Ajay Kapoor, CEO, TouchSource
Nashville is home to country music, the Tennessee Titans, Vanderbilt University, and Dolly Parton. But next week, the city will also host the Flex Retail Summit, where leaders in retail will gather to discuss the future of media, “short-term retail” innovation, and industry insights.
We don’t do costumes, calendars, or seasonal trees, but we do digital and are excited to discuss how digital is part of an overall revenue and platform strategy for any property (and builds you a nice flywheel).
Before I begin, here’s the TL/DR for those with short attention spans:
- Programmatic is now core infrastructure.
- Retail signage is scaling at the portfolio level.
- TouchSource is delivering real scale, partnerships and innovation.
- And the best operators are getting more intentional about digital strategy.
- Build flywheels, not tech stacks.
Why Digital Out-of-Home is Growing in Retail
Now, if you are diving in, here’s what the Digital Out-of-Home (DOOH) industry is doing:
- US out‑of‑home revenue hit $2.13B in Q3, up 4.5% year over year, the strongest Q3 on record. Digital continues to lead growth as brands look for brand‑safe reach in physical environments, without worrying about AI blocking access to consumers.
- Retail now represents roughly 15% of all programmatic DOOH spend, with programmatic‑enabled retail screens up about 16% year over year. Retail DOOH is no longer experimental, it’s part of the core media mix.
- The direct versus programmatic debate is basically over, and both sides won. Strong portfolios use direct sales to protect premium placements and sponsorships, while programmatic improves fill, utilization, and incremental demand. The focus has shifted from CPMs to total revenue per screen.
How TouchSource Retail Networks Are Scaling
With the growth of retail DOOH, the TouchSource team has focused on helping clients scale their networks faster.
The results are clear:
- TouchSource’s retail digital signage networks are scaling quickly:
- 201% year‑over‑year growth in ad spend
- 50% growth in venues
- 567 retail ad screens across 65 properties in 28 states
- More than 355M impressions purchased in 2025.
- Scaling through our partnerships: Through the TouchSource and Innovative Vending Solutions partnership, networks now extend into Zoomaroo and massage chair environments—giving owners more ways to expand reach and revenue while preserving capital and operational consistency.
- Making it easy with tech: TouchSource’s new Visual Content Loop+ is now validated by MG Malls and live across the CBL retail inventory. Precision loop control, share‑of‑voice management, and proof‑of‑play are what make it possible for national, local, tenant, and programmatic demand to coexist cleanly at scale.
- Accelerating your ROI: With the new TouchSource Boulder kiosk launch, a property can activate an entire digital network in a mall for $25K for 5 kiosks and unleash revenue quickly with a rapid ROI.
The Flywheel Strategy for Retail Digital Signage
And finally…what’s a flywheel?
Remember, I mentioned that in the title? Well, a flywheel is when doing the right things keeps making the next right thing easier, and before long, the whole business starts pulling itself forward. The biggest mindset shift for everyone is, “Don’t think in screens or tech stack, think in flywheels!”.
When executed well, digital signage builds a flywheel with 4 self-propelling benefits:
1. It reinforces shopper utility, so shoppers spend more.
2. It grows media and short-term leasing revenue.
3. It improves tenant experience retention with an upgraded asset.
4. And all of these contribute to leasing momentum, and ultimately asset value.
Each of those things builds and feeds each other, so the wheel starts moving. And once it’s moving, it doesn’t need a lot of work to keep it motion.
Questions Retail Leaders Should Ask About Digital Strategy
So, if you are heading to Flex Retail Summit, or just thinking through how to position digital in your facility, here are a few questions worth asking:
- What is our portfolio’s digital revenue thesis across sponsorships, direct, and programmatic?
- What’s our standard for measurement, so I know this is working?
- What is missing in my deployment to make it build on itself (like a flywheel)?
See You at Flex Retail Summit!
There is a lot more to discuss, so come grab us at Flex Retail Summit next week or reach out to us at info@touchsource.com.
We’d love to compare notes, walk through what we’re seeing across portfolios, or dig into how this could apply to your assets.