Liftoff with Jeanniey Walden · Cannes
PJ Triboletti of Fluent on the In-Store POS Announcement and Commerce Media’s Next Frontier
Who’s on this episode
Hosted by Jeanniey Walden, founder and host of Liftoff with Jeanniey Walden, recorded at Cannes.
What you’ll learn
- The Cannes announcement: non-endemic advertising with online measurement through an in-store POS device.
- How the Fluent and Bilt partnership brings online performance to the physical checkout.
- Why in-store is the frontier, when 80 to 90% of retail transactions still happen there.
- What endemic and non-endemic mean, in plain terms.
- How a checkout offer works as surprise and delight with no friction.
- Where PJ sees the opportunity heading, and why person-to-person commerce endures.
Episode highlights
- 00:00From Possible in Miami to Cannes
- 00:35The announcement that made it worth the trip
- 01:00Non-endemic in-store measurement through a POS device
- 01:52Why in-store: nearly 90% of retail happens in the store
- 02:20The origin: listening to retail partners
- 02:50Endemic vs non-endemic, explained simply
- 03:50Surprise and delight with no friction at checkout
- 06:03The future: a $6B opportunity and person-to-person commerce
Episode summary
PJ Triboletti came to Cannes with news. For the first time, he says, non-endemic, endemic, and near-endemic advertising can be monetized with online measurement through an in-store point-of-sale device, in a partnership between Fluent and Bilt. The reason that matters is a number: measurement has always been the open question for in-store retail media, and this brings the performance of online, impressions, clicks, and conversions, into a physical brick-and-mortar store.
The market logic is hard to argue with. Roughly 80 to 90% of retail transactions still happen in the store, despite everything people assumed about online media taking over. Until now, reaching those shoppers with measurable, non-endemic media meant complicated, unmeasured TV buys and digital end-caps stitched together from disparate tools. Fluent’s approach lets a non-endemic advertiser, a travel brand, a streaming service, a financial-services product, activate a measurable campaign in the store for the first time.
Triboletti is quick to hand the credit to Fluent’s retail partners, who spent years asking whether Fluent could help them with in-store. What they built together is designed to feel effortless: surprise and delight with no friction. There is no added time at the register and no distraction on screen. After a shopper authenticates into the loyalty program, they can opt in at their leisure, take a personalized offer by email or text, and convert later when it suits them. Do nothing, and the day goes on as normal.
Looking ahead, he sees non-endemic in-store measurement growing from a roughly six billion dollar slice into a much larger share of retail media. And while agentic AI is coming, he doesn’t expect it to replace person-to-person commerce. You might delegate buying the Heinz ketchup. Trying on outfits and deciding what to buy is another matter.
Key takeaways
- 00:35 Fluent announced that for the first time, non-endemic, endemic, and near-endemic advertising can run with online measurement through an in-store POS device.
- 01:00 The Fluent and Bilt partnership brings online performance, impressions to clicks to conversions, to the physical checkout, where measurement had always been the question.
- 01:52 Nearly 80 to 90% of retail transactions still happen in store, so in-store is where the opportunity is.
- 02:20 The innovation came from listening to retail partners who kept asking Fluent to solve in-store.
- 02:50 Non-endemic means reaching a shopper in a store with a travel, streaming, or financial-services offer that can be measured online.
- 03:50 It is surprise and delight with no friction: after loyalty authentication, shoppers opt in at their leisure and take a personalized offer by email or text.
- 06:03 PJ sees in-store non-endemic growing from a roughly $6 billion slice into major share of retail media, and doesn’t see AI replacing person-to-person commerce.
Questions people ask
Who is PJ Triboletti?
PJ Triboletti, full name Pasqual Triboletti, is Senior Vice President of Revenue at Fluent, Inc., a commerce media company. He leads work on Fluent’s commerce platform and its retail and advertising partnerships.
What did Fluent announce at Cannes?
Fluent announced that for the first time, non-endemic, endemic, and near-endemic advertising can be monetized with online measurement through an in-store point-of-sale (POS) device, in a partnership with Bilt. It brings online performance, from impressions to clicks to conversions, to the physical checkout, where measurement had always been the hard part.
Why does in-store matter for retail media?
Triboletti notes that roughly 80 to 90 percent of retail transactions still happen in store, despite the rise of online media. Bringing measurable retail and commerce media to the checkout line reaches shoppers where the vast majority of buying actually occurs.
What is the difference between endemic and non-endemic advertising?
Endemic advertising promotes products a retailer sells. Non-endemic brings in advertisers from outside the store’s catalog, such as a travel brand, a streaming subscription, or a financial-services product, and reaches a shopper in the physical store with online measurement. Fluent’s announcement lets non-endemic advertisers activate a measurable in-store campaign for the first time.
