Retail Media Networks

The Concept of Retail Media Network in the Contemporary Marketing Universe 

Retail Media Networks (RMNs) are standing out as an unmissable tactic of an advertiser’s arsenal in an all-faster internet marketing ecosystem where brands are trying to reach motivated consumers within the fall of purchase. A Retail Media Network is simply a shop promotion framework that has been invented and executed by a store that permits brands to execute selective adverts on the digital properties that are owned by the store. These will be mobile applications and websites, digital kiosks, and that kind of customer-facing environment that the retailer could manage. RMNs are based on high-quality, first-party data opposed to third-party data relied on in the traditional advertising approaches, and are provided in privacy-enhancing and performance-based formats.

To mobile marketers, this is a huge opportunity. Rather than have a broad stroke approach to the generalized digital advertising channels, Retail Media Networks allow you to place your message in OR before the user who is browsing the web, searching, or making a purchase. It is not passive awareness, but tactical persuasion in the place of choice. Put simply, Retail Media Networks are the only method of advertising that can reduce the digital display-to-buying gap in-store to levels that no other advertising medium can.

The Reason Why Retail Media Network is the Fastest-Growing Media

The current high demand for Retail Media Networks is not a coincidence, as they directly react to a number of industry-altering changes. On the one hand, there is a continuing demise of third-party cookies, which has compelled advertisers to reemploy their ways of targeting users. With no third-party tracking, advertisers are flocking to Retail Media due to its use of first-party data- data that is aggregated by a consumer as they navigate a retail app or visit a retailer’s website.

Second, the migration to mobile-first buying behavior implies that users are willing to spend less time on general search tools or social scrolls and invest it into branded platforms instead. In their turn, retailers have started to recognize the unrealized potential of their online shops as not only a sales channel but also a saleable media square. By 2028, U.S. omnichannel retail media ad spend is projected to reach $129.93 billion, representing almost a quarter of total U.S. media spend, surpassing the rising social and display advertising markets. That is very eloquent about the amount of trust and ROI marketers are getting in these platforms.

Finally, customers require personalization in modern society. They do not want the same ad that they can get anywhere; they want targeted offerings, delivered at this moment in the context of the right time and place. Retail Media Networks do exactly that. These networks can access browsing and shopping history, loyalty programs data, and even use this information in order to deliver advertising that somehow appears less like an interruption but more like an assist.

How Retail Media Networks Actually Work 

The action of Retail Media Networks is based on owned inventory, first-party data, and ad technology integrated in the model. The retailer will dictate the digital media setting in which advertisements will be placed, which is the app (usually mobile) or the online shop. These may be e-commerce product pages, in-application banners, search results, home page placements, or even confirmation pages after purchase. The vital part is that the retailing space is natural to the advertising business as it is part of the shopping process and not a distraction from the shopping process.

The magic, though, is in the data. Since the retailer has control over the environment, it has possession of the data created on the environment, i.e., the search queries, the product browsing, the cart, and purchase history, among others. That is why advertisers can achieve a greater degree of campaign targeting than is possible through the traditional programmatic display or social platforms. And the measurement is clear and precise due to the fact that the complete span of customer engagement such as view, click, and purchase, is enclosed in an ecosystem in totality. This, when combined with a mobile measurement partner such as Apptrove, can also provide post-install insights, real-time attribution of app engagement.

Consider the case of a user going through a grocery app. When such a user often buys organic snacks, the Retail Media Network can put advert placements of health food brands in priority at the front of the search results page, the home page, or recommendations of the product blocks. The ad is relevant because the customer is already in the buying mode when he or she sees the ad; otherwise, it would be intrusive.

Why Mobile Marketers Should Pay Attention

More and more mobile adoption means that Retail Media Networks are no longer desktop-only ecommerce experiences. There is a strong expansion of the Retailers’ RMNs into the mobile application, with the experience of the user being more individualized, more instant, and, in some cases, more lucrative. This development has further enhanced the significance of the Retail Media Platforms among the app marketers who are attempting to seek a performance competitive advantage.

