Walgreens focuses on higher-performing ad placements: revives in-store digital screens. Published on 26 September 2026 at 2:14 pm - Written by Laura Spencer - Reading duration: 4 minutes Show summary Walgreens is rolling out a fresh wave of in-store digital screens this fall, aiming to turn pharmacy aisles and entryways into spots for educational advertising. The move, announced with in-store media company Looma, puts attention on targeted, context-aware messaging rather than loud interruptions. Walgreens taps Looma to place screens in 1,200 locations. Beginning in October, Walgreens will install digital displays in about 1,200 stores through a partnership with Looma. The decision follows a selection process that prioritized screens placed directly next to the products they reference. Looma brings an existing network to the table: more than 7,000 screens across multiple retail banners and access to roughly 13 million unique shoppers each month. For brands, that means campaigns that already run on Looma's network can now extend into Walgreens footprints. Placement and content: subtle, product-adjacent advertising. The new screens are designed to complement, not obscure, merchandising. They will be positioned to help shoppers discover products and learn about them. * Two large-format screens per participating store: one near the front and one in the pharmacy waiting area. * Digital end caps that can promote a single brand or present multi-brand educational content. * Programming featuring experts and creators across beauty, personal care, grocery, pharmacy, and wellness. Walgreens says the creative will be informational in tone, intended to aid purchase decisions rather than distract shoppers. How performance will be measured: moving beyond play counts. Walgreens emphasized measurement that tracks consumer behavior across the shopping journey. Instead of counting just how many times an ad played, the retailer will look at broader metrics that assess awareness, consideration, and conversion. Full-funnel measurement is central to the pitch, aligning in-store exposure with online and point-of-sale outcomes. Lessons from the Cooler Screens dispute. The move to Looma follows a high-profile clash with Cooler Screens, the startup that previously provided fridge-door displays for Walgreens. That earlier effort drew complaints after screens experienced technical failures and content errors. Walgreens and Cooler Screens later entered a legal dispute when the partnership unraveled. In contrast to those fridge-door panels, the new screens will sit beside products rather than replace the customer's view of real shelves. Why the pharmacy waiting area is a prime ad location. Retailers and researchers point to the pharmacy zone as a high-value site for in-store advertising. Customers often spend extra minutes waiting, which creates an opportunity for longer exposure. A March 2026 survey of more than 1,000 shoppers found consumers are relatively receptive to ads shown in pharmacy and other high-dwell spots. Analysts say high-quality, informative creative performs best in these contexts. Longer dwell-time equals higher attention, which can translate into stronger recall and influence at point of sale. What brands gain from the rollout. Brands that buy placement through Looma or Walgreens can expect several advantages: * Expanded reach into Walgreens' customer base without building new screen infrastructure. * Contextual adjacency - ads appear next to the relevant product or category. * Ability to run educational or expert-led content that supports purchase decisions. * Integration with full-funnel metrics to link in-store exposure with downstream results. Creative opportunities and examples. Content will likely include product demos, short expert segments, and seasonally relevant advice. That format seeks to inform shoppers rather than simply push discounts. Where this fits in the broader retail media landscape. Walgreens' update arrives amid a wider industry push to expand in-store digital ad programs. Competitors such as CVS have already installed digital end caps and dozens of waiting-area screens across their estate. CVS has reported plans for thousands of screens nationwide, including checkout and pharmacy displays. Executives at both chains describe digital placements as a strategic extension of their retail media businesses. Retailers refining the execution. After years of trial and error, retailers are converging on design principles that favor relevance and non-disruptive presentation. Analysts warn that poorly executed, noisy creative can harm the shopper experience. Properly produced ads - useful, concise, and context-aware - tend to be accepted by