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Retail media networks (RMNs) are an exciting innovation within the advertising industry. A retail media network refers to an advertising platform that a retailer owns, providing marketers with the opportunity to buy advertising space on the retailer’s digital platforms as well as extend their reach offsite with key platforms the retailer has partnered with to open up their media buying to advertisers. The retailer uses first-party data and customer insights to create new advertising opportunities and connect with shoppers throughout their buying journey.
In this article, we’ll discuss the significant advances in retail media trends and technology — and their implications for the future of advertising.
Benefits of retail media for advertisers
Every online impression counts in the digital era, making retail media especially advantageous for advertisers. It yields new opportunities for advertisers to thrive, which we’ll discuss below.
Get access to first-party data
First-party data is a valuable asset for advertisers. Retail media networks offer advertisers direct access to customer insights from the retailer’s data vault, which helps them create highly personalized ad campaigns and connect with current and potential customers.
Custom marketing options for each brand
Retail media provides brands with various marketing options, from product listings to onsite display advertising. These options allow advertisers to customize their approach, deliver tailored messages to their target audience, and meet consumers where they are.
Reach new customers
Retail media networks empower advertisers to connect with new and existing customers using retailers’ extensive digital presence. These networks extend beyond a retailer’s own website and allow brands to tap into a broader audience base; major RMNs often have a significant offsite presence and provide advertisers with opportunities to reach consumers across various digital touchpoints and platforms beyond the retailer’s controlled environment. This reach enhances brand visibility, engages diverse audiences, and contributes to the growth of customer acquisition.
Closer proximity to purchase decisions
Another benefit of retail media is its ability to position brands closer to the point of purchase in the customer journey. Targeted, data-driven advertising strategically placed across various touchpoints enables retailers to influence consumers when they are already lower in the purchase funnel. This proximity increases the likelihood of faster purchase decisions, especially when complemented by strategies such as timely offers and retargeting, expediting the decision-making and conversion processes.
Consumers prefer personalized advertising
Research has shown that approximately 50% of consumers will spend more money with companies that personalize their e-commerce retail experience. Ads relevant to a consumer’s interests and aligned with their behaviors make shoppers more likely to engage with a brand and find it easier and more convenient. As retailers honor consumer preferences for personalized advertising, they’ll find it easier to align with consumer preferences and provide an improved shopping experience.
Retail media network use case: Experian’s impactful marketing attribution with a discount store giant
Experian’s past collaboration with a discount store giant involved implementing a comprehensive marketing attribution strategy. The primary goal was to effectively demonstrate brand campaign performance and optimize ad spend within the retail media network. We built a full-stack attribution solution that connected their offline and online data, and our approach was as follows:
- We started by collecting exposure data from all touchpoints, such as the website, app, and offsite display and social, to turn anonymous exposures into identified individuals and households.
- Additionally, we gathered debit and credit card transaction data from in-store and online points of sale to better understand purchase behavior. We also unveiled new demographic insights for the retailer.
- To streamline the decision-making process, we provided an easy-to-read reporting tool that showcased vital performance metrics.
Takeaways from the collaboration emphasized the importance of:
- Understanding the audience seeing the ads and those making purchases.
- Analyzing incremental lift and identifying insights or trends.
- Sharing these valuable insights across the organization and with advertisers to inform future campaigns and brand positioning.
Utilizing recent trends in the retail media landscape
This case study serves as a prime example of how recent retail media trends are shaping a data-centric, integrated, and insights-driven future for advertising in retail. Our marketing attribution strategy aligns with the industry’s shift toward data-driven decision-making in RMNs.
Today, retailers are adopting full-stack attribution solutions like ours, enabling them to connect offline and online data to understand customer interactions better. This reflects the trend of looking for a holistic view of customer journeys and highlights the importance of integrating diverse data sources to understand consumers comprehensively.
Moreover, our strategy to transform anonymous exposures into identified individuals, integrate transaction data, unveil new demographic insights, and provide an easy-to-read reporting tool mirrors the trends of enhanced personalization, merging online and offline data, and simplifying analytics within RMNs.
Using new retail media
Our introduction of a user-friendly reporting tool highlights the potential of new retail media to change how advertisers analyze data and gain actionable insights. It emphasizes the value of advanced tools in optimizing ad campaigns, measuring performance metrics, and informing future strategies. New technology will continue to drive effective marketing attribution and shape the future of retail advertising.
