6 Advantages of Retail Media Networks: Unveiling New Opportunities for Brands and Retailers

In the swiftly changing digital era, capturing consumer attention at the right moment is crucial for brands striving for success. Much like in-store advertising serves the offline world, retail media networks have transformed how brands engage with their target audiences in the digital retail landscape. These networks strategically position ads based on relevant search terms and product category browsing, enabling brands to connect with consumers precisely when making crucial purchasing decisions.

For grocers to remain relevant to shoppers, competitive in the retail landscape, and well-connected with brand partners, stepping into the retail media space has become indispensable. In our previous article, we delved into the concept of retail media networks, exploring their components and stakeholders. This article will explore the advantages brands and retailers can unlock through retail media networks.

Empowering the Digital Journey

Retail media networks have extensive implications that stretch across all e-commerce stakeholders, ushering in a transformative era of consumer interaction. By revolutionizing how brands and retailers engage with consumers, these networks unlock the potential of targeted and personalized advertising, making every interaction a tailored and meaningful experience. This reshaping of the shopper journey enhances consumer satisfaction and brings tangible benefits to brands and retailers. Within the symbiotic ecosystem of thriving retail media networks, the e-commerce landscape enters a win-win situation where each stakeholder reaps the rewards of seamless and personalized shopping experiences. For brands and retailers, this translates into six significant benefits that shape the shopper journey and drive revenue growth.

Brand Perspective 

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Influencing Shoppers through Prominent Visibility

For brands, retail media presents a golden opportunity to connect with consumers in a highly receptive state. As shoppers actively browse retailer websites and apps to make a purchase, retail media becomes a powerful platform to influence their decisions during the crucial research and decision-making phases. With consumers in shopping mode, retail media allows brands to deliver their message at the most opportune moment, ensuring that their promotions resonate with potential buyers, just one click away from conversion.

When executed effectively, retail media ads stand out prominently on the digital shelf, creating a distinctive presence that captures consumers' attention. The strategic placement of these ads elevates brand visibility, helping brands gain prominence in the competitive online marketplace.

Embracing First-Party Data

Retail media networks provide a unique advantage by seamlessly integrating ad impressions and sales on a single platform, allowing for accurate ad impact and spending tracking. This valuable data empowers brands to refine future campaigns and gain deeper insights into their consumer segments. Leveraging first-party data from retail media networks opens up opportunities for brands to strategically plan their targeted advertising efforts, ensuring their messages reach the right audience at the right time.

Effectively embracing first-party data from retail media networks enables brands to allocate dedicated budgets for these platforms. According to our research, on "Media Monetization Opportunity," 83% of CPG marketers plan to increase their spending on innovative media, recognizing the significance of retail media networks as an essential tool in their advertising arsenal. With the ability to optimize ad strategies and boost ROI, retail media networks have become a key driver for brands seeking to stay ahead in the competitive advertising landscape.

Maximizing Dollars: A Strategic Imperative

In the uncertain economic climate, where digital sales remain relatively flat at 13.1% in Q2 and brick-and-mortar store sales show an increase, brands are cautiously considering their discretionary spending. However, an optimum advertising strategy has emerged as marketers seek to maximize their dollars and secure accurate proof of their advertising investments. With 88% of CPG firms expressing growing concern over the need for precise ROI measurements, leveraging first-party data from retail media platforms has become imperative for marketers.

By judiciously using first-party data, brands gain valuable insights, enabling them to monitor which products sell and confidently calculate their return on investment (RoI). To achieve this, RoI retail media placements must be strategically positioned within e-commerce sites or apps, allowing brands to leverage the data effectively. Additionally, brands want to consolidate their media buy over the next 12 months, reducing partners by 17% to streamline advertising spending more efficiently.

Retailer Perspective

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Leveraging Media Monetization as an Alternative Stream

For retailers, navigating inflation and macroeconomic challenges has prompted the need to explore alternative revenue streams, especially with digital sales projected to comprise 20% of overall sales by 2025. Grocery Doppio's research, indicates that 71% of grocery retailers actively explore and implement new revenue-generating avenues, with 78% recognizing media monetization as a clear and vital opportunity. Investing in more recent revenue streams allows retailers to stay competitive, mainly as rival companies often compete on pricing, and transportation and logistics costs can significantly erode retailers' already narrow profit margins. Embracing innovative revenue strategies becomes critical for retailers to weather the competitive landscape and secure their position in an evolving and challenging market.

First-Party Data in the Digital Landscape

At the heart of retail media networks lies the data collected at the point of sale, serving as retailers' pivotal first-party data source. With thin profit margins in the CPG industry and the impending "cookie apocalypse" challenging traditional data routes, retail media platforms offer retailers a viable and future-proof monetization scheme. By leveraging data derived from these platforms, retailers gain access to authentic and in-depth insights, allowing them to target ads with maximum impact. Retail media networks with loyalty programs become a differentiator, providing retailers with invaluable information about shoppers' intentions. This data-driven approach is vital to achieving advertising success and driving meaningful customer engagement. Grocery Doppio's research on media modernization opportunities underscores the significance of effectively utilizing data, with 77% of marketing executives recognizing the differentiation potential of loyalty programs within media networks.

‍Strategic Alliance

Retailers with their own Retail Media Networks (RMN) gain a significant advantage in advertising. By owning and operating the RMN, retailers have direct control over the ad inventory and placements within their digital ecosystem. This level of ownership enables them to establish seamless coordination with brands that want to advertise on their platform. Directly communicating with brands allows retailers to understand their advertising goals and target audience better. With this knowledge, retailers can tailor their advertising strategy to ensure that suitable ads are presented to the right audience at the most reasonable time. By aligning the advertising approach with brands, retailers can create a cohesive and integrated advertising experience for shoppers.

Conclusion

In this article, we've explored the various advantages that brands and retailers can gain from investing in retail media networks. These benefits lead to stronger partnerships and alliances between the two parties, creating a more effective and personalized advertising ecosystem.

In the next part of this series, we will explore the challenges in retail media networks that brands and retailers face when utilizing these networks. Despite the numerous benefits, navigating this dynamic landscape has its hurdles. We will examine these challenges and explore potential strategies to overcome them, ensuring a successful and mutually beneficial relationship in the retail media space.