impact consumers when they are about to choose, compare, or try products. This is the point where advertising influence has direct conversion potential for endemic brands, and where the relevance of the message can mean the difference between being in the shopping cart or not. However, the point of sale is evolving into a new concept, which also includes non-endemic brands. For these displays, advertising is an excellent opportunity to impact the purchasing journey of a specific type of consumer, even in a store environment where products are not directly sold. Through point-of-sale communication, these brands can leverage the highly qualified context of the purchase moment to connect with key consumer moments, categories, or emotions.

In this evolving context, where innovation paves the way for solid and scalable retail media, new advertising communication options are emerging, such as programmatic buying, which allows us to activate campaigns based on criteria such as store location, time of day, day of the week, weather conditions, or seasonal events. This ability to personalize and streamline represents a notable evolution compared to traditional in-store advertising, which until recently relied on slow and unresponsive operational processes.

Automating the purchasing and management process of retail media campaigns, through DSPs and SSPs, also improves the efficiency of advertising investment by reducing operating costs and increasing returns for both endemic and non-endemic brands.

This transformation must be interpreted in light of a structural shift in consumer behavior. The new shopper is omnichannel by nature. According to data from a recent study, 60% of consumers first research online before making purchases in physical stores. This is known as ROPO (Research Online, Purchase Offline). And at every stage of their shopping journey, they have only one expectation: an integrated, coherent, and seamless experience.

According to McKinsey, only 8% of companies are providing truly integrated experiences to their customers, despite 84% of consumers desiring them. This disparity represents a huge opportunity for brands and retailers that decide to strategically invest in omnichannel retail media.

With more than 600 screens already installed in major retail chains in Portugal, such as Continente and Auchan, and with the initial results of pioneering campaigns by Boiron, Caixa Geral de Depósitos and Mentos, we are convinced that programmatic sales at the point of sale will quickly gain scale, driven by the clear results in efficiency, performance and relevance.

We are experiencing a new phase in the evolution of Retail Media, where the barriers between the physical and digital worlds are blurring, where technology serves personalization, and where brands gain new tools to influence real decisions, in real time.

Jordi Cassany, general director of in-Store Media Portugal