customer loyalty program
The coronavirus pandemic has turned the entire retail industry upside down, with stores closed and online orders surging. As online shopping becomes the norm, e-commerce sites have become the most valuable online sites for advertisers looking to engage with buyers on retail platforms.
Four years later, retail media continues to grow at an impressive pace and has become a hot buzzword in the advertising industry. But before we dig into why, it’s important to clarify the difference between retail media and retail data, and the role they both play in a retail media network (RMN).
Ellen Marlian, senior director of data partnerships at The Trade Desk, explains that retail media is advertising that is purchased on retailer platforms such as Walmart.com. Retail data, on the other hand, is information that stores collect about customers through agreed channels such as loyalty programs. This is highly authenticated data that gives you a clear picture of your existing customers and provides valuable insights into their purchasing behavior. More than half of consumers over the age of 18 participate in a loyalty program, highlighting the pervasiveness of retail data at advertisers’ disposal, according to a recent study from Prosper Insights & Analytics.
Prosper – Customer Loyalty Program
“Retailers began to take advantage of the rise in online shopping by increasing their advertising offerings on their own channels, but quickly realized that this offered only limited monetization opportunities. .Retail data has since emerged as a key element of retailers’ advertising offerings by providing invaluable data,” Mulryan explained. Apply insights about consumer behavior and preferences as audience targeting segments and reach these shoppers through the open internet. ”
Evolving advertising strategy
On every advertiser’s mind this year is the deprecation of third-party cookies in Chrome. As advertisers seek new identity solutions and ways to build their data, it would be remiss to not include retail data in the plan. In fact, many companies are already leveraging retail data to benefit their media investments.
“Ice cream brand Halo Top used Kroger data on our platform to reach customers at various stages of their purchase journey,” said Mulryan. “As a result, advertising costs were recovered by 470% and media savings exceeded 100%.”
Leading retailers such as Kroger, Dollar General, and Macy’s turn to advertising technology partners to harness the power of their high-quality data to power advertising campaign capabilities such as audience building, targeting, and measurement. is attracting more and more attention. This momentum is further proof that retail data is positioned to move from being considered useful to being essential.
Expanding advertising opportunities
Retail data becomes even more relevant when you look at the channels where consumers are spending more time, such as TV streaming and audio platforms. eMarketer predicts that connected TV (CTV) in particular will increase by 40% between 2021 and 2024, making it some of the most successful advertisers operating in this channel. overlays retail data to optimize media investments. Combining verified inventory like streaming services with verified buyers behind retail data gives brands the advanced solutions they need to future-proof their media investments .
Another advantage of using retail data in these media channels is that advertisers have the opportunity to reach customers much earlier in the shopping journey. Instead of waiting for customers to walk into a store or visit a retailer’s website, you can use retail data to connect the dots to find out which customers are the latest stars on Disney+.・You can check if his series is also streaming.
The power of retail doesn’t end with viewers. Omnichannel attribution also plays a role.
When customers are served ads while streaming movies, retail data helps advertisers determine how that exposure maps to in-store purchasing behavior. Armed with insights into which strategies yield the most favorable results, brands can allocate resources more strategically to maximize impact.
These capabilities are especially valuable for consumer packaged goods (CPG) brands that don’t have easy access to their first-party data. Think about products like deodorant and toothpaste. For these products, consumer loyalty is often deep, but there is not necessarily a direct relationship between the brand and the consumer. Instead of focusing on amassing first-party data, brands can build campaigns around retail data and engage with customers throughout the journey, from awareness to point of purchase.
Challenges and misconceptions
Despite the tremendous opportunities presented by retail data, challenges remain in access and execution. The proliferation of retailers launching media networks has created fragmentation, hampering advertisers’ ability to evaluate their media buys holistically. The lack of comprehensive measurement and standardization in the industry only exacerbates these challenges. Major companies like Albertsons and industry groups like the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) are leading the way, but there’s still a way to go.
“This desire for standardization is why we are focused on bringing data from the world’s largest retailers directly into our platform and providing advertisers with a single point of access,” said Mulryan. say. “We’ve also introduced measurement tools that allow advertisers to connect their brands to their most important business goals, like sales. After all, that’s what matters most to brands.”
Finally, there is a common misconception that retail data is only available on a retailer’s website or owned channel, and that non-native advertisers, or advertisers who do not sell products with a particular retailer, cannot use retail data There is a misconception that there is no benefit to using . their data.
Mr Mulyan said: “If I were a car manufacturer and I was looking for buyers for my new minivan, a retailer with a large baby registry would have a lot of attractive customers for me, right?” An example is an insurance company that outperformed its benchmark by 160% when it used retail data to find customers such as car enthusiasts and home improvement stores. There’s a lot more to retail data than many brands realize. ”
There’s no doubt that retail data is emerging as an important part of advertising strategies, regardless of industry. As the digital advertising industry approaches the end of cookies, it’s retail data that can lead the industry to a better future.
