Target Weighs In-Store Ad Screens, But Shoppers Come First

Sixty percent of Target shoppers who use the retailer's app and mobile website inside its stores already see Roundel's ads on their phones, according to Jenny Holleran, vice president of Roundel's partner solutions group. That single figure explains why Target is in no rush to hang digital ad screens from its ceilings.

Holleran spoke at an event for Target's advertising partners held last week in New York, run by the retailer's Roundel media network. During a Q&A session, executives were asked what role the physical Target store will play in the next generation of retail media. The answer: reach shoppers in stores through the screens they already hold in their hands.

Holleran said the way for brands to reach shoppers in stores is to run ads on Target's e-commerce platforms. Those ads are viewed by 60% of Target's shoppers who use the app and mobile website while shopping in the store, she said.

Is Target ruling out in-store screens?

No. A top ad leader at the retailer said Target is looking into putting digital screens in stores. The caveat matters more than the screens: any rollout has to work in a way that wouldn't disrupt the customer experience, the executive said.

That framing puts Target on the cautious end of the in-store retail media spectrum. Retailers across the sector have been testing screens at shelves, end caps and checkout lanes as they chase ad dollars beyond their websites. Target's position, as stated at the New York event, is that the phone in the shopper's hand is already a proven ad surface.

Why the phone-first approach adds up

The 60% figure is the story. If most app-using shoppers inside a Target store already see Roundel ads on mobile, brands get in-store reach without Target touching its walls, aisles or ceilings. The math favors digital inventory over hardware, at least for now.

It also matches how Target sells Roundel to partners: as a media network that follows the shopper from the app to the aisle, not as a network that rebuilds the aisle into ad space.

What happens next

Target hasn't announced screen deployments, formats or a timeline. What it has done, per its own executives at the Roundel event, is draw the boundary: in-store digital advertising must not disrupt the customer experience. Until screens clear that bar, the mobile app and website remain the retailer's in-store ad platform — and 60% of shoppers using them in the aisles suggests that platform is already delivering.

The takeaway: Target treats the shopper's phone as its in-store screen, and any physical screens will have to earn their place.