The U.S. sporting goods retailer is expanding its omnichannel strategy with a retail media platform that links in-store and online advertising to measurable sales results.
Retail: Academy Sports Launches Retail Media Network
Academy Sports + Outdoors has launched Academy Retail Media (ARM), a new retail media network designed to help brands deliver targeted advertising across the retailer’s stores, website and digital channels while measuring the impact on both online and in-store sales.
The platform combines Academy’s physical store network with its e-commerce business and first-party customer data to create advertising campaigns that can be tracked from media exposure through to purchase. According to the company, ARM supports objectives ranging from product launches and customer acquisition to sales growth and brand awareness.
Academy said the network reaches more than 52 million verified customers through its more than 320 stores across 21 U.S. states, enabling brands to activate campaigns across digital and in-store touchpoints using purchase-based audience insights. The retailer also highlighted closed-loop measurement capabilities that connect advertising directly to sales performance.
The launch is another sign of how quickly retail media continues to evolve. Rather than treating in-store displays as standalone advertising, retailers are now connecting digital signage with websites, mobile apps, and customer data to create measurable campaigns that follow shoppers from online browsing to in-store purchases.