Navigating the Retail Media Landscape in 2023: Key Insights for Brands and Agencies

Retail media represents the convergence of digital targeting capabilities and the scale of traditional advertising. By leveraging retailer consumer data and online/in-store environments, retail media allows brands to influence shopping audiences in a high-intent state. With retail media spend expected to reach $100 billion by 2023, it’s essential for brands and agencies to understand this evolving landscape.

The Interactive Advertising Bureau’s (IAB) recent Retail Media Buyer’s Guide provides an in-depth look at retail media strategy.

Here are some of the key insights:

Explosive Growth of Retail Media

• Retail media is the fastest growing digital ad category, predicted to increase 3x faster than the total digital ad market from 2021–2023.
• 45% of US digital ad spending will come from retail media by 2023, up from only 20% in 2021.
• 60% of US advertisers plan to increase their retail media budgets in 2022.

Power of First-Party Data

• Retailers possess robust first-party data on shopping behaviors, product affinity, CRM profiles, and real-time intent signals. This enables hyper-targeted audience segmentation down to the product level.
• As third-party cookies decline, advertisers are shifting budgets to retail media for its closes-loop targeting and measurement capabilities rooted in retailer first-party data.

Omnichannel Opportunities

• Onsite retail media (eCommerce sites/apps) targets active shoppers with formats like sponsored products, search ads, and display banners. 89% of brands currently use onsite retail media.
• Offsite retail media expands reach on social, display, video and CTV. 78% of brands now leverage offsite retail media for upper-funnel awareness.
• In-store retail media engages shoppers at point-of-purchase via displays, signage, digital screens. 51% of brands use in-store retail media today.

Strategic Collaborations

• 52% of brands engage in joint business plans with retailers to align on objectives, audiences, and strategies.
• 76% of advertisers believe retail media improves marketing effectiveness. 67% of retailers see increased consumer engagement.
• Collaboration between brands, retailers, and agencies is essential to execute strategies across the consumer journey.

Measurement and Optimization

• Retail media provides closed-loop measurement of sales impact across online and in-store with purchase-based attribution.
• Granular analytics and real-time optimization are possible given the retailer first-party data foundation.
• Continual testing of audiences, channels, creatives, and formats based on performance data drives incremental gains.

As spend shifts into retail media, brands and agencies must stay agile, leveraging data and technology (like Mimbi !) to engage high-intent shopper audiences. By implementing insights from the IAB Retail Media Buyer’s Guide, advertisers can maximize the impact of this emerging opportunity.