Ben Baker.
It’s Saturday morning. The car parks are full. A family is debating on what and where to have lunch. Far from fading, physical retail in Australia is experiencing a revival and marketers are taking note.
In fact, weekly in-store shopping outpaces online by over 30%. With consumers actively returning to physical retail for the unique value it provides, foot traffic is on the rise. So how are smart retailers responding? They’re rethinking their media strategies to meet customers where they are: on the streets, in shopping centres, and at the point of purchase.
I’ve seen firsthand how OOH and programmatic digital out-of-home (pDOOH) are being leveraged to turn this momentum into measurable retail outcomes. This isn’t simply about screens replacing static billboards either. pDOOH has emerged as a key asset in the marketer’s toolkit - offering agility, measurability, and impact that goes beyond what traditional media can deliver. The result? A powerful and effective way to connect with consumers, when and where it counts.
The Retail Surge
The numbers tell a compelling story about the surge in retail advertisers with physical storefronts. In Q1 2024, retail advertisers represented just 5% of total ad spend through the Vistar Media demand-side platform (DSP). Today, that figure has jumped to 23%, and we’re on track to see retail become the single largest category for pDOOH investment in Australia.
This growth reflects a clear trend: marketers for major retailers are increasingly embracing pDOOH as a trusted, high-attention channel to influence real-world behaviour and buying decisions.
So why are retail marketers leaning into pDOOH now? Because it solves problems they've been grappling with for years. The old way (broad reach, little visibility, limited control) just doesn’t cut it anymore. With pDOOH, brands can be far more surgical. They can show up only when and where it matters, whether that’s during a lunch rush near a food court, or on a rainy afternoon when foot traffic spikes in shopping centres. That kind of precision not only stretches budgets, but drives better outcomes at the end of the day.
What’s even more exciting is how retailers are using data to close the loop. They’re not guessing anymore. They can track impact across the full customer journey - from ad exposure to store visit to sale - and adjust in real time. We’ve seen brands tweak campaigns on the fly based on local weather, footfall trends, or even community events. This has allowed brands to be present in the moment that counts, such as when a shopper is nearby, in decision mode, and ready to act. That shift, from awareness to action, is what’s making pDOOH such a powerful piece of the retail media puzzle.
From Awareness to Action
Mad Mex offers a strong example of using data-led strategy to solve footfall challenges and drive growth. Between March-May 2023, their programmatic DOOH initiative leveraged near real-time store sales data to activate over 1,000 indoor and outdoor DOOH panels programmatically - targeting locations and times where a sales uplift was needed. This ensured an extended retail media presence while protecting budgets, with sites running only when it mattered most.
The result: a 9% sales increase and a 7% lift in transactions in targeted areas - a clear demonstration of how OOH, combined with data and contextual relevance, can deliver outstanding outcomes that traditional media simply can’t match.
The Future of Retail Media
While online retail still plays a vital role in the shopping journey, the resurgence of brick-and-mortar experiences is impossible to ignore and it’s being fuelled by smarter, more strategic media decisions. With tools like pDOOH, brands are casting wider nets by creating meaningful, measurable touchpoints in the moments that matter most. Whether it’s converting foot traffic outside a shopping centre into an in-store visit, or nudging a shopper toward a product in-aisle, marketers now have the ability to influence real-world behaviour with digital precision. The future of retail media isn’t static, but dynamic, data-led and measurable.
Ben Baker, Managing Director APAC, Vistar Media