Out-of-Home Research · April 15, 2014

InStore Audio Network Reaches 39 Million Shoppers Per Day

By Tom Webster

InStore Audio Network reaches 39 million shoppers on an average day, according to new audience research study. Edison Research, a leading market research company based in Somerville, New Jersey, announced the release of new research that measures the audience for InStore Audio Network, the leading provider of in-store audio advertising in Drug, Grocery and Mass Merchandiser stores.

The research was conducted at a national sample of stores in the InStore Audio Network where the number of shoppers exposed to in-store audio were counted and a sample of shoppers were interviewed in order to measure how much time was spent in each store, how many visits were made to each store each week. The surveys were also used to measure the basic demographics of the InStore Audio Network audience.

The major findings of the study are:

• The stores in the entire InStore Audio Network (including drug, grocery and mass merchandiser stores) have an average of 39 million daily visits from shoppers ages 12 and older.

• The total number of weekly impressions for a commercial that runs once per hour on the InStore Audio Grocery and Mass Merchandiser Networks and twice per hour on the InStore Audio Drug Store Network is 140 million. This is equivalent to a national daily rating of 7.6.

• The total number of shoppers who visit at least one of the stores in the InStore Audio Network during a typical week is estimated to be 104.6 million or nearly 40% of the national population of ages 12 and older.

• The average number of shopping visits per week is 2.46 times for the Drug store, 2.73 times for the Grocery stores and is 2.24 times per week for the Mass Merchandiser stores.

• The average length of a shopping trip in Drug stores is, on average, 19 minutes; it is 26 minutes in Grocery stores and 32 minutes in Mass Merchandiser stores.

“Our research demonstrates that InStore Audio Network reaches an extremely large number of shoppers each day in a captive audio environment. A commercial played once per hour in the InStore Audio Network reaches in one day more than double the average primetime audience of a commercial on one of the four major broadcast networks,” said Joe Lenski, Executive Vice President of Edison Research. “Our research over the past seven years also shows that both the number of visits per week and the amount of time that shoppers spend in drug and grocery stores has remained steady.”

In addition to physically counting shoppers in both Grocery and Mass Merchandiser locations, Edison Research interviewed shoppers about their shopping habits to determine frequency and length of shopping trips. The survey sample represented a cross-section of America, spanning ethnicities and age groups. A cross section of stores in terms of geographic location and store size were included in the survey.

“Edison Research provides independent confirmation that InStore Audio Network reaches a larger audience than most network TV programs, most network radio programs and even reaches more shoppers in a week – 104.6 million – than Pandora has active listeners in a month. Furthermore, it is unique in getting our advertiser’s messages heard right at the point-of-purchase by a captive audience – the holy grail of brand and shopper marketing,” said Gary Seem, President / CEO of InStore Audio Network.

Kevin Connolly, President of Sales for InStore Audio Network commented, “Since our program covers the entire store, we are the best way to reach every shopper in both Grocery and Drug stores. A single shelf sign or display only reaches those consumers who walk past that aisle while InStore Audio Network bathes the store with an audio message that drives shoppers to action.”

To obtain an executive summary of the Edison Research survey, and learn how you can take advantage of InStore Audio Network to target and influence consumers at the point-of-purchase, please contact Kevin Connolly, President of Sales, InStore Audio Network at 781-405-8519 or Kevin.Connolly@InStoreAudioNetwork.com.

Survey Methodology

Entrance and exit interviews were conducted by Edison Research at a national sample of Food and Drug Stores from Monday, February 24th to Friday, March 14th, 2014. A total of 2,661 interviews were conducted at 100 stores between 6AM and 10PM on all seven days of the week.

Edison Research recorded counts of the number of shoppers observed for each store in the sample. The calculation of total audience estimates is based upon the total number of stores in the network in which advertising is played as reported by InStore Audio Network as of April 3, 2014. The total number of stores reported in the InStore Audio Network is 32,181 stores including 19,690 Drug Stores, 11,317 Grocery Stores and 1,174 Mass Merchandiser Stores.

About Edison Research

Since its founding in 1994, Edison Research has conducted over 11,000 research assignments in 38 countries. Edison Research works with a broad array of commercial clients, governments and NGOs, including Activision, AMC Theatres, Disney, Dolby Laboratories, Google, Gulf News, the U.S. International Broadcasting Bureau, Pandora, Samsung, Siemens, Sony, St Jude Children’s Hospital, Time Warner and Yahoo. Since 2003, Edison Research has been the sole provider of exit poll information to ABC, CBS, CNN, FOX, NBC and the Associated Press, having conducted exit polls and collected precinct vote returns to project and analyze results for every major presidential primary and general election. Edison Research is also the leading provider of consumer face-to-face research and has conducted studies in almost every imaginable venue. Edison Research has conducted commercial research at locations including sporting events, movie theaters, shopping malls, golf courses, restaurants, parking garages, school buses, truck stops, airports, cruise ships, office buildings, conventions and conferences, subway stations, bus stations, casinos, museums, health clubs, and medical centers.

About InStore Audio Network

InStore Audio Network is the largest in-store audio advertising provider in the United States and delivers commercial audio messages to shoppers in over 32,000 grocery, drug, convenience and mass merchandiser stores. InStore Audio Network provides music programming and equipment, chain specific messaging and third party ad sales. The network includes retailers such as Walgreen, Kroger, CVS, Safeway, Albertsons, Winn Dixie, Duane Reade, Wegmans, Rite Aid and Food Lion. (Please contact us for a complete retail network summary.) By reaching consumers at the point-of-purchase in a captive media environment with a compelling audio message, the InStore Audio Network is heard by over 39 million shoppers a day and delivers proven sales lift for participating advertisers. InStore Audio Network has corporate offices in Salt Lake City, UT and is headed by Jeffrey Shapiro, Chairman and Gary Seem, President/CEO.

Get our latest insights delivered to your inbox.