When DOUGLAS Marketing Solutions launched in 2019, the goal wasn’t just to build a retail media network (RMN). It was to build the RMN for premium beauty – one that could guide millions of shoppers across nine European markets in making purchase decisions and seamlessly connect online influence with in-store decision making.

Today, DOUGLAS Marketing Solutions is setting the benchmark for omnichannel retail media, and their in-store digital network is proving a core engine behind that success. Powered by the Broadsign Platform, DOUGLAS Marketing Solutions’ omnichannel RMN offering is transforming beauty aisles into a measurable, high-impact media channel. They’re not only elevating brand visibility but also strengthening shopper engagement and setting a new standard for in-store retail media.

A retail media powerhouse ready for its next frontier

With 1,970 stores, a category-leading eCommerce platform, and over 60 million Beauty Card members, DOUGLAS Marketing Solutions had everything it needed to deliver a true omnichannel experience. But there was one missing piece: a dynamic in-store media layer that could match the precision, speed, and transparency of digital, from online and mobile, to social and email.

The brands they work with were increasingly expressing interest in influencing consumers at the point of purchase while shoppers were asking for more guidance in a high-choice, premium environment. DOUGLAS Marketing Solutions responded by working to unify the entire journey, from online discovery to in-store purchases, with measurable, data-driven impact. The vision was clear: bring digital intelligence to the shelf and elevate the beauty shopper experience.

The turning point: Choosing the right partner to bring the vision to life

As DOUGLAS Marketing Solutions prepared to modernize its in-store media offering for brands by adding digital screens, one thing became apparent. They’d need the right technology partner to determine how quickly and confidently their team could scale the vision across nine European markets. 

Finding a digital signage software provider who understood the complexity of retail media was a priority. The ideal technology partner also needed to have a firm grasp on the expectations of premium beauty brands and DOUGLAS Marketing Solutions’ ambition for a truly unified omnichannel network. 

In searching for a solution, DOUGLAS Marketing Solutions found that most platforms could manage screens. Far fewer could support the speed, transparency, and enterprise rigor they needed. Only Broadsign demonstrated a willingness to co-create a solution tailored to DOUGLAS Marketing Solutions’ RMN strategy. 

Broadsign provided the technical backbone to power a dynamic, multi-market in-store network, but just as importantly, they showed a genuine investment in DOUGLAS Marketing Solutions’  long-term vision. From KPI transparency to enterprise-grade scalability and seamless programmatic advertising readiness, the Broadsign Platform aligned perfectly with DOUGLAS Marketing Solutions’ standard for innovation and operational excellence.

“Broadsign stood out as the partner of choice. Beyond their robust technology and broad functionality, what convinced us was their genuine interest in understanding our business needs and co-creating the right approach for our in-store vision. Their platform provides the flexibility, scalability, and accountability required to bring our omnichannel retail media strategy to life,” said Charina Lumley, Managing Director, DOUGLAS Marketing Solutions GmbH.

With Broadsign, DOUGLAS Marketing Solutions adopted more than a digital signage solution. They gained a partner capable of evolving with them, supporting the ambitions of a retail media business built for long-term, international scale.

Bringing the vision to life: Precision, agility, and real-time impact

Since launching their digital in-store network, DOUGLAS Marketing Solutions has redefined how beauty brands show up at the shelf. What began as a vision to modernize the in-store experience has evolved into a fast, data-driven, and highly collaborative media channel — powered by the Broadsign Platform.

Their teams described the shift as moving from manual, fragmented, and time-intensive workflows to an environment where campaigns can be planned, launched, and measured with the speed and clarity expected of modern retail media. Here’s how it was achieved:

1. Campaign planning is fast, consistent, and frictionless

Before digitizing in-store advertising, campaign planning required extensive coordination among brand teams, internal departments, and local markets – often resulting in delays and inconsistencies.

With the Broadsign Platform, DOUGLAS Marketing Solutions now has: 

• A unified and real-time view of available inventory
• Automated workflows that eliminate back-and-forth on feasibility checks
• Consistent pricing, packaging, and delivery logic across countries
• A planning experience that mirrors how partners buy media in other digital channels. 

By streamlining workflows, DOUGLAS Marketing Solutions can now move from proposal to activation far more quickly, creating a predictable and efficient experience for both their team and brand partners.

2. Content management is instantaneous and built for retail

One of the biggest culture shifts DOUGLAS Marketing Solutions has experienced since adopting the Broadsign Platform is consistent speed. It enhances flexibility, enabling DOUGLAS Marketing Solutions to deliver more timely messaging that benefits both shoppers and brand partners. Content can now be: 

• Activated or paused within minutes
• Localized at scale across markets, regions, or individual stores
• Optimized mid-flight based on product availability, promotions, or store priorities 

This agility allows DOUGLAS Marketing Solutions to align in-store messaging with fast-moving beauty trends, supplier campaigns, and omnichannel initiatives, which would have previously been difficult with a basic digital setup or limited static signage.

