The rise of retail media is accelerating at lightning speed. Known as the third big wave of digital advertising (following search and social), it’s estimated to capture 1 in 5 ad dollars by 20241 and the retail media market size will grow to $100 billion in 2026.2
The power of retail media has become indisputable, and the time is now to take advantage of its massive growth on the horizon. To help retailers and brands prepare for the future of retail media and take their approach to the next level, we created the eBook, How to Scale for Retail Media Success.
If you’re in the retail media game, you’ll want to get your hands on this eBook, which is packed with key opportunities for brands and retailers to position themselves for success. To start off, here are just a few recommendations from the eBook.
How to scale your retail media business
1. Expand your investment approach
Brands:
Brands that spend more on retail media see higher performance.3 Despite this, our data at Criteo shows that brands are still underspending on retail media relative to the opportunity.4 Many brands find themselves over-indexed on the walled gardens, where return on ad spend is lowest because competition and costs are high.
In order to scale your program, lean into strategic reallocation: Shoppers typically visit 2-3 retail sites before making a purchase, so it’s best to broaden your portfolio to reach your shoppers where they are.
Retailers:
Retailers don’t have to depend on direct sales alone. To drive retail media growth, retailers should open up to as much demand as possible, tapping into both direct and indirect sales for the optimal mix of revenue and efficiency.
To achieve this, retailers should look to API partners and DSPs who can enable indirect sales that drive incremental revenue. Additionally, retailers shouldn’t leave ad revenue dollars from agencies on the table by closing off their retail media network or only offering a managed service offering. Agencies and brands want the ease of buying retail media in a single login, with self-service access to inventory.
2. Test tactics across the full-funnel
Brands:
To optimize both branding and performance, a savvy growth strategy that expands retail media advertising format is key. Both year-round and particularly during peak sales seasons, brands should target the full shopper journey both onsite and on the open web.
To do so, brands can drive brand awareness and consideration with ads running on the open web or via CTV, engage with in-market shoppers directly on a retailer’s site, and trigger conversion at the point of sale with tactics like sponsored products. For building even stronger connections with shoppers, brands can get creative by engaging with diverse formats such as video, dynamic display, static display, and sponsored products. Brands can also distribute placements across the open web and throughout the retailer’s site and app, on the home page, category, search, product detail, and checkout pages.
Retailers:
While sponsored ads sit at the core of retail media, retailers should also be expanding their ad portfolios to help brands achieve their upper- and mid-funnel goals, while creating new consumer experiences.
For mid to upper-funnel opportunities, retailers can test both onsite and offsite display ads, applied to all products no matter their buying cycle length. For upper-funnel awareness and an omnichannel experience, retailers can leverage In-store ads and email. Retailers can also experiment with rich formats such as video to engage casual browsers.
3. Embrace smart partnerships
Brands:
Among too many platforms and too many network logins, brands can often find that their resources are being overwhelmed and that their budgets and holistic measurements are inhibited.
In order to reduce complexities, brands should work with demand aggregators and API partners. This will help streamline media, expand access to supply, and stay nimble and efficient. Working with third-party partners can also provide vital market intel, such as what your competitors are spending on retail media and where.
Retailers:
Retailers should take full advantage of the expertise and capacity of outside agencies and partners. Backed by valuable insights into the market and the experience and learning gained from working with multiple retailers, these partners can help you scale your program for success.
Lean on partners for guidance on how to build programs, optimize strategic planning, and develop growth tactics. Partners can also leverage their own data, analytical resources, and reporting to help retailers make the business case to decision makers for their retail media roadmap.
Take full advantage of retail media’s momentum
For more tactics on how brands and retailers can take their retail media approach to the next level, download our eBook, How to Scale for Retail Media Success.
In addition to tactics on how brands and retailers can prepare for the future of retail media, the eBook also includes strategies for scaling on the supply and demand sides, as well as insights from industry experts at Criteo, Shipt, and Matterkind.
Interested in more? Read our retail media guide.
Sources:
1 eMarketer, “Retail Media Ad Spending Forecast 2022”
2 McKinsey, “The $100 Billion Media Opportunity for Retailers”
3 Criteo Retail Media data 2022-01-01 to 2022-06-15
4 Criteo Retail Media data 2022-01-01 to 2022-06-30
