On-site, off-site or in-store: comparing retail media routes for one England case

This comparison covers on-site, off-site and in-store retail media routes for one England case. It uses common evidence, cost, control and exit fields.

A buyer should compare every route against one approved product, customer task, advertiser exchange, England context and period. This comparison names public providers and platforms, but it does not test or recommend them. Research was completed on 6 September 2026 from the cited public records.

Exact costs, audience, availability, performance and buyer thresholds remain unknown. Where public figures exist, they appear as labelled typical ranges with units and the drivers behind them.

What to take away

The common case

Assume an England retailer is considering one paid placement for an approved product. The advertiser has supplied a factual claim file and creative.

The customer should recognise the advert, see accurate product and price information, retain a usable privacy choice and complete the same accessible shopping task. Only synthetic or specifically authorised events may enter the comparison test.

Named public on-site routes include Tesco Media and Insight Platform, powered by Dunnhumby, which uses Clubcard data from around 20 million UK households. Sainsbury's Nectar360 uses Nectar data from around 18 million UK households. Boots Media Group draws on Advantage Card data from around 17 million members.

Asda Media Centre uses Asda Rewards data from around 6 million users. Co-op Media Network uses Co-op Membership data from around 5 million members.

Off-site options include Criteo, Epsilon Retail Media, The Trade Desk, Meta Ads Manager and Google Ads. Criteo's Commerce Media Platform runs on-site and off-site campaigns for retailers and brands. Epsilon Retail Media (formerly CitrusAd) supplies retail media technology to retailers.

The Trade Desk buys off-site inventory and supports UID2 identity. Meta Ads Manager runs off-site campaigns on Facebook and Instagram, often with retailer data in clean rooms. Google Ads runs off-site search and display campaigns, with retailer data matched in clean rooms.

In-store routes include Boots Media Group, ClearChannel UK, JCDecaux UK, Asda Media Centre and Morrisons Media. ClearChannel UK operates digital screens in supermarket and mall sites. JCDecaux UK runs digital screens in shopping centres and retail locations. Boots Media Group and Asda Media Centre also sell in-store screen space.

IAB UK's category page divides retail media into on-site, off-site and in-store environments. Its off-site definition describes retailer data used to buy inventory outside the retailer's shopping platforms, sometimes through agencies or platforms. These are industry descriptions, not evidence of rights, availability or results for this case.

Compare identical fields

The current route is not assumed to be free or safe. Record its labour, defects, missing data and contractual constraints in the same units.

On evidence, Tesco Media and Insight Platform and Sainsbury's Nectar360 publish on-site measurement. Criteo and Epsilon Retail Media provide off-site reporting. ClearChannel UK and JCDecaux UK supply in-store delivery data.

On cost, on-site sponsored product clicks typically cost £0.30 to £1.50. Off-site programmatic CPMs typically run from £5 to £20 per thousand impressions. In-store screen CPMs typically run from £10 to £30.

On control, the retailer controls on-site placement and data access. The platform or agency controls off-site inventory. The retailer or screen operator controls in-store creative and staff operations.

On exit, an on-site insertion order states the notice period before the campaign can stop and the data export window. Off-site platform terms state how audiences and identifiers are switched off at the end of the campaign. In-store contracts state the creative removal date and the date the screen or audio slot returns to the operator.

Worked example for this England case. The current route is an on-site sponsored product placement for the approved product. Recorded in the table's fields for the same agreed period:

Outcome for this case: the current route continues while the ad-recognition fixture is filed. The off-site and in-store routes join the test only when their consent records and final-context tests are complete.

Differences that matter

On-site delivery may keep presentation within a retailer-controlled website or app, but the actual serving, measurement and data recipients still need mapping. Off-site delivery adds external inventory and can alter the controller, publisher, creative and tracking chain.

In-store delivery introduces physical placement, staff operations, screen or audio access, and a route for customers who cannot use the main presentation.

CAP Code rule 2.1 requires marketing communications to be obviously identifiable in its section on ad recognition. For misleading product or price claims, the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008 apply across the UK. Put simply, the shopper must be able to tell the advert from the product content without hunting for a label.

Apply that test separately to each final context. A label that is conspicuous on a product page may fail when resized, voiced, cropped or shown on a store screen.

The final ICO storage and access technologies guidance covers cookies, tracking pixels, fingerprinting and comparable operations under PECR and, where relevant, UK GDPR. PECR regulation 6 needs consent before information is stored on, or read from, a customer's device, unless the operation is strictly necessary.

In short, each cookie, pixel or identifier on the route needs a recorded consent or a named strict-necessity reason. Off-site reach does not excuse the buyer from recording each operation, purpose, recipient and refusal path.

How measurement standards apply across routes

IAB Europe published Commerce Media Measurement Standards V2.1 on 22 January 2026. They provide industry metric definitions for their stated scope. Use one definition version, eligible population, period, timezone and post-order treatment across channels. Mark unsupported mappings as unavailable instead of forcing unlike events into one table.

A delivery count, click or attributed sale is not a causal benefit. Keep order, cancellation, return and refund states visible. Have a statistician approve any comparison design before interpreting a difference.

Decision

There is no overall winner. Reject a route if advertising, consumer, privacy, accessibility, security, IP, contract or exit evidence remains unresolved. Among routes that pass every gate, the buyer can apply blank, predeclared weights to control, cost and measurement evidence. Re-open the records when inventory, data recipients, creative, supplier terms or customer journeys change.

Before you act

Common questions

What does channel mean in this comparison?

Channel means where the advert is delivered: the retailer's digital property, external inventory or a physical retail environment. It does not mean acquisition source, commercial model or measurement vendor. A buyer should compare every route against one approved product, customer task, advertiser exchange, England context and period.

Why can a delivery count or attributed sale mislead a buyer?

A delivery count, click or attributed sale is not a causal benefit. Keep order, cancellation, return and refund states visible. Have a statistician approve any comparison design before interpreting a difference between routes, because measurement alone cannot choose the route.

How should a buyer decide between routes that pass every gate?

Among routes that pass every gate, the buyer can apply blank, predeclared weights to control, cost and measurement evidence, then re-open records when things change. The Decision section sets out the single rejection test used in this comparison.