The newest in-store advertising is a screen mounted on shopping carts that serves up ads as the shoppers move about the aisles while also providing product information, and even recipes, while tracking the shopper's purchases.

To find out how to get your client’s message at shoppers’ fingertips as they peruse the aisles, shopping list in hand, read on.

This is one in a Media Life series on buying the new out-of-home venues. They appear weekly.

Fast Facts 

What
Ads displayed on video screens attached to shopping carts.

Who
MediaCart, headquartered in Dallas.

How it works
Ads are displayed on video screens mounted on the handles of shopping carts. Full-motion video ads are played on screens as shoppers approach designated store aisles, displays or departments.

Radio frequency identification (RFID) chips are placed on shelf price labels, and each cart has an RFID reader.

“Ads are triggered by chips, and the cart reads the chips and knows where it is in the store,” says chief marketing officer Jon Kramer. “We’re able to deliver the appropriate message to the shoppers at that point in time when they are most open to the message.”

Creative can be provided by the advertiser or by MediaCart.

“Think of this as a moving billboard,” Kramer says. “We’re not recommending that you put your television ad here. The in-store shopper is looking for information. Tell me what’s special about your brand.”

Ads are 10 seconds long, with the last frame freezing until the shopper moves on, triggering the next ad.

An advertiser can opt for still images. Navigation buttons are located on the cart handle, and the device is voice-recognition capable, so a shopper can mention a product and the cart will provide directions to the product's location.

The advertiser can choose where in the story his or her ad will be triggered. For example, a soft drink ad can be set to display when the shopper travels down the soft drink aisle or by snacks or the deli department.

“At the end of the shopping trip we’re able to track where the optimal R.O.I. is in messaging,” Kramer says.

Items can be scanned to check prices and nutritional information and then tallied as they are placed in the shopping cart, streamlining check-out.

At stores with loyalty programs offering discounts to members, the cart can be equipped to accept the loyalty card. Shoppers can also download shopping lists from their home computer and upload recipes from their carts to their home computers.

Product exclusivity is available for locations within a store. For example, if a cola company buys exclusivity in the soft drink section, no competitors’ ads will play in that aisle but they could play in another area of the store.

Markets
Test marketing is taking place in Texas and in several stores on the East Coast.

How it is measured
Shoppers are tracked as they navigate a store, including which sections they visit, where and how long they stop to look at products, and finally what products they purchase.

Research
Seventy percent of purchasing decisions are made after a shopper reaches the store, according to a 1995 study “Consumer Buying Habits Study” commissioned by the Point-of-Purchase Advertising International of Washington, D.C.

What product categories do well
Anything that sold in the store will work well, Kramer says.

Demographics
Retailers or chains can be cherry-picked but not specific stores, though advertisers can run different ads within a group of stores. “You can target your creative message down to the actual store,” Kramer says.

Making the buy
Lead time is based on the size of the buy and locations. Once availability is established, creative can be loaded on the cart within 48 hours.

Advertisers pay only when their ad is shown, so the CPM is based on how many times the ad is triggered rather than on store traffic.

Who’s already on MediaCart
Procter & Gamble, General Mills, Kraft Foods and PepsiCo ran ads on carts at MediaCart’s test store in Plano, Texas.

What they’re saying
“At this point we’re rolling out in grocery stores. I don’t know if we’ll ever be in Bloomingdale’s or Macy’s, but we will be in mass (merchants) at some point and stores like home improvement.” – Jon Kramer, chief marketing officer for MediaCart.

Web site info
MediaCart at www.mediacart.com