Interest in Retail Media continues to boom with new networks debuting almost weekly but what do retailers need to know to make these ventures a success?
Propeller’s recent panel ‘Retail Media: What Next?’ provided a host of useful insights and advice for retailers and brands looking to optimise the opportunities.
Propeller CEO Kieran Kent chaired the session, held at the co-located eCommerce Expo/Technology For Marketing shows at London Excel, where he was joined by Ellie Prendergast, Retail Media Lead at Co-op Media Network, Elton Ollerhead, Director of ASOS Media Group and Kaitlin Craig, Proposition Strategy & Development Manager, John Lewis Partnership.
Retail Media is forecast to grow by 17.5% globally this year according to GroupM and will represent 15.1% of total global ad revenue – in the UK it’s expected to make up 8.5% of total advertising revenue and is the second fastest growing channel behind Connected TV.
This rocketing growth is fuelled by several factors. They include fragmenting audiences and changing shopping behaviours, an ever-expanding number of touchpoints and first party data’s soaring value in the face of threatened cookie deprecation (even if cookies now have a reprieve). The clincher for Retail Media’s relevance are the leaps in technology and data management that mean retailers and brands can now ‘close the loop’ to directly link in-store and offsite marketing activity to sales.
The panel discussion ranged over several topics including the retailer race to maturity, integration of in-store and offsite activity and how ad tech can support retailer efforts.
Key insights from the panel included:
· Retail Media can deliver both performance and brand marketing benefits. Co-Op’s Ellie Prendergast pointed out that while it’s been seen as a conversion channel “Retail Media can turn into a brand campaign at scale – thanks to frequency [of exposure] and proximity. It can be higher up the funnel and deliver brand awareness.” Elton Ollerhead added that carefully curated and crafted content, such as the video and still photography created by Asos’s partnership with Tommy Jeans at New York Fashion Week, can engage and build a strong relationship with audiences for all partners.
· Scale does matter – larger operations will have bigger data sets on customers to leverage and be able to afford the necessary infrastructure to implement Retail Media. Ellie pointed out that smaller retailers can potentially band together to create a network and that specialist retail stores will offer a unique USP for certain brands.
· Uniform metrics so that brands can usefully compare media networks are still a sticking point. Ellie added that within teams, from product to sales, companies are focused on different metrics and using different naming conventions. She highlighted that the IAB U.S. and IAB Europe have just released In-Store Retail Media: Definitions and Measurement Standards to help with transparency and consistency and these are open for public comment.
· Collaboration with partners is essential. Kaitlin Craig from John Lewis & Partners said: “We’d never have been able to start just with the technology and experience we have in-house. We do have to lean on agencies – they are experts and an important extension of our team.”
· Software and tech vendors need to help the managers championing retail media get C‑suite buy-in. Elton Ollerhead from Asos said: “A lot of business leaders are not technology or data privacy experts –help us make it easy to say ‘yes’ to a proposal – emphasise what the important things are … if you can be a consultant and advisor through the process it makes it more likely you will win the business. ” He added that retailers needed help to understand what technology was essential to ensure a successful operation versus “what is nice to have.”
The panel rounded off by stressing the growing need for brands to understand and personalise the customer journey and how these imperatives will continue to drive interest and investment in Retail Media.