3. Targeting is smarter, more meaningful, and rooted in real shopper context

For the DOUGLAS Marketing Solutions team, ensuring that the right message hits the right shopper in the right setting has always been a core focus. Using Broadsign’s criteria-based rules, DOUGLAS Marketing Solutions can automatically target by:

• Store tier or format
• Screen type and position
• Category adjacency
• Time of day 
• Priority product focus

The technology ensures their digital screens deliver contextual messaging that highlights hero products in premium stores, aligns with category zones, and adapts based on local shopper profiles. The result is far more premium, relevant brand experiences. 

4. Reporting is transparent, credible, and built to prove impact

For DOUGLAS Marketing Solutions and its brands, accountability was essential in the decision-making process. Reporting had to be straightforward and transparent to demonstrate to brands clear evidence of delivery, justifying their investment in omnichannel retail media. 

Broadsign’s APIs enabled that. DOUGLAS Marketing Solutions can now feed those APIs to their custom reporting platform to gain comprehensive, real-time insights into how their in-store screens drive business outcomes. With over 100 active API integrations, Broadsign is one of the most open and flexible platforms in the industry, giving DOUGLAS Marketing Solutions the control and transparency required to measure, optimize, and scale their in-store campaigns with confidence.

To meet advertiser demand for comprehensive, real-time data on campaign performance, the team opted to deploy Broadsign’s CMS and Guaranteed Campaigns. The choice has unlocked:

• Verified proof-of-play
• Transparent delivery reporting
• The ability to connect exposure with product performance
• Insights that help refine future campaigns 

The result

A connected media ecosystem where in-store, onsite, CRM, and open-internet campaigns reinforce each other — not operate in silos. DOUGLAS Marketing Solutions now runs its in-store media strategy while upholding the same precision and measurement standards as its digital channels. 

Brands have already noticed the impact of DOUGLAS Marketing Solutions’ in-store retail media network. With richer audience and campaign insights, faster turnaround, and the ability to influence shoppers at the moment of decision, more advertisers are leaning in. 

Demand is surging, repeat bookings continue to grow, and omnichannel briefs are expanding. DOUGLAS Marketing Solutions is tapping into a new level of marketing sophistication inside the store. 

Scaling with confidence: A roadmap for the future

DOUGLAS Marketing Solutions’ ambition doesn’t stop at the migration. The team plans to expand their in-store capabilities, strengthen data integrations, and evolve towards even more personalized, real-time relevance at the shelf. With Broadsign as a foundational partner, DOUGLAS Marketing Solutions is on track to set the gold standard for omnichannel retail media in Europe.

Their advice to other retailers

“Be strategic with your tech stack. Avoid the Frankenstack. Choose partners, like Broadsign, who listen, evolve with you, and help build a long-term vision.” – Charina Lumley, Managing Director, DOUGLAS Marketing Solutions GmbH

The takeaway 

If you’re looking to build or scale your in-store media network, DOUGLAS Marketing Solutions’ success proves one thing: When you pair a strong retail brand with the right technology partner, in-store can become one of your most powerful revenue and relationship-driving channels.

With Broadsign powering their network, DOUGLAS Marketing Solutions is reimagining their stores, turning them into high-performance media touchpoints that deliver measurable results, from driving shopper clarity and brand confidence to generating commercial impact. 

Broadsign’s platform provides the flexibility, reliability, and scalability that the DOUGLAS Marketing Solutions group needs to plan, activate, and optimize campaigns across nine markets – proving that, with the right tools, in-store media can become one of a retailer’s most effective revenue and relationship-driving channels. 

Retail is no longer defined by individual channels, as consumers move seamlessly between digital and physical environments, they expect a connected, consistent experience at every touchpoint.

Omnichannel retail connects ecommerce, mobile, marketplaces, and physical stores into a single, seamless experience across the customer journey. Shoppers can browse on their phones, check local inventory, receive personalized offers, and complete purchases in-store with consistent pricing and messaging. For retailers, this means unifying customer experience, data, and operations to improve engagement, build loyalty, and drive efficiency.

With 80% of shopping still happening in-store, physical retail continues to play a central role across North America. Rather than just another channel, it acts as a high-impact environment that amplifies the entire retail media mix.

The evolving role of in-store in an omnichannel RMN

As retailers advance their omnichannel strategies, digital channels have taken the lead, driven by stronger targeting, measurement, and automation. At the same time, the physical store is evolving from a point of transaction into a critical moment where digital intent turns into real-world action.

