Floor Price
The minimum CPM price a media owner will accept for programmatic advertising inventory, below which bids are rejected.
A floor price (also called a price floor or reserve price) is the minimum CPM rate that a media owner or publisher is willing to accept for their advertising inventory in a programmatic auction. Bids submitted below the floor price are automatically rejected, and the impression either goes unsold or is filled with a default or house advertisement.
Floor prices are a critical yield management tool for retail media networks operating programmatic advertising. Setting the floor price too high reduces fill rates (fewer advertisers can meet the minimum); setting it too low may undervalue premium inventory and leave revenue on the table. Effective floor price management requires balancing fill rate against CPM yield to maximise total revenue.
Retail media operators typically set different floor prices for different inventory segments based on their relative value: high-footfall entrance screens command higher floors than aisle screens; peak shopping periods command higher floors than off-peak hours; screens with verified audience data command higher floors than screens with estimated impressions. Dynamic floor pricing — adjusting floors in real-time based on demand signals — is an advanced optimisation strategy that can significantly improve programmatic revenue. The Adflux programmatic SSP enables retailers to set and adjust floor prices by screen, location, time period, and audience segment.