Insights from Nine Upfront 2027
From Saliency to Sales: How Retail OOH Unifies the 'Sofa to Store' Journey
12th October, 2026
Tim Murphy
Chief Sales Officer, QMS
It is no secret that Retail Out of Home is a highly populated and established category in Australia. Major retailer-owned media networks have done an exceptional job of proving the value of the space, fundamentally shifting how marketers view the path to purchase.
The next frontier for brands isn't just about tapping into a supermarket's data loop; it is about taking the full-motion broadcast quality of Digital OOH and placing it where daily habits are formed, meaningful connections are nurtured, and final purchasing decisions are made. It is about understanding that true national scale is built from the neighbourhood up.
The Local Trust Halo
Australians live their lives locally. While the major big-box supermarkets are often destinations for the sprawling weekly shop, the moments of true, habitual connection happen closer to home. It is the shop at the local independent grocer, the Saturday morning project run to the hardware store, the quick stop for liquor on the way to a dinner party, or the daily coffee run at the corner convenience store.
These are high-frequency, trusted retail destinations embedded in the social and commercial fabric of Australian neighbourhoods. When a customer steps into a local IGA, Mitre 10, Cellarbrations, or their local convenience store, their mindset shifts. They are in an active, receptive state, making decisions for their households and engaging with businesses that sit at the core of their community. We call this the "Local Trust Halo."
This is the philosophy behind our new Retail OOH network, SHOP. By bringing together the Metcash "LocalEyes" network – featuring 860+ screens across IGA, Cellarbrations, The Bottle-O, Thirsty Camel, Mitre 10, Home Hardware, and Total Tools – with The Convenience Network's 470 screens across 7-Eleven stores, we aren't just aggregating inventory. We are creating an environment where brands meet local shoppers at scale.
When you consider that 70% of Australians live within three kilometres of a SHOP retailer, the strategic value becomes clear. Delivering more than 16 million monthly shoppers * across 1,300+ screens – including over 400 regional locations – offers the scale of a national media buy, but it is delivered with the intimacy of a local endorsement.
Redefining the Space: Pure-Play Retail OOH
To truly capitalise on this environment, we need to separate Retail OOH from the broader definition of Retail Media. We aren't talking about digital catalogues or in-store audio. Retail OOH is about building mental availability at the physical point of entry. It brings the visual impact and flexibility of pure DOOH directly to the point of purchase, acting as a broadcast bridge between top-of-funnel brand campaigns and immediate in-store action.
Viewing the channel through this pure play DOOH lens unlocks two distinct, yet equally powerful, commercial opportunities:
- For Endemic Brands: It is the ultimate conversion engine. Retail OOH allows brands already sitting on the shelves inside to influence local shoppers, driving immediate path-to-purchase conversion and capturing 'share of basket' right when intent peaks. Crucially, it benefits from the proven dual effect of DOOH – driving immediate, short-term sales whilst also building long-term brand equity.
- For Non-Endemic Brands: It provides a highly cost-effective, low wastage platform to reach qualified local audiences. For categories like automotive, financial services, insurance, and telecommunications, the local independent retail environment offers a rare, low-distraction canvas. It allows advertisers to tap into household decision makers within high-trust, highly receptive everyday shopping environments without competing in a crowded retail media ecosystem.
The Complete Ecosystem: From Sofa, to Street and now, to Store
As DOOH continues to advance, our focus as media owners must remain firmly on effectiveness and outcomes. This is where the strategic integration into the broader Nine ecosystem changes the game for agencies and brands.
At the recent Nine Upfront, we highlighted the power of moving consumers seamlessly from the 'Sofa' – capturing high-attention viewing in the living room – to the 'Street', to maintaining brand presence across our quality national DOOH network.
SHOP now completes that commercial continuum. By adding the retail footprint as the final, crucial touchpoint, we create a truly holistic proposition for Australian marketers. We can now accompany a consumer from relaxed entertainment at home, through their daily commute, right up to the final point of purchase in their local community.
It is no longer about choosing between brand awareness or retail conversion, the highway or the high street. By taking the sophistication of Digital OOH and embedding it into the everyday retail rhythms of Australian neighbourhoods, we give brands the complete, connected canvas they have been searching for: the power to inspire on the sofa, build saliency on the street, and drive real-world action at the store.
*Source – Nielsen CMV, Survey 4 2026 ^Metcash Transaction 2025 Data, IBA Shopper Intelligence, Summit Transaction Data 2025
