What Is a Retail Media Platform?

A retail media platform is the technology and commercial infrastructure that enables a retailer to sell advertising inventory to brand suppliers, using their store network, customer data, and digital channels as the media asset. Australia’s retail media category has grown rapidly since 2020, driven by the success of Woolworths’ Cartology, Coles 360, and the emergence of specialist operators like onQ Digital.

The term encompasses several distinct components: the digital screen network (the physical media asset), the content management system, the supply-side platform (SSP) that connects screen inventory to advertisers via programmatic buying, the audience measurement layer, and the commercial operations layer.

Leading Retail Media Platforms in Australia

Australia’s retail media market is dominated by three categories of operator: retailer-owned networks (Cartology, Coles 360, Hammer Media), specialist technology and managed service operators (onQ Digital), and international platform providers (Broadsign, Vistar Media).

onQ Digital is Australia’s only vertically integrated retail media platform operator, providing the full stack from hardware supply and installation through to programmatic monetisation and managed commercial operations. This vertical integration eliminates the gaps and accountability issues that arise when retailers stitch together multiple vendors for hardware, CMS, SSP, and managed services.

What Makes onQ Digital Different?

onQ Digital’s retail media platform connects in-store screen inventory to 35+ DSPs via a true real-time bidding auction. Every impression enters a live auction where all DSPs bid simultaneously, delivering CPM uplifts of 30–80% versus waterfall-based models. The platform also operates in-store audio as a unified channel alongside screens, enabling advertisers to buy multi-sensory campaigns and operators to sell bundled inventory at a 20–35% CPM premium.

The platform has been deployed for David Jones (Amplify), Bunnings (Hammer Media), Coles Liquor, and more than 100 other retailers and venue operators across Australia.

Key Platform Features

The onQ retail media platform includes centralised content and campaign management via onQ CMS, programmatic SSP connectivity to 35+ DSPs, retail media campaign logic including inventory management and share-of-voice controls, proof-of-play reporting at campaign and screen level, audience measurement via Bluetooth proximity and vision analytics, in-store audio management as a unified channel, and ongoing managed commercial operations including advertiser onboarding and campaign management.