Mobile apps inherently increase user engagement, which then, when combined with in-app advertising enabled by first-party data, become extremely effective in both the user acquisition and user re-engagement contexts. By using a mobile-first attribution partner network such as Apptrove, advertisers can gather installs, session behaviours, and measure conversions as a closed loop. The outcome is an efficient marketing plan that is also futuristic.

As a matter of fact, a study conducted by Epsilon revealed that 80% of consumers will purchase a product, or, in other words, will be more likely to buy a good when a good company tailors an experience to them. The Retail Media Networks are the only ones that can provide such personalization at scale, at least in mobile environments where attention is fleeting, but purchasing intent remains at high levels.

Retail Media Industry Solutions

Retail Media Networks presents the value of the commodity that is not limited to one vertical. As such, RMNs enable retailers to host third-party brands (third party brands market their products directly in the app or directly in the web of the retailer against store or retailer fees) that have created accounts to retail their products directly on the site of the store/retailer, kind of purchasing premium retail shelf space within the app or via the web. In the case of food delivery services, RMNs can create greater visibility around a given restaurant or FMCG partner by means of in-app offers, featured listings, or some loyalty offer.

The travel apps are also taking a leaf out of Retail Media Platforms, as anywhere in the world, hotels and airlines, or local experience businesses can place an advert in the search or browse context of the app. Such placements of the advertisements tend to be done according to the location of the user, or the history of travel they have had, or even the booking they seem to require, which makes them not only relevant, but effective too.

The common factor in all these examples is the fact that they are closed-loop advertising scenarios. Tracking impressions, clicks, installed apps, and even closed purchases are all possible to measure, analyze, and optimize the whole user journey. This puts Retail Media Networks in a category of tools that any performance-based mobile marketer would never want to go without.

Challenges That Come with Opportunity

Even though Retail Media Networks have so many benefits, they do add complexity. Fragmentation is one of the major problems. Due to the growth in the construction of their own RMNs by retailers, marketers have to work with numerous platforms, each with various dashboards, measures, and formats. This may create inefficiencies, particularly in the case of non-standardization of attribution and reporting across networks.

The other issue is the quality and topicality of ad creatives. Owing to the fact that RMNs use native placements frequently, inconvenient or otherwise poor ads create interruptions to the user process as well as erode the trust towards a brand. It is imperative that creative resources be made to fit the visual appeal of the platform as well as the purpose of the shopper.

Finally, the issue of attribution is even trickier when there is an interchange between devices or platforms between initial user contact and making a purchase. In this case, it is necessary to collaborate with a strong measurement tool such as Apptrove. Apptrove allows marketers to fix these attribution gaps through features such as cross-platform measurement, cohort analysis, and advanced segmentation, which are all made to be privacy-first.

The Future of Retail Media Networks 

The future of Retail Media Networks will also continue the digital commerce evolution of structure and sophistication. Among the most interesting trends to watch is the combination of AI and machine learning, which can automate all the processes, including creative selection as well as managing bids on the basis of real-time performance signals. In like fashion, the programmatic technology is also starting to intertwine with RMNs and now providing advertisers with the power of real-time bidding within previously solidly closed retailing.

More focus on app innovative features is also emerging, with the use of dynamic product ads that will vary with the in-app browsing history or in-stock data in real-time. With the heightened interest in consumer privacy, the use of RMNs will only grow in popularity there as a privacy-first, high-ROI alternative to targeting.

The consequences to mobile app marketers can be huge. Power users of Retail Media Networks, coupled with the superior tracking of their performance with mobile attribution and analytics, can take performance, personalization, and profitability to an entirely new level.

Final Takeaway

The networks of retail media are one of the most radical changes in the history of digital advertising in the past ten years. None of the online advertising options is more powerful than the are in terms of being able to combine their first-party data, native ad offerings, and closed-loop metrics.

With mobile consumption on the rise and personalization as the new norm, Retail Media is only going to play an increasingly important role in marketing strategy. The future of app marketing lies in Retail Media Platforms. And app marketers who want to reach as many people as possible and drive their ad spending to the highest possible level must fight to be a part of this new reality.

And when you have a mobile measurement partner like Apptrove by your side, you can drive through the much-hyped world of RMNs with more ease, more intelligence, and more measurement.

from Apptrove https://apptrove.com/retail-media-networks-in-mobile-marketing/
via Apptrove