Shaping the industry – Capex-free test period and webinar

Published, November 11, 2025

There is an invisible hurdle when investing in new technology for retail media. Uncertainties over how fast the first return of investments will materialize delays or prevent investment decisions.

“We have been around since 2016 and have a solid track record of successful installations and projects. However, we do understand when organizations are hesitating because the technology is new to them. To make the first step easier we are delivering the hardware at no capex cost for the customer”, comments Iman Nahvi, Co-Founder of Advertima, the Swiss sensorics retail media company, the strategy.

This is how it works

The model is designed for in-store Retail Media networks operated either by the retailer directly or by an external media owner. Advertima is building a complete in-store ecosystem, from audience-based targeting to audience-based programmatic access. The 360 degrees approach is needed to utilize the real monetization potential of the respective retail media network.

Advertima offers the solution globally covering the full cost of the Edge-AI Hardware Kits upfront, including shipping, import, and tariffs, until the devices are in-country and handed over to the installation or integration partner. As Advertima installs the digital signage CMS on its edge computer, the retailer doesn’t even need a separate CMS player for Digital Signage anymore which is a saving.

Once installed and running, Advertima receives around 10% of the enhanced CPM that the audience intelligence system enables. The final amount depends on the region and prevailing CPM levels.

“This way, both sides have the same incentive: the higher the CPM, the higher the value of the network for the retailer and for us”, Nahvi comments. “And there is minimal downside risk for the retailer or operator, as we take that risk ourselves, and they only gain from the performance-based upside”, Nahvi adds. After roughly 12 months, once monetization is fully operational and media agencies are booking campaigns, the performance becomes meaningful for both sides.

A commitment to long-term success

Advertima typically signs a five-year contract that grants the company the right to equip any screen used for media monetization with its sensors. This ensures the network remains homogeneous and unified, which is essential for scalable monetization. An important detail is that a retailer equips the entire shop with AI powered screens, not leaving half of the screens outside of the sensorics eco-system. “If this happens, no meaningful incremental media revenue can be generated as media buyers will not run half of a campaign loop-based and the other half real-time targeted. Consistency is key to value creation”, Nahvi knows from experience.

Other hurdles

On top of the Capex hurdle there are other constraints delaying investment decisions. “We experience that fragmented tech stacks on the customer side can be a hurdle. Additionally, some prospects are worried about how shopper data will be handled in compliance with legal regulations. Finally, there is a lack of standardization of measurements. As a result, validity and comparability suffer”, Nahvi addresses further challenges.
“Our role as innovator and technology leader is plenty fold. Shaping the market for sensorics also includes training measures and that is the main reason for inviting to a series of webinars. The first one will kick-off on 19th November and will focus on data protection”, Nahvi concludes.

Webinar: Sensor Technology in Retail – Harness Opportunities, Protect Privacy

Join us on November 19, 2025, 10–11 AM CET to learn how AI-driven sensorics enhance customer experience and ensure data protection.

Register Now

Advertima Technology

The Advertima Player is half the size of a standard digital signage player and comes with sustainable minimal power consumption. It is powerful enough to run the Audience AI while hosting a full digital signage CMS.
The player recognizes and digitizes 100+ in-store shoppers and transforms them into addressable retail media target groups in real time. It runs privacy-by-design algorithms and deletes all personal or identifiable data within milliseconds right at the edge.
Everything in 3D beyond 30 meters is detected, e.g. room position, head posture, body posture – and at the same time enables multi-3D zoning. The data predicts anonymous audience attributes for each individual buyer (100+ at a time) in the sensor’s field of view, enabling real-time segmentation and targeting in <100ms.
At the same time, the software notifies the in-store monetization ecosystem of segmented audiences for the next available digital signage spot: from CMS to ad servers and ad orchestration layers to SSPs and DSPs, a holistic approach.