Retail Media Summit 2023

The Retail Media Summit, hosted by the Path to Purchase Institute, convened the last week of June. Industry experts weighed in and addressed key challenges and trends in retail advertising. The Retail Aware team was on site, and in this article we're delving into a few key takeaways, each providing valuable insights that can help transform your retail marketing strategies.

Stock Availability and Media Campaigns

The connection between stock availability and the effectiveness of media campaigns was a notable discussion point at the summit. It has been observed that media campaigns run less effectively when the advertised product is out of stock. Not only does this lead to a diminished return on investment (ROI), but it also masks the true potential of your marketing efforts.

Customers influenced by an ad to make a purchase can experience disappointment if the product is unavailable, damaging their relationship with the brand. Moreover, tracking campaign effectiveness becomes challenging as product velocity and conversions dip, not because the campaign is ineffective, but due to stock unavailability. Therefore, inventory management needs to be tightly integrated with campaign management to ensure optimal ROI and accurate tracking of campaign performance.

Read more about why on-shelf availability matters.

Wasted Ad Spend

During the summit, it was highlighted that a staggering 21% of programmatic ad spend is essentially wasted.

The root cause? Many marketers are unable to ensure that shoppers are genuinely seeing and connecting with their messaging or product.

Visibility alone is not enough; connection is the key. Brands need to focus on improving the relevance and quality of their ads to increase engagement. This can be achieved by leveraging data for personalized advertising, choosing the right channels for dissemination, and optimizing ad creatives to resonate with target audiences. By doing so, brands can turn 'wasted' ad spend into a valuable investment.

Rethinking ROAS

Return on Advertising Spend (ROAS) has long been a primary metric for success in retail campaigns. However, the summit emphasized that it should not be the only measure. Instead, the focus should be on campaign objectives like increased shopper impressions or heightened product activity.

For instance, a campaign might be aimed at driving brand awareness or introducing a new product. In such cases, the increased impressions and brand engagement might be more important than immediate sales conversions. Therefore, it's critical to set clear, focused campaign objectives at the outset and measure success based on these, rather than relying solely on ROAS.

Real-time Campaign Tracking

The importance of real-time understanding and tracking of campaigns was another key takeaway. Without real-time information, your team is left analyzing at the end of the campaign, trying to piece together what went wrong, rather than proactively making adjustments to maximize effectiveness.

Modern marketing analytics tools can provide real-time insights, enabling instant course correction when something isn't working as expected. This might involve tweaking the messaging, altering the target audience, or even changing the advertising medium. With real-time tracking, marketers can ensure their campaigns remain agile and responsive, capitalizing on what works and minimizing what doesn't.

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By incorporating these valuable insights from the Retail Media Summit, you can innovate your marketing strategies, ultimately driving increased engagement, higher returns, and a better understanding of campaign success metrics. The key lies in focusing on product availability, optimizing ad spend, rethinking success metrics, and leveraging real-time tracking.

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