Co-op is to roll out 300 new front-of-store digital media screens to boost its retail media offer.

The new investment has been made in partnership with independent retail media operator SMG, and will increase the convenience retailer‘s total number of screens across its 2,400 stores to 9,300.

They will be placed at either the entrance to the store, in the store foyer, or in a window close to the entrance.

The screens will be concentrated in areas with the highest footfall, including in Greater London, Greater Manchester ,and North Yorkshire, with a target of 24 stores to go live each week until January 2025.

The new front-of-store media touch points come amid the Co-op Media Network’s (CMN) wider target to expand its digital capabilities and allow FMCG brands to increase their engagement across the retailer’s stores.

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Alongside its current kiosk and customer-facing screens at manned tills, the new media touch points will give brands the opportunity to work with CMN on in-store campaigns and focus on its key missions; food-to-go, food-for-later and treat occasions.

Co-op Food managing director Matt Hood said: “We’re the experts in convenience, and given our unparalleled shopper footfall, we want brands that invest with us to realise that retail media spend in Co-op stores can yield significant results that can importantly be measured, with a consistent return on investment across the board.”

“The digital screen roll out has been designed to utilise Co-op’s superpower as a media owner, with a store in every postal code area we’re primed to deliver on reach and our high frequency of shoppers ensures that brands gain maximum visibility. Our investment into digital screens solidifies Co-op Media Network’s position as the UK’s largest and leading media owner in the convenience sector.”

Co-op’s new digital media expansion follows its launch of the UK’s first convenience retail media network earlier this year, in a bid to improve advertising relevancy for shoppers and help brands reach wider audiences.