shoppers, industry experts say. Leadership and strategy shifts inside Walgreens. John Storms, Walgreens' vice president of digital and retail media, is overseeing the initiative. He joined the company after helping build Lowe's Media Network and after two decades at Target. Since his arrival, Walgreens has reconsidered its advertising playbook, focusing on higher-performing placements both online and inside stores. Storms credits Looma for an approach that keeps merchandising and shoppers top of mind. Operational details and rollout timing. The program launches in October and will roll into the selected 1,200 stores in phases. Each store will receive the store-front and pharmacy displays plus the digital end caps where applicable. * Oct - initial installations begin in selected regions. * Following months - measured rollout across the 1,200-store cohort. * Brands will be able to schedule campaigns and access reporting that links play to shopper behavior. Industry voices on what works in-store. Market observers stress the balance between monetization and customer experience. Ads that educate, remind, or suggest useful products tend to perform better than loud, interruptive messages. High-quality, relevant content wins in spaces where shoppers have time to process information, such as pharmacy lines and checkout areas. Give your feedback. Laura Spencer is your go-to guide for smart shopping. With years of experience in product reviews and consumer trends, she helps readers make confident, stylish choices. At Caroline Progress, Laura highlights the best deals and must-have finds. 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Retail Daily Minute | SKIMS Taps DoorDash for On-Demand Delivery, Walgreens rolls out in-store Ad Screens & Target Adds new app AI Features. September 9, 2026 Hello Omni Talk Fans! Omni Talk come full circle today. Ben's latest GrocerTalk podcast just released, and Kim Kardashian's shapewear is available via DoorDash. In today's Retail Daily Minute: * SKIMS partners with DoorDash for its first on-demand delivery integration, bringing its full U.S. store footprint onto the platform. * Walgreens rolls out in-store advertising screens from Looma to 1,200 locations by early 2027, expanding its retail media network. * Target adds four new AI-powered features to its shopping app, including photo search, AI review insights, Buy Again, and Continue Shopping. Plus, a quote from a film in which skimming takes up a very prominent role in the plot. Listen now 1. SKIMS Taps DoorDash for On-Demand Delivery From U.S. Stores SKIMS and DoorDash launched a partnership bringing on-demand delivery from SKIMS retail stores across the U.S. Shoppers can order over 23,000 styles of shapewear, underwear and loungewear, delivered in under an hour on average. DoorDash is SKIMS' first on-demand delivery partner, now live at 17 stores in 11 states and D.C. (Read More) 2. Walgreens to Deploy Looma Ad Screens in 1,200 Stores by 2027 Walgreens is expanding its retail media network with in-store advertising screens from Looma, rolling out to 1,200 store locations by early 2027. The Walgreens Advertising Group launched in 2020 using first-party customer data. Looma's technology enables remote content management and full-funnel performance measurement. (Read More) 3. Target Adds Four New AI Features to Its Consumer Shopping App Target has rolled out four new AI tools within its consumer app: photo search for finding similar products from an image, AI review insights that organize feedback into themes, Buy Again for quick reordering, and Continue Shopping, which resurfaces recently viewed items with relevant alternatives and personalized offers. (Read More) 4. Amazon Exec on How Same-Day Perishables Delivery Was Built In an exclusive interview, Ling Tsang, director of Amazon Worldwide Grocery Stores Customer Experience, explains how the company built Same-Day Delivery of perishables using retrofitted temperature-zoned facilities. Monthly active perishables customers are up over 50% this year, and more than half return within 30 days. (Read More) 5. Walmart-Backed OnePay Moves Into Auto Finance Via My Garage OnePay, the fintech majority-owned by Walmart, has launched My Garage, a feature that centralizes vehicle value, loan equity, payoff timelines, insurance offers and gas rewards in one app. The launch pushes Walmart's financial services ambitions into auto finance, where it will compete with banks, Chime and Credit Karma. (Read More) Upcoming Live LinkedIn Events Taking Stock Of Agentic Commerce In Grocery, Plus Walmart's Slam Dunk And Sprouts New CEO Producer Ella's Product Pick Of The Week Be careful out there, - Chris and the entire Omni Talk team