From ecommerce to physical stores, advertising conquers shopping places

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In America they called it the battle of the screens. Which then hides that for the attention of a connected and distracted consumer. It is disputed between the two giants Amazon and Walmart. The latter entered the competitive arena by challenging the Seattle giant in single combat with the acquisition of Vizio, a TV manufacturer that currently ranks ninth in the world market. An operation worth $11.50 per share for a total of $2.3 billion. A change of ownership that not only concerns the televisions, but also the platform which has 18 million active accounts and which conveys advertising messages. Once again we go towards the media company. “It’s a topsy-turvy world of media between companies and publishers,” Joshua Benton, head of the Nieman Journalism Lab at Harvard University, had previously said. But today there is something more. Walmart wants to create new opportunities to connect advertisers with customers by offering innovative ways that include entertainment at home. Ultimately, in retail spending he wants to reduce the advantage of Amazon, which holds a 37% share in electronics and appliances, while Walmart’s is 6%.

The retail media market

Thus retail media guides choices, strengthens relationships and builds customer loyalty. Retail media is a form of advertising in which brands pay to position themselves in prime spaces within retail platforms, both online and in physical stores. This approach transforms points of sale into advertising channels, allowing brands to reach consumers at the moment closest to purchase. In the digital space, this includes ads on e-commerce sites while in physical stores, it includes advertising displays and dedicated shelves. The potential market by 2025 will be worth $130 billion, according to analysts at Morgan Stanley, accounting for 25% of overall online advertising spending. Europe already invests 7.9 billion euros and by 2027 it will reach 25 billion according to Iab-Statista. Currently the weight of the segment on digital advertising is 10% (with Italy more or less in line at 9%), but will reach 21.5% in the next three years. A game that is played across the board, not just digitally. «We live in a context of hypercommunication which requires companies to capture consumers’ attention. Retail media abroad has seen notable development, but there is excitement in Italy too: various brands are testing strategies, projects and alliances. It is an approach that involves different company functions and multidisciplinary teams. It’s definitely new,” he says Vittorio CinoDirector of Centromarca, an Italian brand industry association that has also decided to launch an observatory to monitor the development of retail media, which becomes relevant along the entire supply chain, from analogue to digital channels. «Creating personalized content to intercept a specific and interested shopper is an advantage that no one can afford to underestimate today. An advantage which – in the case of retail media – depends on the possibility of having detailed data on shopper behavior provided by retailers. It can allow you to distribute targeted messages with precision and with an increase in conversions”, specifies Cino.

The data mine

At the center is the value of the data in a moment of transition from third party data to first party data. «For retailers this is a new business. In a cookieless advertising market, first-party data will become a precious commodity for those who want to get in touch with the consumer. And distributors have a wealth of customer information to build personalized and potentially successful communication. Then there is the advantage of measuring the return on investment compared to traditional media and the impact on the media mix”, says Cino. In America, Amazon, Walmart and Kroger have entered the field. In Europe, brands such as Leclerc, Alcampo, Asda, Lidl, Rewe, MediaMarkt, Sephora and Carrefour, which recently signed an agreement with Publicis creating Unlimitail, the first retail media center that allows integrated management of the offer. Then there is the alliance between Tesco and Dunnhumby, leader in customer data science applied to retailers. Thus communication becomes vertical, personalized and potentially successful. The added value lies in data with tailored formats and messages. «Investing in retail media is worthwhile due to an unprecedented mix of opportunities and critical issues. The first is called data, the second is linked to disturbances in the connection of brands with consumers disoriented in an overabundance of stimuli. Re-establishing a connection is the mission and retail media is the solution,” he says Alberto Mattiaccifull professor of economics atLa Sapienza University and coordinator of the marketing area at Luiss Business School. A new generation of marketers is emerging. «This new era of post-consumption exchange relationships requires a new mentality and the recovery of basic skills such as those linked to research, as well as the integration of digital ones. If there is value in the proposition, the consumer rewards it. But we must overcome the mistakes of the past, when marketing was annihilated in favor of commercial results”, says Mattiacci. Authenticity and transparency: these are the compasses that must guide the new phase of trade.

The brands’ point of view

«Retail media has very high potential. It allows you to interface with the modern consumer who experiences hybrid and non-linear purchasing paths between online and offline. If approached with a strategic approach, based on collaboration between retailer and manufacturer, it can represent a real gamechanger to decline data-driven strategies in an even more profiled way, systematising the value of knowledge of consumer purchasing behaviour” he says Igor NuzziRegional Director Italy and Iberia of Lavazza. «We need to invest on two fronts: technologies to facilitate the processing of complex data and the development of transversal skills», says Nuzzi.

“Retail media reaches consumers at the point of purchase and will inevitably become the hub of digital advertising,” he says Francesco PastoreChief Marketing & Sales Officer di Sophie, a giant producer of paper for hygienic and domestic use. «We have started a data intelligence project that allows us to recover data from different sources and make data-driven decisions. With an omnichannel perspective, for each of our campaigns we entrust specific conversion objectives to retail media. In the UK we have trialled advanced approaches, such as the launch of the new Regina Soft Bambo product. The integrated campaign generated a doubling of sales compared to a traditional one”, explains Pastore.