Ask a retailer what sold in a store yesterday and there is a detailed report. Ask which offers shoppers explored while they were actually inside that store, and the answer gets much harder.
We can measure the advertising that reaches people before a visit. We can measure whether visits to a store change. The till tells us what was bought. But much of the decision-making between the entrance and the checkout remains a blind spot. Which deal caught someone's eye? Did a recipe prompt them to consider another product? Did they find the promotion they came in for?
That blind spot is enormous in South Africa. World Wide Worx expects online retail to account for about 10% of national retail turnover in 2026, leaving roughly 90% offline, much of it in physical stores. Retail media needs a clearer view of what shoppers engage with while they are there.
For years, the printed catalogue helped retailers bring offers into the store. It still has its place, but it is costly to update and cannot tell a retailer which products actually drew interest. A digital experience can do both, provided it gives the shopper a reason to use it. Nobody scans a QR code to help a retailer fill a dashboard. They scan because they want a good deal, an idea for dinner or a quick way to find something relevant in that branch.
By combining what people engage with in-store with audience and visit data for that location, we can refine which deals and recipes are shown there over time. When a promotion changes, the content can change with it, without a new print run.
That interaction also turns the store into a data-generating touchpoint. The retailer can see which offers, products and recipes draw attention at each location. It adds an owned signal from the period between arrival and purchase, when so many decisions are made.
Vicinity’s visit data adds another part of the picture. It helps us understand where audiences shop, what media got them to store. Cross-visitation can show how people move between a retailer’s stores and competitors. Put that alongside the in-store engagement data and you can start to ask better questions: Did a campaign bring people in? Which deals interested them once they arrived? What should we show them next time?
It also creates an owned space for brand partners to be useful at the point where choices are being made. For a grocery shopper, that might mean a recipe built around products on promotion. In another category, it might be a simple, current view of the best deals in that store.
We need to be honest about what the data says. A product click shows interest. A measured store visit shows footfall. A sale needs transaction data. Each signal is useful; none should be passed off as the other. The value comes from using what we learn to improve the next round of creative, targeting, offers and the in-store experience.
At Vicinity Media we believe the in-store blind spot is worth closing. With the right technology, shoppers get an enriched shopping experience. For retailers, that same interaction opens a direct line to customers on the shop floor and a rich new source of data and a new owned retail media channel.
