Walmart is expanding how brands can advertise their products to customers, as are other companies with large physical presences, like Target and Kroger. For US in-store customers, this might result in a bombardment of advertising. 

Although, this does make for a breath of fresh air. The decision for retailers to lean into their brick-and-mortar locations as new potential platforms to bring in advertisement revenue from brands is a huge contrast following  a decade of increased digital advertising. 

Nevertheless, in-store media this time around sees different strategies than the truly old-school methods used decades ago. Instead of cardboard cutouts at the end of aisles or big blown-up signs promoting sale items, in-store promotions today can look more digital and dynamic. 

According to a press release, Walmart is planning on expanding its in-store demos from 120 stores to 1,000 by the end of the year. The supermarket giant has pursued more digital-forward ways to advertise in stores for years now. The company already promotes third-party advertisements on digital screens, TVs, and self-checkout registers. Now, it’s testing in-person demos in a beta test across a handful of stores, as first reported by CNBC. 

The company will also be offering ad spots on its radio station, Walmart Radio, for the first time, which advertisers can use to promote products by region or store. 

This decision makes sense with retailers’ in-store audiences being, on average, 84% bigger than their digital audience. For supermarkets like Walmart who boasts 200 million in-person shoppers every month, instore advertisements are likely to bring great revenue to advertisers.