In-Store Media
Part of In-store commerce media
Reviewing audio and screen delivery evidence
Check bookings, playback records, equipment status and audience estimates without treating an ad play as proof of attention.
Compare in-store audio and screen delivery against the booking, playback records and equipment operating evidence. Assess audience estimates separately. A play log alone does not prove shoppers saw or heard the advert.
Establish the booked baseline
Keep the final booking and creative record together. Log stores or store groups, zones, dates, hours, creative IDs, message lengths, planned rotation and exclusions. Retain the effective date of any change so the report is compared with the plan in force at the time.
For screens, ask about loop length, the advert’s share of that loop and displaced slots. For audio, ask which stores and speaker zones are included and how the timetable accounts for opening hours. A store-wide schedule does not prove audibility in every part of the store.
Follow the evidence chain
| Evidence | Request where available | What it cannot establish alone |
|---|---|---|
| Booking | Agreed locations, dates and creative | That the advert ran. |
| Playback record | Plays by creative, location and time | That a display or sound system worked as intended. |
| Operating record | Device or audio-system status and outages | That shoppers noticed the message. |
| Audience method | Traffic source, exposure zone and calculation inputs | Individual attention or recall. |
Ask what evidence beyond a media-player log supports reported screen delivery. Ask the seller to define the dashboard measures and explain how each is calculated.
A photograph may confirm a creative or physical position at one moment. It cannot replace flight-wide playback and operating records. If only aggregate delivery is available, ask what locations and dates it covers and state what cannot be reconciled.
Reconcile exceptions
Compare booked and recorded delivery at the same location and time level where possible. Check missing logs, equipment outages, store closures, audio-system exceptions and creative substitutions. Record affected locations, dates, evidence and the treatment of each interval in the final figures. Do not silently count an unverified interval as delivered.
If an opportunity-to-see estimate is provided, ask for its traffic, zone, timing and share-of-voice assumptions. It describes potential exposure, not confirmed viewing or listening. IAB Europe’s September 2026 revisions remained proposals open for comment as at 30 September, so confirm the retailer’s actual reporting definition.
Where the data permits, report three separately labelled figures: booked activity, verified delivery and estimated opportunity to see. Give any sales result its own product, store and period definitions. This keeps delivery, audience opportunity and commercial outcome distinct.
Key Metrics for In-Store Media Verification
- Booked Activity
- Defined by final booking and creative records
- Verified Delivery
- Confirmed via playback and operating records
- Opportunity to See
- Estimated based on traffic, zone and share-of-voice assumptions
