News America, Toshiba Team for Next-Gen Media

News America Marketing and Toshiba Global Commerce Solutions this month announced a partnership that will provide marketing solutions at three key areas of the path to purchase.

The alliance will create opportunities in three areas: at registers, in aisles and at home. News America aggregates more than 150 billion coupons per year by creating omnichannel networks. Toshiba provides an understanding of the complexities of point-of-sale innovation.

Together, the companies hope to cultivate an ecosystem of innovation and cross-industry collaboration that will change how marketers perceive, utilize and value the media channels and impressions they can activate within the physical store environment.

“We know from the data that, even with all the disruption of e-commerce, 90% of [consumer packaged goods] shopping is still done in physical stores, and we believe that, as long as retailers embrace new technologies and omnichannel marketing tools to enhance the shopping experience, physical stores will remain a significant and transforming [channel] for families into the future,” said Zack Storer, New's America's chief growth officer.

Many of the tools used today by marketers and retailers to incentivize consumers date back to the early 20th century and continue to evolve to become more relevant.

"Processing and handling across much of the retail space has relied on mechanisms and systems largely unchanged over time, making them ripe for innovation to become more efficient with manufacturers and retailers. We are now building the future generation of flexible incentive platforms in support of streamlined shopping experiences across mobile, the store, at-home and wherever shoppers make decisions,” Storer explained.

“Sixty-two percent of consumers prefer the physical store as the place to find information about new products, much more so than social media, websites or search engines, according to our primary research,” said John Pistone, Toshiba's director of strategic alliances. “We see the collaboration ... as a way to offer greater personalization to elevate the shopping experience.”