Skip to content
Search
AI Powered
Latest Stories

'Retail media in convenience stores boosts brand recall'

Convenience stores

Retail media in convenience stores

iStock image

Convenience retail media can “supercharge” brand recall by four times compared to campaigns in larger stores due to shopper frequency and the uniqueness of the format, a recent study has found, highlighting that advertising in a convenience retail is more impactful as compared to traditional media.

According to an analysis by the Co-op’s retail media network in partnership with Lumen Research, due to smaller store sizes, formats and high shopper frequency, advertising messages within convenience stores would be seen and recalled by more people, more often.


Furthermore, in a convenience store, the presence of mixed-category aisles leads to customers encountering a wide variety of advertisements within the same space.

The study aims to explore the recall power of advertising in a convenience retail setting.

The Lumen Research methodology involved shoppers navigating either a small or large Co-op store on a BBQ shopping mission, engaging with a mixture of categories from protein, produce, frozen, ambient and BWS while wearing eye-tracking glasses.

These devices monitored what the shoppers were viewing, the duration of their gaze and retinal movements.

It also assessed viewability and opportunities to see, indicating instances where advertisements could have been seen without direct focus. Upon leaving the stores, shoppers were tested on brand recall and completed brand choice surveys.

Results indicated that larger, supermarket-sized stores do generate brand-building with shoppers. However, when comparing smaller Co-op stores to larger-format outlets, attention and recall was found to be significantly enhanced in the convenience setting.

The data revealed that a shopper who walks into a convenience store has twice the visibility of the advertising, triple the attention and quadruple brand recall compared to a large store.

“Traditionally, in-store advertising has been viewed by media buyers as a pure sales activation tool that was great for last-minute promotions but not for brand-building.

"However, this groundbreaking evidence now spotlights retail media, especially in a convenience setting, as one of the most powerful brand recall tools,” said Kenyatte Nelson, Chief Membership & Customer Officer at Co-op.

“The results from the Lumen Research study showcase the unmatched impact of Co-op’s small-format convenience stores, and the findings position in-store advertising as a dual-purpose channel, driving both short-term sales and long-term brand growth.”

Mike Follett, CEO of Lumen Research, added, “Our research with Co-op confirms what we already knew – attention drives action. In small stores, shoppers revisit aisles multiple times and so encounter the same ads and messages multiple times, creating a higher frequency of exposure.

"That builds memories through aggregate attention, which drives memory-based outcomes such as awareness, consideration and intent.”

More for you

Digital wallets are set to account for 33% of in-store payments in the UK by 2030

UK payment landscape cash decline and rise of digital payments

iStock image

'UK embraces digital payments, yet cash remains key'

While digital payments dominate, with digital wallets set to rise to 33 per cent of in-store spending by 2030, traditional methods continue to hold ground in a fragmented UK market, shows a recent report mapping the UK’s payment landscape over the past decade.

According to the 10th edition of the Worldpay Global Payments Report (GPR),, the UK has witnessed a significant decline in cash use over the past decade, with its share of point-of-sale (POS) spending dropping from 32 per cent to 10 per cent between 2014 and 2024, accounting for £128 billion of in-store transactions.

Keep ReadingShow less
Bira’s 2025 warning of a perfect storm from declining sales and rising costs
Bira CEO Andrew Goodacre

Bira cautiously welcomes retail sales growth, calls for continued support

Leading retail association Bira has warned that independent high street shops are facing a "perfect storm" of declining in-store sales and rising costs, despite modest overall growth in the retail sector.

The latest BRC-KPMG Retail Sales Monitor figures for February 2025 show UK retail sales increased by 1.1 per cent year-on-year (0.9 per cent on a like-for-like basis). However, this headline figure masks significant challenges facing independent retailers.

Keep ReadingShow less
 Cream liqueur category in the UC

Cream liqueur category in the UK

iStock image

Younger drinkers 'driving premium cream liqueur growth'

Younger drinkers are driving the emergence of the premium cream liqueur category in the UK, according to new data from Irish cream challenger brand, Coole Swan.

The brand’s sales data shows 20 – 40-year-olds as the core consumer of Coole Swan, a demographic significantly contributing to the brand’s 67 per cent growth in the UK in 2024.

Keep ReadingShow less
Retail sales

Retail sales

iStock image

Feb retail sales up, food sector leads

Food sales continued to see an uptick last month against overall dip in sales as shopper confidence rose a little as retailers brace of additional costs and legislative changes in the coming months, shows industry data released today (11).

According to British Retail Consortium (BRC), total retail sales increased by 1.1 per cent year on year in February, against a growth of 1.1 per cent in February 2024. This was below the 3-month average growth of 2.4 per cent and above the 12-month average growth of 0.8 per cent.

Keep ReadingShow less
Declining footfall in UK shopping centres as consumers shift to outdoor retail destinations

Retail footfall

Photo by Christopher Furlong/Getty Images

Warmer weather gave good start to retail footfall

Retail footfall rebounded last week from the week before in high streets and retail parks whereas shopping centres continued to see a decline, shows the latest figures.

The rise in high street activity is being attributed to warmer weather, and schools reopening following the half term break across the UK which will also signal a return to the office.

Keep ReadingShow less