With 85% of revenue transacting in-store, why obsess over the 15% who just ‘unsubscribe’?
.png)
Let’s talk about the "Digital Halo." You know the one. For the last decade, we’ve been told that if it isn’t happening digitally, it’s basically prehistoric.
We’ve poured billions into on-site banners and off-site retargeting because they were the "easy wins." They gave us dashboards, granular targeting, and the comforting (if sometimes inflated) glow of attribution. Meanwhile, in-store media, the physical space where Aussies choose to spend their time, was treated like the awkward younger sibling at the retail media dinner table. Useful for background noise, maybe, but not invited to the strategy sessions.
But here is the reality check: For all the digital hype, Australians still prefer the real world.
A massive 80–85% of retail revenue still flows through physical registers. (1)
With 76% of Australian shoppers hitting a physical store at least once a month, it’s clear that while the internet is great for browsing, the pavement is still doing the heavy lifting. We’ve been obsessing over the 15% of the revenue pie while the other 85% was sitting in-store, waiting to be spoken to.
The "Silent" Era of In-Store is Over
Historically, the hesitation around in-store media was fair. It was "dark." You couldn't track it, you couldn't pivot quickly, and you certainly couldn't measure ROI with the precision of a Facebook ad.
With 20 years in media and 13 in the audio space, I’ve spent the last five years at QSIC working alongside a team dedicated to bringing in-store Retail Media out of the 'dark ages' and into the data-driven present.
The industry is waking up to the power of physical environments. We are no longer just "playing music” or targeting ads BMAD, at QSIC we are focused on deploying sophisticated, data-driven audio ecosystems that deliver the capability of digital in a non-digital environment.
Why Audio is the MVP of the "Physical" Comeback
For decades, broadcast radio has been a cornerstone of retail campaigns. Brands invest in it because they just know it works — it drives awareness, it creates urgency, and it moves product. The logic has always been sound, even when the measurement wasn't.
In-store audio operates on that same proven intuition, but the similarity ends there. What separates it from broadcast and from every other in-store media channel is the precision and performance accountability that now sits behind it.
Three things separate it from every other in-store channel right now:
- Data-driven planning. Built on real store-level intelligence including POS trends, product velocity, and shopper behaviour by hour and store, campaigns can now be designed, simulated, and packaged before a single ad goes live. No guesswork, no waste.
- Smart targeting. AI generates targeting based on the outcomes you want, optimising down to the individual store, day, and hour. The right message reaches the right shopper at precisely the right moment, and the platform keeps refining throughout the campaign flight.
- Closed-loop attribution. In-store audio can now prove its impact with confidence. Ad exposure is connected directly to in-store transactions using a patented measurement method, delivering the shortest attribution window of any channel in retail media. In fact, the shortest in any media, full stop.
Are You Following the Data or the Herd?
If your retail media strategy is 90% digital or following your gut you aren’t being "forward-thinking" you’re missing the party. You’re shouting into a digital void where 15% of the money lives, while ignoring the 85% of people standing in your aisles with their wallets out.
At QSIC, we’ve spent years perfecting the science of what people hear when they shop. We’ve moved past the "background music" era into an era of high-fidelity, high-ROI retail media.
The infrastructure is ready. The measurement is here. The audience never left.
The question is: Is your brand actually being heard, or are you just part of the noise?
Sources
Inside Retail, 2024 Retail Insights and Shopper Sentiment Report
Australian Bureau of Statistics, Retail Trade, Australia
Nielsen, Audio Listening Trends Report
IAB Australia, Retail Media State of the Nation 2024
.png)