Kroger Precision Marketing’s newly announced platform
Kroger Precision Marketing (KPM) represents another excellent retail media use case. The retail media arm of the popular supermarket chain is looking to the future with the launch of its advertising platform. KPM is committed to innovation, and this move underscores its desire to be at the forefront of the retail media landscape. Let’s take a closer look at some of the essential features of this new platform.
In-house
KPM recently announced the launch of an in-house advertising platform — a significant shift from their previous practices, where they relied on external tools and systems for their retail media services. By bringing the ad technology in-house, KPM has greater control, flexibility, and the ability to align its platform precisely with its retail media goals. This decision enhances Kroger’s self-sufficiency and enables quicker adaptation to evolving market demands.
KPM’s new in-house platform was officially rolled out on October 13, 2023, and is redefining how advertisers interact with Kroger’s expansive base of consumers.
Easier for media buyers
KPM’s in-house platform is also focused on providing better tools for media buyers. The platform is designed to offer advanced automation and optimization capabilities that will make campaigns more efficient and data-driven. By using this platform, media buyers can easily reach the right audience, customize their messages, and fine-tune their campaigns — all in one place.
Integrated platform
KPM’s new platform will integrate with existing ad campaigns and eventually encompass all their retail media options. This interoperability makes migrating ongoing campaigns easy and minimizes disruptions to advertising efforts. In the long run, the platform will serve as the foundation for all KPM’s retail media services. Advertisers will have a one-stop solution for on-site and off-site media channels to ensure consistency and efficiency in retail media strategies.
KPM’s emerging retail media solutions demonstrate a commitment to advertisers and their changing needs in a shifting digital era.
Home Depot retail media
Home Depot, a well-known player in the home improvement retail industry, has made great strides in retail media. With an impressive annual customer transaction count of 1.7 billion and 3.6 billion visits to homedepot.com, their Retail Media+ platform provides advertisers with unparalleled visibility, reaching 198 million individual customers across 2,322 stores, according to their site. The benefits of Retail Media+ also include 24/7 self-service access to advertising portals, real-time reporting for campaign optimization, and dedicated support.
What Home Depot’s Retail Media+ does right
Home Depot’s Retail Media+ has set itself apart through strategic initiatives that prioritize enhancements to the shopper experience. Here’s a closer look at what makes Home Depot’s approach to RMN noteworthy:
- Seamless integration: Retail Media+ seamlessly integrates into the customer’s journey without disrupting their experience. The platform allows the delivery of targeted ads across various Home Depot-owned spaces, including the website, app, in-store, email, and offsite channels like social and video.
- Supplier-centric ad inventory: Home Depot allocates the majority of its RMN ad inventory to suppliers. This ensures the ads presented to customers align closely with the products available at Home Depot for a natural connection between onsite and in-store experiences.
- Customer-centric approach: Melanie Babcock, Vice President of Retail Media+ and Monetization at The Home Depot, emphasizes maintaining a customer-centric perspective. The goal is not merely to monetize the website but to enhance the customer journey by incorporating suppliers into the process. This approach contributes to a more personalized and relevant shopping experience.
- Exploration of offsite opportunities: Home Depot is actively exploring opportunities to expand its RM+ platform beyond onsite channels. Initiatives include piloting in-store video screens and venturing into connected TV (CTV). By considering the entire customer journey, Home Depot aims to provide value to suppliers while gaining deeper insights into customer behavior.
- Strategic use of data science: With the help of data scientists, Home Depot ensures personalized precision in its advertising efforts. This aligns with the shopper’s preferences and needs and makes the ads more relevant and engaging.
- Ongoing adaptation and expansion: Home Depot’s proactive stance is evident in its continuous efforts to adapt and expand its RMN initiatives. The exploration of offsite channels, partnerships with platforms like Roku and Disney Advertising, and the piloting of in-store video screens showcase a commitment to staying at the forefront of evolving digital retail trends.
Home Depot’s success with their RMN stems from its commitment to creating a symbiotic relationship between customers, suppliers, and the retail brand. Home Depot has set a benchmark for RMNs by aligning advertising efforts with the customer’s journey and embracing technological advancements.
