Grocery TV today published a major shopper research study showing that receptivity to in-store retail media has risen sharply since 2023, with nearly two-thirds of U.S. grocery shoppers reporting they have purchased a product directly after seeing it advertised on an in-store screen.

The 2026 In-Store Shopper Perception Report, released on June 2, 2026, was co-published by Grocery TV and Andrew Lipsman, founder and independent analyst at Media, Ads + Commerce. The study surveyed 1,018 U.S. grocery shoppers in March 2026 on their attitudes toward digital screens across 15 display formats spanning every major zone of the grocery store. The original version of this research dates to 2023, making this a direct year-on-year comparison across the same measurement framework.

The headline figure is 62%. According to Grocery TV, 62% of shoppers surveyed said they had purchased a product directly after seeing it advertised on an in-store screen. That represents a conversion touchpoint at the last moment before a purchase decision - a point the report emphasizes is where most buying choices get finalized.

Methodology and scope

Each respondent in the March 2026 survey was shown before-and-after photographs of a given store zone, one without a digital screen and one with. They were then asked how the addition of the screen would affect their shopping experience. The resulting responses were coded as positive, neutral, or negative. The combined positive and neutral share constitutes the favorability score used to rank zones throughout the report.

The sample of 1,018 shoppers across the U.S. covers a cross-section of age cohorts, income brackets, and shopping frequencies. A secondary data layer drew on a Grocery TV and MFour Pulse Survey, also conducted in 2026, for specific behavioral metrics around impulse buying and household decision-making authority.

Grocery TV describes itself as operating in over 6,700 grocery stores. According to Grocery TV, its platform reaches 1 in 4 Americans, placing it among the larger infrastructure players in the current wave of physical-store media expansion. The company's recent partnership activity - including a deal with the Raley's Companies covering 208 stores across California, Nevada, and Arizona announced on May 20, 2026 - underlines how quickly its footprint has been growing.

Zone-by-zone findings: where screens work and where they do not

The study evaluated 15 distinct display formats. These included the store entrance, the in-store app, the deli counter, checkout lanes, end caps (both playing contextually relevant ads and unrelated ads), pharmacy, video wall, wine display, center store, smart cart, sample machine, shelf talker, shelf blade, and the cooler screen.

According to Grocery TV, the formats that scored highest for shopper acceptance were those placed in locations where shoppers are already stationary or expecting to wait. The app zone led all formats, earning a 66.7% positive response and a combined favorability score of 87.6%. The store entrance scored 53.2% positive and 88.5% favorable. The deli counter reached 57.1% positive and 86.6% favorable. Checkout and pharmacy both landed in the 84% favorable range.

These five zones form what the report calls the "no-brainer" tier - formats with favorability scores above 84%. According to Grocery TV, these zones represent the lowest-risk starting point for retailers building a retail media network, partly because shoppers already expect some form of signage in these areas.

The middle tier, labeled "handle with care", spans favorability scores from 73% to 84% and includes the video wall (82.7%), center store (77.8%), wine display (80.1%), smart cart (77.3%), end cap with unrelated ads (79.0%), and sample machine (75.1%).

The lowest tier - "extreme caution" - covers formats with favorability below 72%. The shelf talker landed at 71.2% favorable, the shelf blade at 67.0%, and the cooler screen at just 58.9%. According to Grocery TV, formats in this range "carry the greatest risk of disrupting the shopper experience."

The cooler screen data is particularly notable. It recorded a negative sentiment response of 41.2% - the highest negative rate among any format tested. One survey respondent, commenting on the cooler screen, said: "You can't see if the product is in stock."

The dwell time principle

A pattern running through the zone results is what the report calls the dwell time dynamic. Pharmacy, deli counter, and checkout are places where shoppers routinely wait. They are already paused. A screen in those zones does not interrupt a moving shopper - it fills a moment that already exists.

Survey respondents described the pharmacy zone through comments captured in the report. One respondent said: "Pharmacy is one place where you are reliably going to be waiting, so could be a pleasant distraction." Another described the pharmacy as similar to a doctor's waiting room, saying screens there are "similar to what already happens in many Dr's offices waiting rooms so I'm less bothered by this."

On the deli, a respondent noted: "You're often waiting at deli counter, so this would probably be a good place to add a TV with informational messages." At the pharmacy, a fourth respondent said: "I'm more receptive when I'm waiting for my medicine to be handed over."

This dwell time principle also explains why formats that obstruct product access or crowd aisles scored so poorly. The shelf blade and shelf talker, for instance, sit in zones where shoppers are actively moving and selecting products. Interference with that process - whether visual or physical - drives friction. A respondent commenting on the shelf blade said: "Aisles are often already crowded. This would just add to the chaos."

Shift since 2023: the year-on-year comparison

Because the study was first conducted in 2023, the 2026 data allows a direct before-after comparison across the same zones under the same methodology. The results show improvements in acceptance across every measured format.

