Vistar launches online storefront for complete DOOH deals

Last October, digital out-of-home (DOOH) ad platform Vistar Media launched a private marketplace for US and Canadian outdoor signage like billboards, bus shelter displays and screens in taxis.

Now, the New York City-based firm has launched what it describes as “the first global dedicated storefront for private marketplace deals” that covers the whole process.

The new “Deals Discovery” online storefront, CEO Michael Provenzano told me, allows ad buyers to find inventory and conduct the entire transaction online. Previously in the Vistar marketplace, he said, sellers’ salespeople would contact potential buyers by phone to communicate the inventory opportunity. Then the buyer would go online to the Vistar marketplace to find the exact signage, set the price and conclude the deal.

Now, he said, the self-service buyer can decide when to look for inventory, find it in Deals Discovery via a demand-side platform and conclude it online. Here’s a sample Deals screen:

Provenzano said it is typical in the DOOH world to only see online buying opportunities that have been previously discussed offline, such as by phone, and then setting the price and wrapping up the deal online.

The reason there has often been an initial offline encounter before going online, he said, is that “a layer of education” is still required for many buyers, who often come from the online ad world.

The self-service DOOH buyer can now initiate the deal, without first having to go through an offline contact with the seller. Provenzano said the intention is not to replace sellers’ sales teams but to make inventory more available to self-service buyers.