As European retailers chase in-store ad revenue, integrators have an opening to sell digital signage, anonymous audience measurement solutions and the software that ties it together.
Retailers have spent the past decade watching Amazon and Walmart turn their websites into advertising machines. Now they want the same trick to work on the store floor. In-store retail media, the practice of selling ad space on digital screens, shelf-edge displays, and even audio systems inside physical stores, is the fastest-growing corner of a market that Mordor Intelligence values at over $25 billion in 2026, with in-store advertising expanding at nearly double the rate of the online segment. For IT solutions providers who already sell POS, data collection, and networking, this is a chance to move from a one-time hardware sale into a recurring, revenue-sharing relationship with your retail customers.
Retailers want a second business model, not just a checkout
The pitch to your retail and hospitality customers is straightforward. Physical stores already have something online retailers spend billions chasing: attention from a shopper who is minutes from buying. Industry data cited in Rockbot’s 2026 Retail Media Trends report shows that 76% of purchases still happen in person, and in-store media spend in the US is forecast to grow by more than 30% a year through 2028. Brands and CPG suppliers already pay for that attention online. Give a retailer the infrastructure to sell it in-store, and you’ve created a second revenue stream that didn’t exist before you walked in the door.
None of this works without hardware and software that you’re already positioned to sell. Digital signage remains the anchor, and the category itself is growing at over 8% a year according to Mordor Intelligence, driven partly by retailers turning screens into ad inventory. A content management system that can schedule campaigns, rotate creative by time of day/month/year, and report proof of play is what turns a screen from a slideshow into something a brand will pay for. Layer in analytics cameras that count foot traffic and dwell time near a display, and you have the audience measurement data that advertisers actually want before they commit a budget.
The word “camera” makes some retailers nervous, and rightly so given how seriously GDPR treats anything resembling facial recognition. The good news for your sales conversations is that modern audience analytics cameras are built to avoid that problem entirely. On-device processing means the camera counts people, estimates broad demographic bands, and measures dwell time without ever storing an image or identifying an individual, which keeps the data anonymous and aggregate. As one recent breakdown of the compliance landscape put it, anonymous video analytics generally sits on the right side of GDPR as long as no personal data is stored or used to identify anyone, though posting clear notice that measurement is in use remains good practice. The European Data Protection Board has also sharpened its stance, clarifying in late 2025 that only on-device analytics qualify for the audience measurement exemption, which makes edge-processing hardware a genuine differentiator rather than a nice-to-have.
What this means for your margins
The real opportunity is not the hardware margin, though that helps. It is the shift from a capital project to an operating relationship. Once a retailer has screens, a CMS, and audience data flowing, you are the natural partner for managed services, covering content scheduling, uptime monitoring, campaign reporting, and hardware refreshes. Europe’s retail media spend is projected to nearly double by 2028, and the UK, France, and Germany are leading that growth, which means the window to establish yourself as the go-to integrator in a region or vertical is open now, before larger national players standardise the market.
This pitch also works across your existing verticals, not just grocery. A restaurant group can sell menu-board space to a beverage supplier. A field service or warehousing client with a retail counter can monetise a single screen near checkout. Education campuses with digital signage in cafeterias and common areas have the same audience-and-screen combination that advertisers want, just at a smaller scale. The common thread is that wherever you have already sold a screen, you likely have the foundation for a retail media conversation, and that conversation tends to be far easier once you can point to hard revenue numbers from another customer in a similar vertical.
How BlueStar can help you build this practice
Building an in-store retail media practice touches several product categories at once: digital signage, mounting and enclosures, edge computing, cameras, and networking. Sourcing all of it through a single distributor saves time and reduces integration risk. BlueStar’s solutions and insights hub brings together the hardware, software partnerships, and vertical expertise you need to scope a retail media project properly, whether your first customer is a single grocery chain testing a pilot screen or a hospitality group ready to roll out a network. If in-store retail media is a category you want to add to your line card, that is a good place to start the conversation.