Groceryshop 2023 in Las Vegas was a treasure trove of insights into the retail landscape, touching on timely themes such as generative AI, enhancing in-store experiences, and combating retail theft. Amidst these hot-button topics, Retail Media continued to emerge as a standout, showcasing the transformative change it is bringing to the retail and CPG advertising space.
Retail Media remains a linchpin in both retailers' growth plans and brands' advertising strategies. However, brands in the current inflationary environment are increasingly adopting a more conservative approach to selecting partners, prioritizing technologies and services with proven ROI as part of their investment decisions. As such, retailers understand that merely having a Retail Media Network (RMN) isn't enough these days. They need to provide significant market value and strength in helping advertisers hit all of their goals instead of simply showcasing their unique differentiators. Ultimately, they are acknowledging that they're selling a service that must be genuinely valuable. However, working with less mature RMNs sometimes feels like grappling with a "retail media tax" for brands, underscoring the importance of maturity and robustness in platform capabilities.
Large RMNs such as Walmart, Ahold Delhaize, and Kroger, are witnessing significant profit growth due to their expansive measurement capabilities, insightful analytics, and considerable media scale. They are set to continue dominating the market over medium and smaller RMNs that lack the same level of depth.
The landscape is evolving further with both established and new RMNs, like HyVee’s Red Media, recognizing their role as competing not only within the space but also with other media providers like NBC, iHeart Radio, and Spotify. This calls for an expanded competitive mindset and a robust understanding of the media buying space, which may pose challenges for some retailers who are still not fully investing in their Retail Media teams and culture.
On the brand side, when it comes to retail media partnerships, brands hope that their retail media partners can inevitably help them solve three critical things: measurement standardization, incrementality, and in-store attribution. While the importance of each may vary, collectively, they represent the top priorities for brands seeking solutions from their retail media partners. Measurement standardization, as driven by Albertsons Media Collective, might snag the top prize for most important given the sheer amount of attention and buzz it generated amongst the retail media discussions.
Brands also emphasized the necessity for RMNs to focus more on effectively utilizing the existing shopper dollars on their networks, rather than focusing on acquiring new revenue streams from national brand and other budgets. Additionally, having partners distinguish between online and in-store sales percentages holds significant importance in the eyes of brand advertisers, even if these capabilities are still nascent and not fully built out. The interest in offsite Retail Media is evident, with retailers like Dollar General prominently featured in sessions, and offsite being highlighted as a key investment opportunity for brand advertisers like Coca Cola.
Lastly, the significance of building a competent team to navigate Retail Media processes is underscored, almost equal to the importance of choosing the right Retail Media partner. You need people who are ready to drive innovative change and who know the landscape. But it is recognized that you can’t simply hire a team with all of the best titles in Retail Media, you have to also make sure that all the teams they will work with are educated on Retail Media and understand the goal of what this investment will bring to the business overall.
Groceryshop has proven to be a game-changing event for those who want to learn about the latest trends and market insights within the Retail Media, grocery, and CPG brand space, and this year did not disappoint. To stay up-to-date on more innovations, research, and trends within the realm of Retail Media, feel free to follow InMobi on LinkedIn or get in touch with us at inmobicommerce@inmobi.com today to learn more about what we can do for you!
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