Checkout saw the largest absolute gain: a net increase of 22.5 percentage points, moving from 31.7% favorable in 2023 to 54.2% in 2026. According to Grocery TV, "Checkout specifically jumps from 1 in 3 shoppers to 1 in 2." The wine display gained 17.6 points. The digital end cap gained 16.4 points. The store entrance gained 11.4 points. Even the cooler screen - the lowest-scoring format in 2026 - registered a net gain of 8.0 points from its 2023 baseline of 36.2%.

This is a consistent, broad-based movement, not an improvement concentrated in one or two zones. According to Grocery TV, "shoppers are becoming more accustomed to screens in stores" and are also "responding to ones placed where it makes sense."

The measurement infrastructure supporting these networks has been developing in parallel. Grocery TV added third-party sales lift measurement through a partnership with ABCS Insights in April 2026, drawing on a 41 million-household panel combining receipt and card transaction data. That move addressed a longstanding criticism of in-store media: that its claimed effectiveness lacked independent verification. Broader industry measurement standards work, initiated by the IAB and IAB Europe in September 2024, created a common framework for tracking campaign performance across store zones.

Skeptical shoppers still accept the right zones

The study includes a quadrant analysis that cross-references overall sentiment with acceptance rates among a subsegment of 202 shoppers who said they would prefer not to see ads in stores at all. This "ad-averse" segment represents roughly 1 in 5 of the total sample.

Even within this skeptical cohort, several zones held up. According to Grocery TV, among ad-averse shoppers the app zone earned a 74.3% acceptance rate, the store entrance 72.7%, pharmacy 67.3%, deli 65.3%, and checkout 60.5%. These numbers suggest that placement quality can override general ad skepticism for a meaningful share of shoppers. The report frames this as: "When a screen fits where it is, it doesn't feel like an ad."

Creative preferences: promotions first, personalization last

The report's second major section examines what content shoppers actually want to see on those screens. The data is unambiguous on two points.

First, current sales or promotions dominate preferences. In a ranking of preferred content types on in-store digital displays, promotions came first at 51.5%, followed by product information and recipes at 45.4%, new products at 36.4%, products available in-store at 32.0%, and personalized offers based on past purchases at 27.8%.

Personalization came last. According to Grocery TV, one-to-one personalization may make sense on individual digital channels, but in a physical store environment the most effective creative is relevant to the surroundings rather than to the specific individual. The report frames it this way: "Think regional, seasonal, and culturally relevant content that speaks to everyone in the store."

This finding has practical implications for CPG brands running campaigns. According to Grocery TV, shoppers are 2.5x more likely to consider a brand when ads are contextually relevant to the environment they are in. A small creative adjustment - seasonal copy, a store-relevant hook - can drive meaningfully different outcomes compared to a generic brand asset repurposed from another channel.

The content findings also vary by income. According to Grocery TV, high-income shoppers with household incomes above $125,000 show an 83% purchase conversion rate from in-store ads, which is 30 percentage points above the overall average. This segment responds particularly well to new product discovery and brand-building content. Deal seekers, by contrast, respond primarily to promotions and savings messaging. 61% of deal seekers say in-store ads help them find deals or save money - the highest rate of any income bracket surveyed.

Frequent shoppers - defined by visit frequency rather than income - show a 57% preference for promotions over any other content type, and the study notes they are 12% more likely than average to discover promotions through in-store screens.

Ad effectiveness and the discovery advantage

According to Grocery TV, 95% of shoppers who enter a grocery store say they make at least half of all purchase decisions for their household. That positions the physical store as a decision-making environment, not merely a fulfillment stop.

The discovery data reinforces this. In-store ranks as the number one channel through which shoppers find out about sales, promotions, or new products, ahead of store app notifications, print circulars, store emails, and retailer website ads. The data, which the report attributes to eMarketer research, shows in-store signage cited by 48.4% of shoppers as a primary discovery channel.

Critically, in-store discovery converts faster. According to Grocery TV, more than 31% of shoppers who made an in-store discovery purchased the item right away, compared to 17% for online discovery. The store closes awareness, consideration, and purchase in a single visit.

According to Grocery TV, 37% of shoppers say in-store advertising helps them discover products they would not have noticed otherwise. More than 3 in 4 make impulse purchases.

Halo effects beyond the advertised product

The effectiveness data extends to what the report calls portfolio halo effects. According to Grocery TV sales lift studies from 2025, in-store advertising for a national personal care brand generated a 15% sales lift for the advertised product, a 12% lift across complementary products, and an 8% lift across all products in the brand portfolio. A second case study involving a CPG brand showed a 19% sales lift for home and personal care products, a 20% lift for oral care, and a 15% halo across both advertised categories.

These numbers are Grocery TV's own sales lift studies and should be read as illustrative examples from their network rather than as category-wide benchmarks. They reflect specific campaign conditions and should be evaluated accordingly. Still, the directional finding - that a screen ad for one product drives purchase behavior for adjacent products - is consistent with broader industry research on attention and category consideration at the point of purchase.

