Good morning from Retail Media Age HQ,
Convenience retail media is getting a bit of a spotlight this week – or at least, that’s how it feels from where I’m sitting.
Firstly, Morrisons Media Group (MMG) – an internal media agency at Morrisons established in partnership with SMG – announced that Morrisons supermarket would be expanding its retail media proposition to encompass more than 1,700 convenience stores alongside its existing supermarket store estate.
Morrisons first launched its retail media proposition at its annual Supplier Conference in September 2022, with plans to draw on loyalty card and ecommerce data to help brands tailor campaigns to its customers.
Morrisons’ store estate is made up of close to 500 supermarket locations but more than three times as many Morrisons Daily convenience stores, so this represents a huge expansion of the locations available to advertisers. The news release notes that the convenience market in the UK is forecast to reach £56.2bn by 2030, up from £49.2bn in 2025, and that convenience shopping visits have increased by 5% year-on-year according to Lumina Intelligence.
Because convenience shopping is a different type of behaviour from, say, a bigger supermarket shop, part of the news focuses on the fact that advertisers will be able to tailor their campaigns to different formats and thus different shopping missions rather than trying to take a ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach.
An interview this week on RMA in which Editor-in-Chief Justin Pearse spoke to Dan Best, the newly-minted VP Commercial at The Corner Collective, also underscored this opportunity: Best pointed out that, “When shoppers walk into a supermarket, they usually have an established basket in mind. In a local convenience store, visits are short, frequent, and marked by an open mindset. People walk in to solve an immediate need or grab an impulse item, and they are far more receptive to trying something new.”
Because baskets aren’t “locked down”, Best went on, there are genuine opportunities for mental availability and brand trial – and in the world of physical retail, point-of-purchase retail media can also be the “last physical touchpoint” available to nudge behaviour before a sale.
As its name implies, The Corner Collective is an alliance of retailers who operate in the convenience space, including the likes of Nisa, Premier, Spar, and Family Shopper. TGJones, which operates many high street branches formerly under the WHSmith retail brand, is also in the collective, adding books and stationery to the mix of offerings.
By banding together, the retailers are aiming to solve operational friction and fragmentation, making it easier for buyers to buy across their extended store network. Best also pointed out that brands may have an easier time reaching new, younger consumers through convenience retail, as Generation Z and Gen Alpha are likely to buy on impulse rather than having a systematic list.
Earlier this year, RMA also spoke to Austin Leonard, VP and General Manager of DG Media Network, the retail media network behind Dollar General stores in the US. Leonard said of the opportunity in convenience retail, “We’re not just reaching shoppers; we’re reaching them in moments that truly matter, when purchase decisions are being made under real-world constraints like budget, time and accessibility.
“For brands, this translates into highly actionable engagement. Our customers shop frequently and with intent, which allows us to drive consistent, measurable outcomes.”
As few convenience retailers have an ecommerce offering, the opportunity is largely in-store, which could be seen as a more challenging proposition for retail media (though, Coop Norge for one can speak to how this can work in practice). But to hear convenience retailers tell it, there’s a lot of promise there.
