Barrows Connected Store and QSIC announced a strategic partnership designed to unify in-store audio and digital video into a single, data-driven retail media platform.
The deal connects Barrows’ ConnectOS-powered in-store digital video network with QSIC’s intelligent audio platform, enabling synchronized multi-sensory campaigns measured against real-world transaction data.
The core problem the partnership addresses is straightforward: in-store audio and video have historically been planned, bought and measured separately, producing fragmented shopper experiences and siloed performance data. The combined offering will provide centralized campaign deployment, predictive store- and category-level targeting, real-time audio-video synchronization and closed-loop attribution tied to first-party retail data.
Matt Elsley, co-founder and CEO of QSIC, said the integration closes a long-standing gap in how physical retail media has been executed.
“Shoppers don’t experience retail in silos, and retail media shouldn’t either. Yet for too long, audio and video have been planned, activated and measured in isolation,” Elsley said.
“QSIC has built the intelligence to measure in-store retail media tactics at a transactional level, and combining that with Barrows’ video network means we can now synchronize creative in real time, grounded in actual purchase data. For brands, that’s not just a better shopper experience, it’s a fundamentally more accountable way to reach people where decisions actually get made. For us, this is just the beginning.”
The case for creative synchronization
Research from Kantar cited by the companies found that creative quality contributes nearly 50 percent of overall media impact, with cross-channel creative synergy contributing up to 55 percent. Separately, studies show 57 percent of shoppers are influenced by in-store advertising at the moment of decision, and 72 percent make unplanned purchases based on in-store messaging.
Brian DeCoveny, managing director of North America at Barrows Connected Store, said the partnership enables campaign formats that weren’t previously achievable at this scale.
“Think category takeovers, high-impact seasonal activations, or brand moments that dominate a key timeframe — all enhanced by predictive targeting and closed-loop measurement using first-party retail data. Together, we’re delivering the right message, at the right time, in the right context,” DeCoveny said.
Scope and sectors
Both companies operate across grocery, mass, convenience, quick-service restaurants, liquor, hospitality, fashion, specialty retail and department stores. QSIC reaches more than 350 million in-store shoppers monthly through its audio platform. Barrows operates globally through its ConnectOS platform, which allows retailers and brands to activate, manage and measure campaigns in real time with locally relevant digital content.
The partnership’s AI-driven audio creation tools can be aligned with video content and adapted in real time based on store-level performance data, the companies said.
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