Amazon retail media
Amazon Advertising, the retail media division of Amazon, has become another dominant force in the industry. Let’s take a quick look at what they’ve done well and what they could improve.
Scale of Amazon’s retail media
In 2022, eMarketer estimated that Amazon commanded a 76.9% share of retail digital media spend, blowing its competitors out of the water. Walmart, the second-largest player, trailed far behind with a 6.1% share. This underscores Amazon’s unparalleled influence and market presence in the digital advertising landscape and solidifies its position as the go-to platform for advertisers looking to reach a massive audience.
What works for Amazon
Amazon has an unmatched advantage when it comes to personalizing ads and delivering relevant content to consumers. With over 200 million Prime members in the U.S. alone, Amazon has access to vast amounts of valuable data that spans shopping habits, preferences, and more. This data is invaluable for advertisers looking to target their audiences with precision, and it gives Amazon a significant edge in the market.
What needs to change
Although Amazon continues to thrive, there’s always room for improvement. For instance, to attract brand dollars, traditional retailers are starting to concentrate on channels where Amazon has less historical dominance, such as in-store experiences and email marketing. Understanding this potential, Amazon has been experimenting with email tools to enhance merchant-audience connections and widen its reach. As ad sales’ profitability becomes more significant, incorporating these offerings into Amazon’s retail media strategy could further strengthen its market position.
Walmart retail media
Walmart has been working hard to become a more dominant retail media force. Walmart Connect, the retailer’s retail media network, has done an excellent job bridging the gap between online and in-store activities. It provides a unique closed-loop system that connects online and in-store activity on an unprecedented scale. This mechanism offers advertisers a comprehensive view of Walmart customers’ behavior, giving them valuable insights and measurable business results. With this closed-loop approach, advertisers can access a holistic view of customer activity and achieve successful marketing campaigns.
How Walmart ties together online and in-store activities
Walmart’s massive brick-and-mortar presence and its comprehensive online platform provide a complete view of customer behavior and preferences. This synergy between the digital and physical is a compelling selling point for advertisers that gives them a holistic view of consumer interactions. Walmart’s connected shopping experience integrates both online and in-store activities, allowing advertisers to engage with customers from the research stage to the online or in-store purchase stage of the buying journey.
New features and technology Walmart’s retail media platform is trying
As part of their innovative initiatives, Walmart Connect introduced the “Holiday Hub,” recognizing Walmart as America’s go-to holiday shopping destination. Advertisers can use this hub to gain key customer insights and implement product best practices to ensure a meaningful omnichannel connection during the holiday season.
In terms of new features and technology, Walmart Connect provides various advertising options to help brands stand out from the crowd:
- The Search feature ensures visibility when customers actively search for products, with ads appearing prominently in search results and on browse pages.
- Display ads, strategically placed on Walmart.com, the Walmart app, and across the web, aim to make a premium impression on customers based on their omnichannel Walmart history.
- For in-store influence, Walmart Connect offers opportunities to inspire shoppers through digital TV and point-of-purchase screens across 4,700+ Walmart stores.
- Walmart’s closed-loop measurement uniquely enables advertisers to correlate online ads with purchases, providing unparalleled scale and accuracy in measuring campaign impact.
Whether for a small business or a global brand, Walmart Connect offers solutions to help marketers discover new and effective ways to connect with their target audience.
The future of RMNs
The future of retail media networks (RMNs) is bright and holds exciting possibilities. These five key dynamics will likely drive retail media evolution:
Smaller retailers getting into the RMN game
With each passing day, more small brands are becoming active with RMNs. This trend is highly beneficial, bringing diversity, competition, expanded reach, and collaborative potential to the landscape. The future of RMNs is expected to be shaped by a mix of established and emerging brands. This will create an inclusive environment for advertisers and consumers alike.
Potential for cross-platform campaigns
Cross-platform campaigns in RMNs allow advertisers to create a cohesive, impactful, and data-driven advertising approach across different retail media networks. This shift in campaign strategy aligns with the dynamic nature of consumer interactions in the digital landscape, as it provides a comprehensive solution for brands that seek to enhance their presence and influence across diverse channels.
Targeted vs. personalized ads
Personalized ads are becoming a notable trend in RMNs and replacing targeted ads. This means RMNs now provide consumers with more relevant and tailored content based on their interests and preferences. The shift is driven by the increasing demand for personalization and the need to improve the consumer shopping experience. RMN advertisers must take advantage of these personalized ad opportunities to create stronger brand awareness.
