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Investing in eRetail Media: why, when and how?
Right now there’re a lot of options for brands to make the most of the Digital Shelf. Not only through the use of techniques to optimize their online presence by monitoring and curating product content but also by increasing their visibility through different Ad spaces in a wide variety of formats and placements.
Displaying advertisements on the retailers' sites also guarantees less issues with the purchase process and therefore a greater capacity to improve sales conversions.
Investing properly in eRetail media can have a direct impact on brand’s sales both online and offline. But before starting investing in eRetail Media you probably have many questions. That’s why, in the following article we answer two of them: Why should you invest in eRetail Media? When it’s wiser to invest? We will also provide some practical tips on how to get started.
Why should you invest in Retail Media?
eRetailers have the technologies to collect and track a large amount of information associated with the user's shopping experience (including purchase abandonment rates, sale time, linked clicks, etc.). With access to this digital infrastructure, brands can target specific shoppers in an increasingly competitive environment.
Another argument for investing in eRetail Media has to do with the most recent changes in shopper habits. The Covid-19 pandemic has shown how users are spending more and more time on e-commerce sites. This has to do with shoppers researching the best product for them to buy, be it in an online retailer or in a physical store.
At the end of the day, shoppers use the digital shelf to create an opinion about brands and their products. Something with a direct impact on the reputation of any kind of company.
Key benefits of investing in eRetail Media
Most importantly, eRetail Media can drive sales at the bottom of the funnel in 3 different ways:
1) Boosting Category Sales
Sometimes category growth which also helps your competitors, is the most effective way to increase your sales.
To achieve this with eRetail Media you can simply imagine advertising a product on the Home Page of a retailer which brings awareness to your product (but also your category).
2) Increasing the frequency of purchases
Retaining a current customer is by far less expensive than having to acquire a new one. This is especially important for brands that sell online.
As the eRetail Media space becomes more saturated, traffic acquisition and online conversion become more expensive. Use Retail Advertising to incentivize repeats. Use retargeted ads featuring a product that complements a customer’s most recent purchase per example.
3) Growing Market Share
Market Share can be impacted by addressing a need in a way no other brand can. If your brand can carry out a unique brand position in the retailer, you need to define that position to maintain your current market share and grow it over the long term.
For example, is your positioning related to price? Then try to advertise that through promotional campaigns on your eRetail Media efforts.
When to invest in eRetail Media?
There are many possibilities regarding eRetail Media Formats and placements but depending on your goal you might need to apply a specific tactic. In the following table, we highlight the common goals most brands share and provide suggestion about when to implement them:
How to start investing in eRetail media?
You probably have already experimented with Retail Paid Search, running Sponsored Product ads campaigns, but depending our your industry and your position in the market (as your team’s expertise) you might want to consider this basic tips:
Choose the right Retailer to invest
Not all brands need the same type of Retailer visibility for their products and new Retail Media Networks are emerging every day.
Amazon and Walmart are some of the most relevant retailers internationally, but if we want to focus on a specific geographic region or a niche sector, we would have to previously research which retailer is the best to meet our brand’s goals (and what is our competition doing in there)
Psst… Contact us to learn more about how one of our Alcoholic beverage clients realized their eRetail Media budget was best spent on a smaller, niche (and cheaper) retailer than in one of the biggest to increase their brand share of voice.
Tell a story with your eRetail Media creativities
A good Ad design (that sends a message with your product) makes a difference, especially in a highly competitive environment such as retailers' sites. An example of this is what Ben & Jerry’s does on german retailer Rewe which showed their vegan ice creams in a Climate change environment (just in time for earth day)
Don’t forget your product’s basics: content
All the information related to our brand and our products must be perfectly optimized so that a mistake does not ruin the investment. For example, if the availability of an advertised product is not well monitored - with the consequent risk of an out-of-stock- all our investment can go to waste.
Monitor the right KPIs
The objectives of every ad campaign are very different. And therefore also the data to be monitored within our strategy. Some of the most useful indicators when investing on eRetail media are the share of Visibility and this includes ads, promos, share of search and share of shelf.
Summary
Almost all brands selling through online channels are eager to invest more in eRetail Media but eCommerce managers everywhere are asking themselves many questions regarding why, when and how to start. No matter what stage of your eRetail Media journey you are in we’re here to help you measure it! Reach out to our team of eRetail Media experts.
