More marketers than ever before are leveraging commerce media to drive their business growth. Marrying data intelligence with digital advertising to reach consumers across their shopping journeys, commerce media allows marketers to powerfully improve their business outcomes and ultimately deliver better shopping experiences.
According to a study conducted by Forrester Consulting on behalf of Criteo, The Future of Commerce Needs a New Media Approach, 80% of marketers surveyed expressed that commerce media is a top business objective. Further, 65% said that a commerce media approach would increase business growth.
So what’s driving the rise of commerce media among marketers? Below we uncover six core reasons why commerce media is becoming an increasingly essential marketing practice.
Reasons for commerce media’s growth
1. Ecommerce’s boom is beginning to stabilize
The meteoric rise of ecommerce since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic is cooling down due to a sense of new normalcy, the return of consumers to work/school/entertainment, geopolitical events, and other economic factors. Commerce media is gaining ground because it enables marketers to adjust to the changing times with marketing solutions that drive visits and conversions both online and offline.
Source: Criteo Shopper Story, Global (Australia, France, Germany, Japan, South Korea, UK, US), August-November 2021, N=6794 / July-October 2019, N=6346.
2. Consumers are turning to the open internet for their shopping needs
Criteo research shows that more consumers than ever before are starting their search journeys on retail and brand websites – instead of searching on Amazon or Google.1 With consumers bypassing online marketplaces and search engines, commerce media opens new opportunities for marketers to connect with consumers on publishers and retailers across the open internet at critical search touch points.
Source: Criteo Shopper Story, Global (Australia, Japan, South Korea, France, Germany, UK, US), August-November 2021, N=7330 / July-October 2019, N=7102.
3. Privacy regulations are growing
Over the years, new regulations continue to emerge to protect the privacy of consumers and to create a more transparent ecommerce experience. As a result, marketers and media owners are looking for new ways to responsibly reach consumers and monetize audiences – all while acting in accordance with privacy laws and the phase-out of third-party cookies. With a focus on first-party data and responsible, addressable advertising, commerce media is an attractive option for those looking to future-proof their strategy.
4. First-party data strategies are imperative
Due to the previous point, an entire ecosystem of players is profoundly affected by the decline of third-party cookies: marketers now prioritize gathering and growing first-party data, publishers are expanding their first-party data strategies to prepare for decline of CPMs, and retailers are venturing into new ways to monetize their first-party assets. By connecting marketers and media owners to each other and to data, commerce media helps all ecosystem players achieve their first-party data goals.
5. Proving ROI makes all the difference
Many companies lack qualitative metrics to demonstrate the impact of their spend on marketing – making it impossible to determine a concrete analysis of activity performance and define a fully informed budget for the future. However, commerce media provides closed loop reporting, so you can track ad spend to product sales and fill in the gaps for ROI analysis.
6. “Head of Commerce” roles are emerging
Across industries, agencies and brands are hiring Head of Commerce talent who bolster business growth with a 360° approach to commerce. Spearheading everything from search and display to shopper marketing and retail media, the Head of Commerce prioritizes an audience-based approach to marketing over a channel by channel or retailer by retailer approach. Commerce media gives this role the holistic view they need, enabling them to activate audiences and measure results across a variety of channels and formats all from one place.
Learn more about the power of commerce media
In an ever-evolving world of shifting consumer behaviors, ecommerce preferences, regulations, industry changes, and more, commerce media stands as a future-proof solution that can enrich consumer experiences while achieving business outcomes.
To learn more, read our Ultimate Guide to Commerce Media for more on why commerce media is trending, the current state, and why you need it now.
1Source: The Harris Poll and OpenX, “The open web vs. the walled garden”, 2020