Conversions vs. brand awareness
Advertisers often struggle when deciding whether to focus more on conversions or brand awareness. For a well-rounded strategy, RMN advertisers should craft campaigns that balance these two goals. Using the data and insights from RMNs, advertisers can personalize their messaging to drive sales and build and reinforce brand recognition. This approach can help RMN advertisers make brand awareness a central component of their advertising efforts.
Third-party data integration to enhance data and audiences
As RMNs evolve, data expansion is essential for targeted, personalized, and contextually relevant advertising experiences and will help drive the future success of retail media. Advertisers using third-party data, in particular, can unlock new dimensions in audience targeting to create more tailored and impactful campaigns. Third-party data allows for a broader understanding of customer behaviors and preferences and facilitates relevant content delivery.
Data insights for more connected, tailored advertising
Moving forward, it will also be important for advertisers to achieve a consistent view across online, app, and in-store activities. They need to understand where customers prefer to be reached and where they are most likely to engage so they can ensure a strategic alignment of messaging and optimize the effectiveness of their retail media strategies. The future of RMNs lies in using comprehensive data insights for more connected and personalized advertising.
What about AI? Where is it useful?
In the retail media context, AI (Artificial Intelligence) enhances advertisers’ capabilities by providing valuable insights and automation to drive more effective and personalized ad campaigns. AI helps analyze vast amounts of data, predict consumer behavior, and empower advertisers with the tools to optimize their strategies. Ultimately, it helps them deliver more tailored, relevant content to consumers that best aligns with their interests and preferences.
Humans still needed to drive change
While AI is a critical technology in retail media, it doesn’t replace the need for human expertise. People are still essential for driving change, making strategic decisions, and ensuring AI-driven solutions align with business objectives. Moving forward, advertisers will need to utilize both AI-driven capabilities and human expertise to see the greatest success.
A connected customer identity is the key to success
The future of advertising lies in the seamless integration of customer identity across various touchpoints. Experian’s cutting-edge solutions are leading the way in this transformation. We can help businesses navigate this dynamic environment with helpful tools that unlock a comprehensive view of audiences and facilitate effective campaigns across multiple channels.
Partner with Experian to achieve retail media success
Experian’s comprehensive data and identity solutions can help RMNs maximize their opportunity, with our new solution tailored to enhance RMNs’ strength in first-party shopper data. Experian’s solution helps RMNs unlock expanded customer insights, enriched audiences for activation, identity resolution for cross-channel audience targeting, and real-time measurement and attribution. This comprehensive solution is designed to help RMNs capture more advertising revenue. Our goal is to ensure you capture the most advertising dollars and make your RMN operate at its peak performance.
Our Consumer Sync solutions can connect customers across multiple touchpoints and channels, specifically bridging the gap between online and in-store to ensure a holistic view and strategy for audiences, campaigns, and performance. With access to over 2,500 frequently updated data points, we have the depth and breadth of data needed to supplement your audience strategy. We’ll help you unlock a broad view of your audiences to see well-rounded profiles, gain the reach required to access your audience across multiple channels, and turn opportunities into revenue. Additionally, our Consumer View solutions can help deepen your understanding of your customers, their behaviors, and campaign success.
Connect with a member of our team today to get started.
