Adidas and DICK’S Media turned product interaction into accountable retail media at DICK’S House of Sport. By instrumenting the shelf and linking physical behaviors to digital creative and sales data, the campaign proved that in-store experiences can be both experiential and measurable.
The Challenge: Activating Physical Product Engagement
The brief was simple and demanding. Get customers to pick up and explore footwear, capture that behavior as real signals, and tie those moments to commercial outcomes. Traditional in-store activations had no reliable click or view metric. The team needed a way to make hands-on product exploration trackable and comparable to online media metrics.
The Solution: Sensor-Powered Interaction
DICK’S Media deployed sensor-enabled pedestals and Lift N’ Learn walls that detected when a shoe was picked up. Each pickup triggered product-specific digital creative on nearby screens in real time. Sensors captured pickup events, hold time, and whether customers engaged with the on-shelf video content.
Dynamic Storytelling at the Shelf
Content shifted to match the exact SKU in hand. Short product films, performance claims, and calls to action played instantly, creating a seamless product-to-message loop. Placement of screens and audio levels were optimized to avoid noise and to focus attention on the picked item.
Quantifiable Impact: Driving Sales and Engagement
The campaign reported measurable uplift across behavioral and commercial KPIs: a material increase in product pickups, longer average hold times, improved video completion rates, and most notably a 39% sales lift for the promoted range. By mapping sensor events to POS outcomes, the team demonstrated a clear ROI for in-store media spend.
Lessons for Modern Retail Media
- Instrument physical touchpoints so interactions become measurable signals.
- Deliver product-specific creative instantly to amplify relevance.
- Map sensor data to sales to validate commercial impact.
- Design experiences that respect store flow and do not rely on staff intervention.
- Start small, prove uplift, then scale across formats and stores.
This Adidas and DICK’S Media blueprint shows how sensor technology and data integration convert in-store moments into accountable media, offering a practical path for brands and retailers seeking measurable commercial growth in physical retail.
