Retail Media Trend Report: October 4
Welcome back to Chicory’s Retail Media Trend Report! The boom of retail media has made industry news, especially for grocers, hard to follow. Our bi-weekly recap aims to help you navigate this ever-growing world.
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Industry Happenings
1. Insights From Kroger Precision Marketing SVP
Earlier this week, Cara Pratt, SVP of Kroger Precision Marketing, shared her thoughts on Progressive Grocer on retail media’s growing influence on marketing strategy, and how it might be time for retailers to fully embrace their position in the world of brand marketing.
Her key takeaway? Retail insights lead to better consumer experiences.
“Retailers sit at the epicenter of a transformation happening across the marketing community – especially as brands seek to navigate shifting purchase behaviors…Today, retailers are being sought out to help brands understand their categories, measure media investments and influence purchase behaviors.”
Building on this, Pratt highlights five key ways retail media is shaping marketing strategy today:
Audience-First Planning: Retail media offers more meaningful insights into consumer lifestyles and aspirations compared to traditional demographics. Kroger's data shows retail audiences achieve the same sales impact with 51% fewer impressions and 40% higher lifetime value, encouraging brands to shift strategies.
Streaming TV Capabilities: The connected TV ad market is projected to reach 40% of TV advertising by 2026. Retail-derived audience segments enhance CTV experiences, resulting in significant media sales uplift. Retailers are becoming essential for relevant branding and storytelling.
Breaking Down Silos: The lines between brand and shopper marketing are blurring. Retail insights are crucial for both brand-building and sales activation. A recent analysis revealed that every $1 invested in retail advertising generated $14 in store sales.
New Growth Strategies: Retail media is not just for reaching existing customers; over 75% of Kroger's display impressions came from new-to-brand shoppers. Brands can leverage retail insights to identify growth opportunities and ensure media investments deliver results.
Sustainable Media Ecosystem: Precision targeting reduces wasted budgets and carbon emissions. Using retail audiences in programmatic ads resulted in a 37% lower carbon cost, contributing to a healthier digital ecosystem for brands and the planet.
What Pratt ultimately points to is retailers playing a more central role in an ever-evolving media landscape - taking greater responsibility in breaking down silos and connecting with consumers.
2. Ahold Delhaize USA & Giant Eagle Talk RMN Strategies
As retail media continues to flourish in the grocery sector, it also brings with it unique challenges and opportunities to tackle.
During a recent webinar hosted by Grocery Dive and Marketing Dive, Bobby Watts, Senior Vice President of AD Retail Media at Ahold Delhaize, highlighted the distinct challenges of retail media compared to traditional grocery sales.
Watts put it simply: “It’s not a banana.” Compared to grocery sales, retail media poses different margins, expenses and costs, he says.
During the event, Watts spoke with Jonathan Mancuso, director of real media sales for Giant Eagle’s Leap Media Group, discussing the opportunities in balancing both in-store and online targeting efforts.
“I think sometimes as a retail media network we get a bad rap that we’re trying to turn the stores into Times Square,” Watts said. He continues, “Digital screens are not cheap and it’s important that they are located in prime positions to both benefit the advertisers and the customer experience.”
The duo also touched on growing talks around industry standardization. While Watts mentioned that AD Retail Media is following IAB standards as closely as possible, both he and Mancuso noted that industry-wide implementation requires investments in labor and infrastructure that aren’t easy to set up overnight.
Watts made a critical point towards the end of the standardization talk, saying he doesn’t want to see retail media limited as a driver for return on ad spend. Instead, retail media “should be rooted in: ‘what is the business problem you’re trying to solve? Let’s lead with a data-led strategy,’ and then follow up with measurements to see how campaigns are performing.”
Want to learn more about how retailers are driving off-platform impact with contextual commerce media? Read here about Chicory’s innovative ad suite for retail media networks.