Latest posts
Experian Marketing Services and Data Quality President Genevieve Juillard recently sat down with Zach Rodgers, host of the AdExchanger Talks podcast to discuss the future of identity, the importance of data transparency and privacy, and our recent acquisition of Tapad. Genevieve focused on the opportunity for our industry to reimagine an advertising ecosystem that is resilient and adaptable; one that takes advantage of emerging data and prioritizes data transparency and consumer privacy. She also discussed the importance of advertising strategies that put consumers at the heart of every decision and give them more control over their data. Genevieve shared with AdExchanger that Experian’s acquisition of Tapad, a global leader in digital identity resolution, was a natural fit for our company. Tapad’s approach and role in the ecosystem is very much aligned with Experian’s, which is to develop solutions that are resilient to industry and consumer changes. The combination of our capabilities supports interoperability across all types of identifiers, both online and offline, and will position us to help our clients navigate the post-third-party cookie world. To learn more about Experian’s plans to support an effective advertising ecosystem that will evolve with our dynamic industry, listen to the full podcast Embracing ‘Healthy Fragmentation’ In Ad Tech, With Genevieve Juillard. Get in touch
It’s been over a year since Google announced they’d be deprecating the third-party cookie and in that time there’s been a major focus on two types of cookieless identity solutions. Identity vendors and marketers are strategizing which of these two future solutions best fits their needs so they can achieve privacy-safe scale once third-party cookies are no longer available for use on Chrome. Let’s break down these solutions and the considerations marketers need to take into account when deciding what partners to move forward with in the future of identity resolution. Authenticated Traffic Solutions Authenticated traffic solutions (ATS) are a type of digital identification that asks the end-user to identify themselves via personal information, most commonly email address. Often, you’ll see self-authentication at the point of entry to a website that asks you to create an account or login immediately to access the content you are seeking. E-commerce sites use authentication to keep track of consumer purchases and inform advertising decisions for that customer; and publishers use it to tailor featured content, or, more importantly for this discussion, leverage it within the ad ecosystem for targeting. While authentication can provide very valuable user data for audience segmenting and targeting, it can be limited in scale for a single publisher to leverage and monetize on their own. That’s why some identity vendors have worked to integrate themselves within as many publisher authentication modules as possible, so that they can create an aggregate of scale for the ad ecosystem to tap into. But, even this isn’t going to deliver the reach marketers truly thirst for. Alternatively, Facebook has the scale for authenticated traffic, but they keep their data inside a walled garden, so the utility of those authenticated users is only valuable within the Facebook ecosystem. So how can authenticated traffic solutions increase scale to broaden the scope of identifiers they can collect and leverage? Hint: a few of the biggest players have already figured it out. It’s the single sign-on. Google is probably the largest purveyor of a single-sign on solution that can directly impact advertising capabilities. Can you think of a site you visit that doesn’t offer a sign-in with your existing Google account? It’s a short list. Google has integrated themselves into so many applications and publishers that “Login with Gmail” is just second nature (you pictured the Gmail logo when you read that, didn’t you?). Now, if you’re about to purchase something you found off an Instagram ad, or perhaps a retailer you buy from regularly, you’ve probably noticed options to proceed with your checkout via “Amazon pay” or “Apple pay”. These are also single-sign ons. You’re authenticating yourself through Amazon or Apple to that retailer in exchange for A- the safety and security that Amazon or Apple provide for your financial information and B- skipping the annoying process of manually entering personal information over and over again at point of sale. It’s starting to sound like there’s a lot of authenticated data out there isn’t it? Well, that’s true, but again, Amazon and Apple are walled gardens. Amazon is working diligently to build out their own ecosystem to leverage their content and retail channel data for a holistic offering. And Apple keeps user data very close to the chest, constantly limiting its utility for themselves and advertisers. So what is identity resolution doing about it? The Trade Desk announced their solution; Unified ID 2.0, which promises to leverage email authenticated identity for a truly scaled solution for publishers via Javascript through Prebid. By handing over UID2.0 to an independent unbiased organization like Prebid, The Trade Desk is creating instant scale and trust in their solution. Unauthenticated Traffic Solutions Unlike ATS, unauthenticated traffic solutions do not rely on a log-in to identify a user, but they also don’t rely on third-party cookies. Instead, unauthenticated solutions (UATS) leverage their existing streams of real-time data through Javascript on publisher sites or an SDK (software development kit used by apps). The type of information UATS solutions can collect via Javascript or SDK vary, but it can include IP address, user agent and device level info. But being able to read this information at the point of entry to a website does not make a quality identifier. The best unauthenticated solutions will have the ability to set or ingest this information into a unique ID through an infrastructure with incredibly fast speed that can