• by Joe Mandese  @mp_joemandese, Yesterday

In what it claims to be a "world's first," Dentsu this morning announced it has completed the integration of consumer eye-tracking data in retail locations into its proprietary media planning system.

The eye-tracking data, which is managed by attention measurement firm Lumen Research for the U.K.'s convenience-focused Co-op Media Network.

The announcement, which included stock photos evoking eye-tracking (see one above), utilizes that technology, as part of Lumen's global surveys measuring consumer attention in retail locations.

While I a variety of agencies have utilized similar technologies in testing and measurement, Dentsu is claiming its is the first to have been integrated into its media planning and workflow systems

As part of the announcement, the companies said some of the research's findings "challenge conventional wisdom about in-store media’s effectiveness," including insights indicating that "smaller stores provide over twice the opportunity to see certain products, three times the attention and quadruple the brand recall compared to larger counterparts."

The announcement comes as the ad industry -- especially big media agencies -- are in a race to capture share of the burgeoning retail media marketplace, which already is estimated to be rivaling the ad spending of major traditional media, such as television.

“Retail media is rapidly evolving into one of the most influential advertising channels. Historically, it has been viewed as tactical rather than strategic, but this research and integration proves otherwise," Dentsu Managing Director of Product and Innovation Katie Hartley said in a statement.