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There’s no sign of a slowdown for retail media networks (RMN). However, as with any emerging technology, for the brand budget investment to continue flowing, RMNs must work toward standardization, something Europe’s Interactive Advertising Bureau aims to achieve by bringing together retailers in the region.
Retail media is currently the third fastest-growing advertising channel, forecast to reach $125.7 billion globally in 2023 and set to surpass television revenue by 2028, representing 15.4% of total ad revenue, according to GroupM’s Mid-Year Forecast. Meanwhile, IAB Europe has forecast retail media spend to overtake that of linear TV by 2026.
As a result, the world’s largest brands have entered this arena, from retailers such as Target, Walmart, Sainsbury’s, Carrefour, Macy’s and Amazon, to CPG companies such as Unilever and P&G.
Retail media networks offer advertisers the opportunity to grow their brand awareness, drive conversion and increase revenue, so it’s a no-brainer that they have begun developing their own platforms to drive first-party data and off-site traffic to monetize access to their audiences. Still, problems posed by lack of standardization limit further investment.
Enhancing retail media networks’ offering
British electronics retailer Currys is enhancing its RMN with the launch of Tech Hunters, a product that lets brand partners reach people with targeted online ads using its first-party data, offering both on- and off-site capabilities.
Developed with Publicis Epsilon and supported by Spark Foundry, the product will help brand partners reach in-market tech shoppers with display and video ads while they are shopping for a new electronic appliance, explained Currys brand and marketing director Dan Rubel.
“Wherever it [the ad] appears, it’s appearing in a moment when they actually want to see it, which since the beginning of time has been one of the things that marketers and advertising gurus are desperately searching for,” continued Rubel of the service, which launched in July.
“Because we are the retailer, we were awash with data and therefore we can create proper closed-loop reporting on impact. And not only the impact in terms of clicks and online metrics, but the impact in terms of sales, both online and in-store. As a retailer, we’re constantly trying to make the connections between advertising and sales impact in-store as well as online,” Rubel added.
In order to continue attracting marketer interest, retail media networks will need reliable attribution reporting.
