POS Marketing in 2025: Retail Media, AI, and the Shopping Experience
The point of sale is one of the ultimate touchpoints for branding and sales promotion. Retail media is driving innovation in this area, but AI is also expanding the possibilities for point-of-sale marketing.
Point-of-purchase advertising: offline and online are merging
For decades, traditional out-of-home advertising focused primarily on reach. But for some time now, offline and online channels have been merging into a single data-driven ecosystem. Retail media is no longer merely a buzzword – now it represents the far-reaching evolution that the industry has undergone. And this shift includes combining DOOH and mobile marketing.
Retail media: the currency in advertising
Retail media has gone from being a promising niche and evolved into one of marketing’s most lucrative disciplines. It’s no surprise, then, that the topic is also hotly debated by our columnists and keeps cropping up in experts’ analyses, as our exciting stories on retail media demonstrate.
Retail media was also one of the most influential topics at DMEXCO 2024. A lot of space was devoted to it at the event with a dedicated summit, which led to a productive discussion about the current state of retail media. One key point to emerge from the discussion is that retail media works both offline and online. This interface effect makes it the perfect embodiment of the demands and the opportunities that POS marketing is facing in 2025.
The Retail Media Circle within the German Association for the Digital Economy (BVDW) is playing a key role in furthering this debate. The group’s experts see the discipline as a bridge between digital advertising and brick-and-mortar retail. Retail media combines the best of both worlds: data-driven performance strategies and the emotional power of physical experiences.
The challenge for marketers? Finding the right balance between brand communication and performance advertising. Advertisers should be asking themselves one question: How can they increase sales without sacrificing brand value in the long term? The answer lies in a carefully planned combination of DOOH, AI-driven insights, and intelligent customer journeys.
What are the latest ideas for POS marketing?
Retail media is thriving as a monetization avenue for retailers. At the same time, marketers are harnessing artificial intelligence and augmented reality to optimize the POS experience in real time. We’ve put together the most exciting strategies for better sales promotion and advertising opportunities at the POS for you:
#1 DOOH advertising: dynamic advertising media at the POS
Dynamic digital out-of-home advertising is one of the most talked-about topics in brick-and-mortar retail. It involves using smart screens to display dynamic content depending on the time of day, weather conditions, or even current sales figures. The challenge? Focusing on performance should not come at the expense of a diluted brand identity. Discounts and promotional pricing are powerful tools – but they’re only valuable components of POS marketing if they sustainably strengthen brand loyalty.
#2 QR codes and apps: digital POP advertising as a conversion booster
Brick-and-mortar retail is no longer analog – far from it. QR codes, NFC tags, and apps invite customers to enter digital worlds where marketers focus on creating personalized experiences with data-driven strategies. Cross-selling works better online because customers’ purchase histories and interests can be retrieved and accessed. For example: A customer scans a QR code next to a coffee machine and sees recommended accessories and promotional offers displayed in the retailer’s app.
#3 AI-powered personalization in POS marketing
Data-driven insights make hyper-personalized point of purchase advertising possible. Based on real-time analyses, digital advertising media can display dynamic content depending on the target group. In addition to analyzing purchase history, AI can also identify which products are attracting the most interest in the store. This development is sure to be one of the most important ideas for point-of-sale marketing in recent years.
Amazon and the POS: The e-commerce giant enters retail
Amazon was once an online-only heavyweight, but it has now also positioned itself in physical retail. The company aims to radically transform the shopping experience: Instead of having conventional checkouts or self-service kiosks, Amazon has integrated scanning technology into the shopping cart itself.
The retailer’s Dash Carts scan products automatically as soon as they are placed inside them. Customers can see the value of their purchases on a display in real time and complete the payment transaction via the cart – without going to a checkout, without waiting in line.
This approach shows where we are heading: POS marketing strategies need to maximize convenience while simultaneously promoting interaction with the brand. As AI-powered mechanisms increasingly influence purchase decisions, brand loyalty is set to be the decisive differentiator.
The future of POS marketing: smart, interactive, and profitable
POS marketing in 2025 is data-driven, connected, and AI-optimized. Retail media is powering innovation and creating new opportunities for monetization. DOOH, AI-powered personalization, and digital POS integrations give marketers powerful tools for taking the shopping experience to a whole new level.
But one crucial question remains: How to balance data-driven performance marketing and sustainable brand communication? If your company gets this right, it will be able to transform the POS from a sales area into a platform for experiences – and use creative POS campaigns to increase its relevance in the long term.