How does the checkout offer work without adding friction?
Triboletti calls it surprise and delight with no friction. There is no added time at the register and no distraction on screen. After a shopper authenticates into the loyalty program, they can opt in at their leisure to a personalized, relevant offer, receive it by email or text, and convert later on their own time. If they do nothing, they simply continue their day.
How big is the in-store commerce media opportunity?
Triboletti frames non-endemic in-store measurement as growing from roughly a six billion dollar slice into a much larger share of retail media, precisely because 80 to 90 percent of transactions happen in store every day. He also expects person-to-person commerce to endure even as agentic AI arrives.
Full transcript
Jeanniey Walden: We went from Possible in Miami all the way to Cannes in France, and here I am again with PJ Triboletti. Thanks so much for being here. Where’s your jacket? You had the awesome jacket last time.
PJ Triboletti: It’s a special place here at Cannes. It was hot at Possible in Miami, and the heat here in Cannes is hot, so the blazer couldn’t make an appearance. But it has been enlightening, and really gratifying, the work we’ve been putting in to drive this innovation and finally make this exciting announcement here. A lot of hard work paid off, and we’re ready to see it go into production.
Jeanniey Walden: You made a big announcement here at Cannes. Tell us all about it.
PJ Triboletti: For the first time now, you will be able to monetize non-endemic, endemic, and near-endemic advertising with online measurement through an in-store POS device, in a partnership between Fluent and Bilt. It’s really going to drive innovation in in-store retail media, where measurement has always been the question. Now we’re bringing the performance of online, from impressions to clicks to conversions, through a physical brick-and-mortar store.
Jeanniey Walden: It’s what, like 90% of all retail transactions still happen in store, despite what everybody thought about online media taking over. And now there’s a way to bring the retail media and commerce media experience to the checkout line, thanks to what you’re doing at Fluent.
PJ Triboletti: I would love to take credit, but the real story is we listen to our partners. We have incredible retail partners we’ve been working with for many years, since we launched our commerce brand and platform a little over three years ago. They kept asking Fluent, is there something you could do to help us with in-store? It took time, innovation, and back-and-forth with our retail partners, and now we’ve gone from concept to theory to selling it to our advertising and retail partners, and launched here at Cannes.
Jeanniey Walden: I was talking with Jehan Luth from Bilt, and he was talking about the partnership and how you’re bringing neighborhoods and communities together by offering this non-endemic experience at the point of sale. For everyone watching and listening who doesn’t understand endemic versus non-endemic yet, can you explain it quickly?
PJ Triboletti: Sure. Say you’re inside your grocery store. An advertiser we’re looking to bring into this inventory could be a travel partner, a streaming subscription service, or a financial-services product, and they can reach that customer with online measurement in the physical store. That’s the non-endemic part. For the first time now, non-endemic can activate an actual campaign in store without doing unmeasured TV buys across many screens or complicated digital end-capping, which meant aggregating all kinds of data from different partners and disparate measurement tools. Now non-endemic can drive real performance and add incremental reach.
Jeanniey Walden: So if you’re in a Walgreens, a CVS, a Dick’s Sporting Goods, you came to buy one thing, and at the point of sale you can now be served something else you need that they don’t necessarily offer. It helps those advertisers get new customers, and it makes the experience great, you think, wow, I came to Dick’s to pick this up and now I also got this added benefit. It’s a win-win for everybody.
PJ Triboletti: Surprise and delight with no friction. There’s no added time at the register or kiosk, and no distraction on screen. It’s after they’ve already authenticated into the loyalty program, and they’re able to opt in at their leisure for an offer that’s personalized and relevant. If they do nothing, they progress through their day. Or they can click a button, receive an email or a text, whichever they prefer, take that offer with them, and convert when they have the time.
Jeanniey Walden: A lot of the conversation here at Cannes was about AI, but also retail media networks and commerce and what the future is. If we meet here one year from now, what do you think is going to happen in the next year?
PJ Triboletti: Based on the innovation of what this in-store POS device can allow for measurement of non-endemic entering retail media in store, you’re going to see that opportunity go from around six billion dollars of the total retail media opportunity to an exorbitant growth pattern, taking additional market share out of traditional on-site and off-site retail media. Because 80 to 90 percent of transactions are happening in store every single day, it’s the best opportunity we have. And yes, agentic is coming, but I don’t see robots taking away person-to-person commerce anytime soon.
Jeanniey Walden: There are certain things a robot will never do. Can I tell it to go buy Heinz ketchup for me? Sure. Can I tell it to try on some outfits and figure out which one looks best and buy it for me? Absolutely not. So we’ll see what happens there. This has been awesome. Congratulations, and looking forward to seeing what happens with your platform. Everybody, stay tuned, some great guests coming up next.
PJ Triboletti: Thank you.
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