Retail media has become one of the fastest-growing channels in advertising. Retailers are monetizing websites, apps, sponsored search, off-site programmatic and, increasingly, in-store screens. Yet one channel remains consistently overlooked, despite sitting at the exact moment of purchase: in-store audio.
This is not because audio is ineffective. In fact, research consistently shows the opposite. The real reason audio has lagged behind is structural, and that structure has now fundamentally changed.
Audio Works — but Retail Media has Ignored it
Multiple studies show that in-store audio commands attention and influences purchasing behavior. Shoppers are already tuned in when they enter a store, and audio reaches them without competing for screen space or visual attention. And yet, while retail media budgets continue to grow rapidly, less than 1% of spend is allocated to in-store audio. That gap isn’t a failure of performance. It’s a failure of execution.
Why In-Store Audio Fell Behind
For years, in-store audio simply couldn’t operate like a modern media channel. Historically, in-store audio was built on legacy infrastructure:
- Hardware-based systems
- Third-party music providers
- Manual updates
- Static playlists
These systems were designed for background ambience, not for retail media, personalization or monetization.
At the same time, every other in-store channel evolved:
- Screens became digital
- Media buying became programmatic
- Creative became dynamic and data-driven
Audio didn’t fall behind because it lacked value, it fell behind because it lacked the tools to scale at retail speed.
Retailers are Now in Control — Audio is Next
Today, retailers are firmly in control of their media environments. They manage placements, content, data, and monetization across their ecosystems. Audio is now the last analogue channel in an otherwise digital retail media stack and that makes it the next obvious opportunity.
The shift enabling this change is simple but profound: In-store audio is moving from hardware to software. Just as software replaced static signage and manual media buying, it is now replacing legacy audio systems, unlocking speed, flexibility and scale for the first time.
Three Immediate Opportunities for Retailers
These opportunities span both retailer-owned marketing budgets and retail media monetization, all enabled by the same underlying shift in how audio is produced and activated.
- Personalized audio to drive shoppers into stores.
Retailers are not just media owners, they are also some of the largest advertisers in their own right. One of their biggest challenges is driving shoppers into the right stores, at the right time, with messaging that reflects local reality. This is where personalized audio becomes a powerful performance channel for retailer-owned marketing budgets.Retailers, their agencies and ad tech partners can now create highly localized and personalized audio and audio-for-video creative that adapts to:
- Store location
- Local promotions and inventory
- Language, accent, and cultural context
- Time of day, season, or eventAnd deploy it across:
- Digital audio
- CTV and social video
- Radio and TV
Because this creative is automated, campaigns move at retail speed, not production speed. Messaging can change as often as offers change.
Personalization isn’t a “nice to have” here. It’s the difference between being ignored and being relevant. For retailers looking to drive footfall, store visits and local performance, personalized audio turns their own marketing spend into a far more effective acquisition tool.
We’re already seeing this approach deliver tangible results. In one recent U.S. eyewear retail campaign, thousands of personalized audio ads were generated automatically to promote local store availability and offers, driving stronger engagement and performance by aligning messaging with real-world context.
When personalization is applied at scale, audio becomes one of the most effective tools retailers have to drive store visits and local demand.
- Programmable in-store audio experiences.
Once shoppers are in-store, audio becomes part of the customer experience. What was once static background music can now be transformed into a programmable, centrally managed experience layer. Every store can have:
- Store-specific messaging
- Time-based promotions
- Weekly or seasonal updates
- Event-driven call-outsAll of these can be controlled centrally and updated automatically. This turns in-store audio from passive ambience into an active, relevant channel that supports both customer experience and commercial goals without increasing operational complexity
- Monetized in-store audio as retail media.
For retail media networks, this is the most significant unlock. Historically, in-store audio was difficult to monetize because creative production did not scale. Each campaign required bespoke work, long lead times and high costs. Automation removes that bottleneck.With scalable audio production:
- Ads can be created in seconds, not weeks
- The barrier to entry for advertisers drops significantly
- More brands can be onboarded
- Audio becomes a true point-of-sale retail media placementThis allows in-store audio to finally operate like any other retail media channel — planned, activated, updated and scaled across hundreds or thousands of stores.
Why this Moment Matters
Retail media has largely focused on reach. In-store audio delivers influence. It reaches shoppers when they are already in buying mode, at the shelf, in the aisle, at the moment decisions are made. As automation removes production constraints, audio can finally operate like a modern channel, rather than a static background layer.
Audio is No Longer Background – it’s Infrastructure
The most important shift isn’t better voices or better sound quality. It’s automation.
When audio becomes software-driven:
- Creative scales effortlessly
- Relevance increases
- Monetization becomes viable
Retailers that modernize in-store audio now won’t just improve experience, they’ll unlock a new layer of retail media and marketing value. In-store audio has always worked. Now, it’s finally ready to scale
Silke Zetzsche serves as VP of Global Commercial Partnerships at AudioStack and is a senior commercial leader with 16 years’ experience across advertising, media and creative technology. She is expert in building and executing go-to-market and commercial strategies for innovative ad tech businesses, with particular depth in personalization, audio and AI-led creative use cases. Zetzsche has a track record of operating at the forefront of creative ad tech innovation, translating emerging technology into scalable, revenue-driving solutions. She is known for combining strategic clarity with creative thinking and strong, energetic leadership, and is a CTI-trained life coach with extensive experience mentoring individuals and commercial teams as well as a public speaker, facilitator and body safety awareness advocate, featured across leading industry publications.