process trillions of anonymous data signals across multiple channels and devices. And even more so, be able to interpret those signals into a profile using machine learning– all at the moment a user enters a domain. It sounds complicated because it is, but it also has a lot of potential. The identity space cannot rest solely on authenticated traffic solutions, because, as you can see, it could limit ownership and operability to just a few power players/walled gardens. This doesn’t help the larger ecosystem monetize and personalize ad inventory. The right unauthenticated solution, however, can unify cross-device individuals and households at scale, because they’re integrated on the broadest number of publishers/SDKs across platforms, have the best algorithms to build confident connections between identifiers, and are universally transactable across the most common sell and demand side platforms. Think of it as the perfect partner- speaking a common language that everyone in the ecosystem understands and acts on. Today more than twenty cookieless identifiers are available in market for the ad ecosystem, and Google hasn’t even announced a date of deprecation. It’s important to be on the lookout for differentiators like scale and precision. Most importantly, choosing a truly cross-device partner will be key, especially as more digital devices and IDs grow in adoption, like CTV has this past year. Taking advantage of both What we will come to find, once the third-party cookie is obsolete, is that choosing just one of these solution types, or partners, will be a disadvantage. The more the industry comes together to collaborate on solutions, the more apparent it is that both of them have value, and thus employing both solutions will give marketers the best opportunities. Tapad, now part of Experian, recently announced the launch of Switchboard; a module within our identity solution; The Tapad Graph, to create this agnostic interoperability for identifiers of all types, and choice and control for the ad tech vendors and marketers who want them. By instantly creating the ability to partner with multiple solutions, Tapad + Experian is ensuring that all use cases for the third-party cookie live on in our cookieless future. Get in touch
Tapad launches global privacy-safe solution to provide continuity in the absence of third-party cookies Switchboard, a module within The Tapad Graph, will connect emerging cookieless identifiers to traditional IDs, creating a more holistic view of the consumer and driving value exchange within the advertising ecosystem Tapad, part of Experian, a global leader in cross-device digital identity resolution, and a part of Experian, announced today the launch of Switchboard, a first-of-its-kind solution to help navigate the evolving cookieless landscape. Switchboard, a module within The Tapad Graph, will operate as a global, privacy-safe solution to provide continuity in the absence of third-party cookies by connecting new cookieless identifiers to traditional digital IDs for a comprehensive view of consumers and their digital touchpoints. Switchboard will enable interoperability across the growing number of these digital identifiers and the value exchange between publishers, content creators and consumers. Leading digital identity solutions partnering with Tapad, part of Experian at the launch of Switchboard include Unified ID 2.0, ID5, Lotame Panorama ID, BritePool, Retargetly IDx and Audigent Halo ID. Tapad, part of Experian plans to expand support to additional identity solutions on an ongoing basis. In addition to these identity solutions, early partners across the ecosystem include The Trade Desk, Amobee, Martin, ShareThis, Eyeota and Catalina. “This diverse group of launch partners and testing customers will prove that Switchboard is an important tenet for the future of identity resolution. We’re excited to be proactive in our approach to give marketers time to adapt new solutions and test their function in tandem with the third-party cookie, while continuing to give our customers flexibility and control,” said Mark Connon, General Manager of Tapad, part of Experian. “Facilitating access and usage of 1st party identifiers is crucial to help marketers prepare for the cookieless future. Thanks to Switchboard, ID5's cookieless IDs will be available to a wider audience of brands and agencies and enable them to run effective, data-driven campaigns beyond the third-party cookie,” said Mathieu Roche Co-founder & CEO of ID5. Switchboard provides value across the marketing and advertising ecosystem as the need for the ability to support multiple cookieless ID’s across ad tech increases throughout 2021. With a decade of expertise creating digital identity resolution products, Tapad, part of Experian is poised to solve this challenge through innovation and quality, privacy-safe data-driven solutions. “Interoperability is paramount for brand marketers, agencies, publishers and platforms if we want to support an open and free Internet and break free of the stranglehold of walled gardens,” said Pierre Diennet, Global Partnerships at Lotame. ”Lotame Panorama ID’s participation in Switchboard reflects our steadfast commitment to collaborating across and within the industry and providing value to all of its players.” “As advertisers continue to contemplate the future of identity, Amobee is proud to partner with Tapad, part of Experian on this next-generation solution to provide a comprehensive view of consumers,” says Bryan Everett, Senior Vice President of Global Business Development at Amobee. “With the imminent loss of cookies, advertisers must think creatively in order to respectfully engage consumers in a privacy-compliant way and Switchboard can play an important role in addressing their respective identity needs.” Tapad, part of Experian is welcoming identity solutions and Tapad Graph customer participation in Switchboard throughout 2021. Stayed tuned for more updates and information on Switchboard in the coming months. Get in touch