This shift is reflected in retailer priorities, with 46% focused on enhancing omnichannel experiences and 36% investing in loyalty programs to deliver more personalized value, signalling a push to better align data, touchpoints, and customer interactions.

In-store environments sit closest to purchase, where messaging can directly influence decisions from discovery to conversion. Yet they often remain disconnected from broader retail media efforts, limiting true omnichannel alignment.

When fully integrated, in-store media strengthens the entire strategy. It reinforces digital messaging, creates a more consistent experience, and engages shoppers at the moments that matter most. By linking in-store environments with signals like online behaviour, purchase history, and audience data, retailers can move from isolated tactics to coordinated, full-funnel execution across onsite, offsite, and in-store.

Technology and data are transforming in-store media

Technology and data are transforming in-store media into a more measurable, responsive, and connected part of the retail media ecosystem. Real-time analytics enable retailers to adjust messaging, promotions, and placements based on live shopper behaviour, while dynamic content adapts to context like time of day, location, and audience signals.

Tools like dwell time analysis help identify high- and low-engagement zones, optimizing store layouts and improving both the customer experience and campaign performance. At the same time, more immersive formats, including touchscreens and augmented reality, are increasing engagement, turning stores into active media environments.

The real impact comes from how these capabilities are connected. By combining in-store signals with online behaviour, purchase history, and customer data, retailers can build a more complete view of the customer. This enables more precise targeting, stronger value for brand partners, and coordinated campaign execution across channels, while improving measurement and tying digital engagement to in-store outcomes.

In-store drives more RMN revenue

In-store media expands both what retailers can sell and how they sell it. It introduces new, high-intent inventory within owned environments, from digital screens in high-traffic areas to placements tied to specific aisles, categories, and products. Unlike traditional digital formats, this inventory sits at the point of decision, where budgets are often larger and tied more directly to sales outcomes.

It also enables more commercial, retailer-driven monetization models. Beyond standard ad placements, retailers can package sponsored product campaigns, category exclusivity, and seasonal takeovers that align with merchandising priorities. In-store media can also be used to drive private-label visibility, turning media into a lever for margin, not just ad revenue.

Where this becomes more powerful is in how it’s packaged. On its own, in-store is valuable. But when bundled with onsite and offsite media, it allows retailers to move from selling placements to selling outcomes. Campaigns can be positioned around influencing the full path to purchase, which supports larger, more strategic investments from brand partners.

It also changes the economics of measurement. With in-store in the mix, retailers can connect media exposure to actual transactions, strengthening closed-loop attribution and making performance easier to prove. This is increasingly critical as brands scrutinize retail media spend and shift budgets toward channels that demonstrate real impact.

Without in-store, RMNs risk becoming overly reliant on digital formats that are easier to compare and commoditize. With it, they can differentiate through exclusive access to shoppers, richer data, and the ability to influence and measure outcomes at the shelf.

Practical steps to activate in-store in an omnichannel strategy

Operationalizing in-store media within an omnichannel RMN requires the right foundation across data, infrastructure, and activation.

• Invest in integrated data platforms: Consolidate in-store and digital data to create a unified customer view. Connecting in-store interactions, online behaviour, and purchase history supports better targeting, measurement, and planning, while aligning online, merchant, and retail media teams around shared performance.

• Upgrade in-store media infrastructure: Ensure your store environment can support dynamic, scalable media. This includes deploying digital signage and screen networks that can deliver flexible, real-time content across locations and formats.

• Implement advanced analytics tools: Use analytics to understand how shoppers move, engage, and convert in-store. Insights like dwell time, traffic patterns, and product interaction can inform both media strategy and store optimization.

• Enable programmatic buying and activation: Integrate in-store inventory into programmatic workflows so buyers can plan, purchase, and activate campaigns alongside other channels. Retailers can activate specific parts of the store (like POS systems, vestibule screens, or gas pumps) to support programmatic demand without introducing competing or misaligned brands. This reduces friction while maintaining control over the in-store experience and aligning with how media is bought today.

• Continuously monitor and optimize performance: Treat in-store media like any other performance channel. Track results in real time, measure against business outcomes, and refine campaigns based on what is driving engagement and sales.

In-store is the foundation of omnichannel

Omnichannel success depends on connecting every touchpoint into a single, cohesive system, including the store. The path forward is clear: treat in-store as media, not infrastructure. Integrate it into your retail media strategy, connect it to your data and buying workflows, and package it alongside digital channels. Retailers that do this will unlock new revenue, stronger performance, and a more differentiated offering.

Ready to make your in-store signage a seamless part of your RMN? Learn more about how Broadsign can help you unlock the full value of your in-store presence.