Retail media is increasingly moving beyond retailer websites and into physical stores, where purchase decisions still happen at scale. A2Z Cust2Mate Solutions has expanded its partnership with Israeli retailer HaStock, securing rights to sell in-store advertising across HaStock locations in addition to the smart-cart media inventory it already controls.
The 24-month agreement gives A2Z Cust2Mate access to a wider range of physical retail touchpoints, creating a larger inventory pool for brands and suppliers looking to reach shoppers during the shopping journey.
Retail media has traditionally been associated with digital storefronts: sponsored search results, product listings and advertisements displayed across retailer websites and apps.
That definition is getting broader.
A2Z Cust2Mate Solutions Corp. (NASDAQ: AZ) is expanding its retail media strategy into the physical store through a new agreement with Israeli retail chain HaStock. Under the deal, A2Z Cust2Mate receives the in-store retail media and advertising rights across HaStock stores, adding to the on-cart media rights it already holds.
The agreement has an initial term of 24 months.
For A2Z Cust2Mate, the move expands retail media inventory beyond its connected Smart Carts and into other locations throughout the store. The company can commercialize those advertising opportunities by offering them to brands, advertisers and HaStock’s existing suppliers.
The development illustrates a broader shift in retail advertising: as digital retail media becomes increasingly crowded, physical stores are emerging as another valuable environment for audience engagement.
From smart carts to the entire store
A2Z Cust2Mate’s core technology connects shopping carts with digital capabilities, turning the cart into an interactive point between retailers, shoppers and brands.
The HaStock agreement takes that concept further.
Instead of limiting advertising opportunities to the cart itself, A2Z can now package media placements across additional in-store touchpoints. That could include digital displays, promotional surfaces or other advertising inventory, depending on how the retailer deploys its in-store media infrastructure.
The strategic advantage is proximity to the purchase decision.
A consumer browsing a store is already engaged in a shopping mission. Advertising presented at that moment can potentially influence product consideration, promotions and basket decisions more directly than an advertisement encountered earlier in the consumer journey.
That makes in-store retail media an increasingly important extension of the broader retail media market.
Physical retail becomes a media channel
Retail media has grown rapidly because retailers possess something many traditional advertising platforms do not: direct relationships with shoppers and access to transaction data.
Amazon can connect advertising exposure with purchases on its marketplace. Walmart can connect media with its retail ecosystem. Other retailers are building similar first-party advertising businesses.
Physical retail adds another dimension.
A shopper may see a brand advertisement online, encounter a promotion through a retailer’s app and then see another message while physically standing inside the store.
The latter interaction takes place at a particularly valuable point in the purchase funnel.
For advertisers, that can turn the store itself into a measurable media environment.
A2Z Cust2Mate’s expanded agreement with HaStock therefore fits into the larger convergence between retail media, digital out-of-home advertising and in-store shopper marketing.
The inventory question
One of the biggest challenges facing emerging retail media networks is scale.
Advertisers generally want access to enough inventory and audiences to justify integrating another channel into their media plans. A single smart-cart network may provide valuable engagement but have limited geographic reach.
Adding store-wide inventory can address part of that problem.
A2Z can potentially offer brands multiple touchpoints within the same shopping environment rather than selling only advertisements displayed on connected carts.
For retailers, the arrangement can also create another source of revenue from existing physical infrastructure without necessarily requiring a separate advertising sales operation.
That model could become attractive to mid-sized retailers that want to participate in retail media but lack the scale or technology investment of major global chains.
Measurement will determine the value
The long-term opportunity, however, depends on measurement.
Retail advertisers increasingly expect media platforms to demonstrate outcomes rather than simply report impressions. In digital retail media, transaction data provides a relatively direct mechanism for measuring performance.
Physical retail is more complicated.
Advertisers need to know whether an in-store exposure generated incremental purchases, increased basket size or simply reached shoppers who were already going to buy the product.
Connected smart carts can potentially provide richer behavioral signals than conventional static store advertising, particularly when the technology can associate media exposure with shopping activity.
The expanded HaStock agreement could therefore become more valuable if A2Z can connect the broader in-store inventory with measurable shopper and transaction outcomes.
That is the difference between selling in-store advertising space and building an actual retail media network.
Retail media moves closer to the moment of purchase
The timing is significant for the wider advertising industry.
Retail media networks are increasingly extending beyond retailer-owned websites and apps into stores, connected television, digital out-of-home environments and other off-site channels.
That expansion is creating a more fragmented but potentially more powerful advertising ecosystem.
For brands, the appeal is the ability to combine first-party retail audiences with physical-world context. For retailers, it creates opportunities to monetize shopper attention in spaces that were historically treated primarily as merchandising environments.
A2Z’s HaStock deal is a relatively focused example of that broader trend.
The company now has rights to both on-cart and wider in-store media, giving it a larger canvas on which to build its advertising business.
What it means for advertisers
For brands already selling through HaStock, the agreement could create a new way to reach consumers close to the point of purchase.
For A2Z Cust2Mate, the more important development is strategic: retail media is becoming a second commercial layer on top of its connected-store technology.
The company will need to demonstrate that additional inventory can attract meaningful advertiser demand and produce measurable outcomes. It will also need to show that its model can scale across retailers without creating fragmented buying and measurement processes for agencies and enterprise brands.
If it succeeds, smart carts could become more than a shopper-facing technology.
They could serve as the foundation for a broader physical retail media infrastructure, with advertising extending from the cart to the wider store.
The HaStock agreement suggests that A2Z is now betting on exactly that model.
Market Landscape
The retail media market is moving toward a full-funnel, omnichannel model that connects retailer websites, apps, stores, loyalty programs, connected devices and off-site media.
Large networks such as Amazon Ads, Walmart Connect and Target’s Roundel have an advantage in first-party purchase data and advertiser scale. Meanwhile, companies specializing in in-store technology and digital signage are attempting to turn physical retail environments into measurable advertising channels.
A2Z Cust2Mate sits at the intersection of those trends.
Its smart-cart infrastructure provides a potential bridge between in-store engagement, retail media and commerce data. Expanding into store-wide advertising inventory gives the company a broader proposition for brands.
The critical competitive factors will be inventory scale, advertiser demand, audience data, measurement capabilities and integration with existing media-buying infrastructure.
Top Insights
- A2Z Cust2Mate secured HaStock’s in-store advertising rights, expanding its retail media inventory beyond smart carts into additional physical shopping touchpoints.
- The 24-month agreement gives A2Z opportunities to commercialize in-store media for brands, advertisers and HaStock suppliers during active purchase journeys.
- The expansion reflects retail media’s shift from ecommerce websites toward physical stores, where advertising can influence consumers closer to purchase decisions.
- Smart-cart technology could provide a foundation for connecting in-store advertising with shopper engagement and potentially measurable commerce outcomes.
- Advertiser adoption will depend on whether A2Z can demonstrate scalable inventory, reliable attribution and measurable incremental sales across physical retail environments.
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