Digital Video Display Specialist Lightbox Enters Grocery Space

Digital video display provider Lightbox announced June 29 that it has expanded its retail media network, signing on 2,800 supermarkets across the country to its new Digital Video Grocery Network. The New York-based company, which has video displays in malls nationwide, said its grocery-store video display placements are strategically positioned to help advertisers connect with customers while they shop.

The expansion will add 3,000 screens to Lightbox’s retail footprint, the out-of-home video company said. More than 100 grocery brands, including Albertsons and Giant Eagle, have 30-inch screens located on Redbox kiosks primarily at store entrances, Lightbox said in a news release, while in New York City, D'Agostino and Gristedes supermarkets feature 31-inch screens at checkout. Lightbox said its Digital Video Grocery Network also is reaching Hispanic consumers through video placements at El Rancho Supermercado locations in Texas.

"Demand for these audiences is very high, and this is something our team has been working on for over a year," Lightbox CEO Greg Glenday said in a statement. "We didn't want to dip our toe in the water, we wanted to go big. This network significantly increases our screen count and delivers a very distinct audience across some of the biggest grocers in the U.S."

Added Glenday: "These are high-frequency destinations—with American consumers going to the grocery store on average 1.9 times per week—and the screens provide an invaluable connection point for advertisers to reach audiences in brand-safe environments.

Lightbox's expansion into grocery, he said, is a “natural extension of our retail media portfolio."

In-store videos are seeing greater trial from retailers as brands and stores alike seek efficient ways to drive sales at the store shelf or in the checkout lane. This spring, five Giant Food stores in the Washington, D.C., area, added endcap video displays in partnership with Unilever to showcase Dove beauty products. At the stores that house the displays, the endcaps sense what products shoppers touch and respond with videos and information about that product. Walmart, too, has leaned into digital screens to give CPG brands another way to get in front of shoppers—and boost Walmart's fast-growing Walmart Connect advertising business.