Monetizing the Moment: How Sports Basement and Teamwork Commerce Are Redefining In-Store Advertising

Sports Basement, the beloved Bay Area retailer known for its community-centric shopping experience, is pioneering a new frontier in retail media by turning its point-of-sale displays into dynamic marketing and engagement platforms. With the help of Teamwork Commerce’s Shopper Services, the company is now transforming every customer transaction into an opportunity for personalized marketing, brand partnerships, and incremental revenue.

“It transforms the POS display into a targeted marketing tool, enabling us to monetize in-store traffic with personalized ads, track ROI through advanced analytics, and let our customers sign in or sign up,”
said Aaron Schweifler, Chief Operating Officer at Sports Basement.

From Checkout to Ad Spot: Monetizing Customer Attention

In today’s retail landscape, every in-store interaction counts. Sports Basement recognized that its checkout counters—where millions of annual transactions occur—offered a powerful but underused opportunity: direct access to engaged, high-intent customers.

“Right now, the world of advertising—you’re on the side of a bus, you’re on a web ad,” Schweifler explained. “We feel like we’re going to be able to monetize our customer eyeballs at the register, and that’s a brand-new revenue stream for us.”

By leveraging Shopper Services, Sports Basement can now display tailored messages, offers, and campaigns directly to shoppers on the customer-facing iPad screen. This transforms the POS experience into an interactive digital touchpoint, allowing customers to claim coupons, sign up for loyalty programs, or learn more about offers—all in real time.

Data-Driven Personalization and Partner Opportunities

The system intelligently combines transactional data and loyalty insights to deliver relevant, contextual content. Whether it’s showing a customer their receipt as items ring up or promoting a local partner event, every display is powered by real-time analytics.

“The type of data powering the messaging on Shopper Services starts with transactional information—your receipt as it’s being rung up—but it also pulls from loyalty data,” Schweifler said. “Maybe we have a partner that wants everyone to see that we’re offering tickets to their event for a discount.”

This innovation doesn’t just enhance customer experience—it opens the door to new advertising partnerships. Local events, outdoor brands, or community organizations can all connect with highly targeted audiences during the critical moment of purchase.

Visionary Partnership and Retail Innovation

For Sports Basement, choosing Teamwork Commerce was about more than software—it was about partnership.

“Teamwork’s the perfect partner for this,” Schweifler emphasized. “They’re not only future-forward but also an excellent customer service organization—and visionary. That’s why they’re perfect for us.”

From concept to execution, the collaboration between the two companies has set a new benchmark for how retailers can integrate marketing, loyalty, and commerce into one cohesive, data-driven platform.

Advice for Other Retailers

Schweifler’s advice to his peers is clear: start experimenting with in-store media now.

“Think really creatively about who those advertisers could be,” he said. “It doesn’t just need to be one of the brands you carry. It can be an event, a partner, or anyone whose audience overlaps with yours.”

By adopting Teamwork Commerce’s Shopper Services, Sports Basement has expanded its business model beyond transactions, pioneering a future where every in-store moment has measurable marketing value.