The market, even the one that is mainly held online, has become increasingly competitive and to be able to obtain all the desired results it is necessary to develop complex and successful strategies, which take into account the challenges coming from the external environment and the changes that are going through. Reaching consumers is becoming a difficult feat if you rely only on traditional channels. Because of this, new ones are being developed, such as the retail mediaa truly innovative communication channel.
These can be integrated with already known and used marketing channels and tools to be able face growing difficulties deriving from the increase in advertising costs, from the high competitiveness in the eCommerce marketupcoming changes in third-party cookies and declining consumer purchasing power.
Retail Media, what is it
A Retail Media is a set of spacesboth offline and online (such as websites, applications, newsletters and more), which have been made by retailers and made available to brandsand advertisers. The latter can buy them to make sponsorships and show ads to customers of the same retailers.
Retailers that have created these advertising systems are, for example, Carrefour, Target, Amazon and many others they are operating achieving great successes.
The phenomenon saw the light for the first time about ten years ago in the United States of America, thanks to the work of Amazon. It then spread and is becoming more and more popular in the last period such as response to a moment of particular difficulty for eCommerce and for digital advertising in general.
The retail media phenomenon had a strong boost to growth during the period of the Covid 19 pandemic, i.e. when many people, unable to move from their homes, intensified their online shopping
During the pandemic, an increasing number of companies have opened online stores. E-commerce, as a reaction to growing competitiveness, has started to look for innovative methods and channels to advertise its products and reach a wide audience.
Online shops and companies must rely less on data from third parties to study their target and be able to achieve it effectivelyoffering highly personalized and tailored content.
In this context, some companies that are able to have and make available a large amount of first-party data and information on the behavior of their customersuseful for implementing effective advertising strategieshave decided to offer a solution and to make spaces available to brands in which to promote themselves.
How retail media work
The practical operation of the retail media system is very simple. Retail customers who create a retail media network they can discover new products or offers from other eCommerce through announcements specially designed for them and present on the communication channels of the retailers themselves. They can view them on the website, on proprietary platforms, in newsletters or in other spaces, even offline.
Basically, retail media networks operate similarly to affiliate advertising, with the necessary distinctions. Platforms are usedreal online shops offered by publishers, where advertisers promote products, services and offers from other e-commerce sites or shops, obtaining important advantages in terms of conversions.
Retailers can create your own retail media network on your own. If they don’t have the right tools, they can rely on a Connected Retail Media Network, i.e. platforms where the different retailers can meet and create partnerships that guarantee benefits for all parties involved.
Advantages of retail media
Retail media can help e-commerce of any type and size to reach your target audience and the goals we set ourselves. Within the retail media networks, collaborations can be created that are to the advantage of both the retailers and the brands that take part in the network.
In particular, retailers with these systems can increase their revenues, finding a new source of income. They can offer their customers a better experience by offering product recommendations and offers marketed by other companies.
An example of retail media is offered by Walmart Connect, which offers brands the ability to access ads in search, in-store, display, tailored content and much more
The brands, for their part, manage to get in touch with users who are already inclined to buy. They are able to obtain the information necessary for the creation of effective campaigns gathered through the direct study of the users themselves by the retailers. This is first hand information, not from third-party cookies, banned by the recent anti-tracking regulations and aimed at protecting user privacy, but considered fundamental by many realities.
In addition to information on the target, brands are able to have, through this system, metrics that allow them to perfect your actions and advertising campaigns.
As for the public, the system based on retail media provides control over the data that can be sharedtransparency on the use of data and on the way in which they are protected, the possibility of deciding whether to receive promotional and advertising communications and correct information that aims to make people aware of how their shopping experience is improved and guided .
To know more: What is it and what is meant by digital marketing