Convenience retail media can “supercharge” brand recall by four times compared to campaigns in larger stores due to shopper frequency and the “unique” c-store format, according to new data from Co-op.

The global-first attention study released by Co-op Media Network (CMN) today (25 February), in partnership with tech company Lumen Research, looks to show the recall power of advertising in a convenience retail setting.

CMN hypothesised that due to the grocer’s smaller store sizes, formats and high shopper frequency, advertising messages within convenience stores would be seen and recalled by more people, more often.

In a convenience store, the presence of mixed category aisles also leads to customers encountering a wide variety of advertisements within the same space.

The Lumen Research methodology involved shoppers navigating either a small or large Co-op store, on a BBQ shopping mission – engaging with a mixture of categories including protein, produce, frozen, ambient and BWS – while wearing unobtrusive eye-tracking glasses.

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The devices monitored what the shoppers were viewing, the duration of their gaze and retinal movements, and according to the firm, provided “precise” insights into what the shoppers were observing and offered an understanding of which advertisements were within their peripheral vision.

It also assessed viewability and opportunities to see, indicating instances where advertisements could have been seen without direct focus. When leaving the stores, shoppers were tested on brand recall and completed brand choice surveys.

The results indicated that larger stores do generate brand-building with shoppers. However, when comparing smaller Co-op stores to larger-format stores, attention and recall were significantly enhanced in the convenience setting.

The data also revealed that a shopper who walks into a c-store has twice the visibility of the advertising, triple the attention and quadruple brand recall compared to a large store.

Co-op chief membership and customer officer Kenyatte Nelson said: “Traditionally, in-store advertising has been viewed by media buyers as a pure sales activation tool that was great for last-minute promotions but not for brand-building. However, this groundbreaking evidence now spotlights retail media, especially in a convenience setting, as one of the most powerful brand recall tools.

“The results from the Lumen Research study showcase the unmatched impact of Co-op’s small-format convenience stores and the findings position in-store advertising as a dual-purpose channel, driving both short-term sales and long-term brand growth.”