Las Vegas, NV – January 21, 2025: WHSmith North America (WHSNA), and global commerce media experts SMG North America, have partnered to create the first travel-focused, in-store Retail Media Network (RMN) in North America.
WHSmith North America Media Network (WHS Media) will provide advertisers with unmatched opportunities to connect with high-intent consumers across WHSmith’s 347+ and growing locations across the US and Canada, including stores at airports, rail stations and resorts across the continent.
With in-store retail media spend predicted to hit $1.06 billion in 2028, unlike other travel retail media networks, WHS Media combines in-store and off-site campaigns with powerful, data-driven insights, allowing advertisers to engage with a unique consumer audience of the approximately 3 million business and leisure travelers who pass through North American airports each day.
WHS Media capitalizes on the power of timing, reaching the hundreds of millions of annual airport travelers in North America, who are outside of their day-to-day routines, primed to make impulse purchases, and receptive to brand messaging. This presents a significant incremental awareness and sales opportunity for brands, promoting trial by connecting brands with consumers who wouldn’t typically engage.
The insights gained from campaigns will allow WHS Media’s team of retail media experts to optimize strategies using sales data and other metrics, such as impressions and click-through rates, to ensure each campaign resonates and delivers on brand objectives.
The launch of WHSmith North America Media Network represents an exciting new chapter for WHSmith North America on our ongoing journey to create more exciting and engaging retail experiences for consumers in travel. We’ve been hard at work for the past year with the team at SMG to build this entirely unique retail media offering tailored to the needs of our supplier brands, and we are thrilled to bring it to market in partnership with them. With significant store growth in the pipeline, opportunities for brands will only expand.
Spanning more than 347 retail locations, including Marshall Retail Group and InMotion stores, WHS Media can activate campaigns across diverse touchpoints, making it an ideal solution for brands looking to connect with audiences during peak times, such as holidays, sports events, and professional conferences. Supported by numerous second and third-party data sources, the network offers advanced targeting options, including behavioral and location-based data, for tailored, high-impact interactions that resonate.
With WHSmith North America Media Network, we’re creating a powerful connection between brands and travelers across prime locations that hasn’t been possible with existing RMNs on the market. This network combines robust targeting capabilities with experiential marketing, creating memorable brand interactions that extend beyond the shopping journey. As the experts behind the largest Retail Media Networks in the UK, we’re thrilled to launch this unique offering in the US with the brilliant team at WHSmith North America, who are as passionate as we are about revolutionizing retail."
To learn more about WHS Media capabilities and partnership opportunities, visit WHSMedia.team.
About WHSmith North America
WHSmith is a leading global travel retailer with over 1,700 stores across 30 countries worldwide. WHSmith North America, incorporating Marshall Retail Group (MRG) and InMotion, represents over half of the Company’s international store estate, with c.320 specialty retail stores located in airports and resorts across North America.
MRG prides itself on creating unique experiences for customers by developing distinctive retail store concepts that feature and highlight the local culture, community, and lifestyle of the cities in which they are located. InMotion Entertainment Group is the largest airport-based electronics retailer in travel locations globally, with more than 120 locations throughout the United States. With access and insight into the latest technologies for business and leisure travellers, InMotion offers lifestyle products and electronics that include a wide breadth of headphones, mobile power, Bluetooth speakers and travel accessories.
About SMG
SMG is the global leader in connected commerce marketing, trading $2.5 million in media daily.
SMG, and its expert team of 400+, currently operates seven major RMNs, including WHSmith North America Media Network, Asda’s LS Eleven Media Services, Boots Media Group, Co-op Media Network, Morrisons Media Group and Very Media Group.
After successfully connecting brands with shoppers at the point of consideration and purchase for over 16 years, it has evaluated $1.6 billion of historic media investments to assist marketers in making more informed investment decisions aligned with their objectives.
Its technology platform, Plan-Apps, is the operating system for commerce media, designed to help retailers grow and scale their omnichannel commerce media offerings by providing an end-to-end solution to manage, plan, execute, and evaluate retail media campaigns.