A global study of more than 1000 brands, agencies, retailers and publishers conducted by Criteo, the commerce media company, has revealed 83% of publishers are curious to tap retail media ad spend by embedding products on their web pages, opening up more inventory opportunities for offsite campaigns.
With so many platforms and providers working across the retail media ecosystem, ‘The Great Defrag: how commerce media will unite advertising in 2024’ brought together perspectives from all players and all regions into one cohesive story of how to advance retail media to the next level.
Among the key findings, an overwhelming proportion of agencies (93%), brands (88%) and retailers (89%) said retail media has had a strong or positive impact on their bottom line in 2023. In fact, 79% of advertisers agreed retail media spend is more effective in terms of sales than any other channel.
The data also illustrates how retail media has evolved beyond purely sponsored product ads. Overall, 85% of brands and agencies agreed the ability of retail media to drive upper-funnel brand awareness is growing stronger.
Brian Gleason, chief revenue officer, Criteo comments, “Advertisers, publishers and retailers want to make full use of this new media and our mission is to make it as simple as possible. The easier it is for all parties to successfully buy and sell retail media, the faster we reach the potential of this $100 billion market opportunity.”
Retail media expands offsite and instore
Looking ahead, 69% of publishers are prioritising retail media revenue over the next 12-18 months. This is good news for the 56% of brands and 47% of agencies currently investing in retail media both onsite and offsite. Another quarter (24% brands, 25% agencies) are investing only in onsite, but plan to expand to offsite in the future.
To meet offsite demands, 51% of retailers are prioritising investment in this area, while 43% are also working to meet demands for retail media in-store, such as digital screens and point of sale displays in physical stores.
“Ultimately retail media has to emulate the whole journey of the consumer,” explains Gleason. “Offsite and instore are essential components in influencing and guiding decisions, alongside sponsored products and onsite display ads. As retail media moves up the funnel, new demand sources like brand marketing and performance marketing need to be added to the mix.”
Unlocking the broader, commerce media opportunity
As we enter the age of addressability, the resource everyone needs is first-party data. Any company with a unique audience and a monetization strategy has the potential to add a new revenue stream. In fact, 58% of brands and 51% of agencies would like to see other commerce led verticals beyond retail – for example, airlines, hotels, and financial services – further monetise their digital footprints.
This broader activation of first-party data in new verticals is what differentiates the category of ‘commerce media’, an evolution from retail media. With brands and agencies already planning to spend more on the category, there is still room at the table. 45% of brands and agencies say they plan to meet 2024 objectives by looking for opportunities to invest in non-retail verticals that offer similar first-party data and closed-loop features to retail media.