Industry context and what it means for marketing practitioners

This report lands at a specific moment for in-store retail media. The in-store measurement debate has been central to the sector's growth constraints. In April 2026, In-Store Marketplace and Catalyst Media Consulting argued that the biggest problem is not technical measurement capability but rather misalignment between how brands, agencies, retailers, and retail media networks each define success. That report introduced the Shopper Purchase Rate framework as an alternative to digital attribution. The Grocery TV perception study addresses a different but related question: regardless of how outcomes are measured, are shoppers actually open to these formats?

The answer, across 15 formats and 1,018 respondents, is: yes, with significant conditions attached. Placement matters more than most early in-store deployments acknowledged. Context determines whether a screen feels like an intrusion or a service.

Marlow Nickell, co-founder and CEO of Grocery TV, stated in the accompanying press release: "The most effective in-store media strategies are built around the realities of how people actually shop. The formats shoppers respond to best deliver value in moments where shoppers are already engaged. When done thoughtfully, in-store media becomes part of the shopping experience rather than an interruption to it."

Andrew Lipsman, whose Media, Ads + Commerce consultancy co-published the study, said: "With national and regional grocers launching and expanding digital screen networks, in-store retail media is finally reaching a long-awaited inflection point. This research shows consumers are growing more receptive to in-store advertising, and that it can be overwhelmingly CX-positive for retailers. In fact, the majority of digital surfaces are either no-risk or low-risk - with store entrance, checkout, deli, and pharmacy among the highest performers."

For the marketing community, the data supports several practical conclusions. The gap between the top-tier and bottom-tier zones is large enough to suggest that network topology - which zones get screens first - has a real effect on consumer acceptance of the overall retailer brand. A rollout that starts with cooler screens and shelf blades will generate more friction than one that starts with entrance, checkout, and pharmacy. The report also suggests that brands running the same creative across all in-store placements are leaving performance on the table. Zone-specific creative, even if only modified at the copy level, is likely to outperform generic brand assets in this environment.

For agencies managing CPG budgets, the income and demographic breakdown in the report provides a segmentation basis for in-store creative strategy that most campaign planning does not currently use. High-earner households respond to different content than deal-seeking households, and the same screen can carry different messaging optimized for each.

Timeline

  • 2023 - Grocery TV conducts the first In-Store Shopper Perception study, establishing baseline favorability scores across key store zones.
  • September 18, 2024 - IAB and IAB Europe release first industry-wide in-store retail media measurement standards for public comment, covering store zone classification, measurement guidelines, and standardized ad formats.
  • March 26, 2025 - IAB Europe publishes updated retail media definitions covering on-site, off-site, and in-store digital retail media categories.
  • April 7, 2026 - In-Store Marketplace publishes a report finding the core measurement problem for in-store media is not technical capability but misaligned scorecards between brands, agencies, merchants, and networks.
  • April 16, 2026 - Grocery TV adds third-party sales lift measurement through a partnership with ABCS Insights, drawing on a 41 million-household panel.
  • May 20, 2026 - Raley's Companies and Grocery TV announce a partnership to operate an in-store retail media network across 208 stores in California, Nevada, and Arizona, expanding the Grocery TV network to over 6,700 stores.
  • March 2026 - Grocery TV conducts the 2026 In-Store Shopper Perception survey with 1,018 U.S. grocery shoppers across 15 store formats.
  • June 2, 2026 - Grocery TV and Andrew Lipsman of Media, Ads + Commerce co-publish the 2026 In-Store Shopper Perception Report, reporting a 62% purchase conversion rate from in-store screen advertising and net increases in shopper acceptance across all measured zones since 2023.

Summary

Who: Grocery TV, operating an in-store retail media network across 6,700+ grocery stores, and Andrew Lipsman, founder and independent analyst at Media, Ads + Commerce.

What: The 2026 In-Store Shopper Perception Report, a survey of 1,018 U.S. grocery shoppers covering 15 display formats across every major store zone, measuring positive, neutral, and negative sentiment toward in-store digital screens. Key findings include a 62% purchase conversion rate from in-store screen ads, a 22.5-point net increase in checkout zone acceptance since 2023, and a 2.5x brand consideration uplift when ads are contextually matched to the store environment.

When: The survey was conducted in March 2026. The report was published on June 2, 2026.

Where: The research covers U.S. grocery stores. Grocery TV operates across 6,700+ locations and describes its reach as covering 1 in 4 Americans. The report was published from New York City.

Why: Grocery TV conducts this research regularly to document how shopper sentiment toward in-store screens shifts over time, and to provide retailers and brands with data on which zones, formats, and content types generate acceptance versus friction. The 2026 edition shows a consistent increase in acceptance across all tested zones compared to the 2023 baseline, providing a data foundation for investment decisions in physical-store media networks at a time when the sector is expanding rapidly.