By Jonathan BakerContributor: Hailey Lipiec, Social Media Manager at EGC If you work in marketing, you know that a lot of effort and energy is spent guesstimating. “What types of ads will attract potential customers?” “Will the business models used now be effective in the future?” And now, questions surrounding a unique retail opportunity are taking shape. One factor is certain: Retailers must be ready to go above and beyond to help the advertisers they partner with to ensure success. The next four years in retail spend There will be an increase in the amount of money spent on retail media between now and 2028. As broken down by e-Marketer, one dollar out of every four will be invested in this media. If that does not seem like a huge sum, the grand total will be over $75 billion by 2028. Especially important is a paradox to take notice of: This great sum of money is being funneled into retail media—with no guarantee of reaching customers and successfully motivating them to purchase. The challenges As retailers and advertisers prepare for this enormous expenditure, they will face a number of challenges. The three most concerning challenges are lack of standardization, sales attribution, and timeliness of data and analytics. Image Credit: e-Marketer What does this mean for retailers and advertisers? Aside from appearing to operate on blind faith, the challenges listed in the chart above mean even more challenges are in store. Understanding the needs For everyone to win in this four-year project, understanding and knowing the needs of other parties is key. Tying in with the observation of customer reach, advertisers must make an impression on their target audiences—and with only so many resources at their disposal. This challenge only becomes more difficult because many retail budgets are borrowed, which means added investments are crucial. This extra pressure is therefore motivating advertisers to look for outside assistance. Agencies, analytics platforms, and third-party retail media platforms to the rescue The e-Marketer article notes that almost 60 percent of advertisers are choosing to enlist the aid of agencies for retail media management as well as help from platforms devoted to data analytics and insights. Additionally, nearly half of all advertisers are utilizing third-party retail media platforms to meet their goals. In short, advertisers are being very proactive to increase their chances of success by the time 2028 arrives. Now that we know what advertisers are facing, how can retailers help? Efforts retailers should make to help advertisers To navigate the challenges of this unique opportunity, retail media networks should begin by easing the buying process. This may be accomplished by: Offering self-service access to ad inventory. Streamlining the purchase process across networks to help advertisers who are struggling. Consider the option of a consortium model, which would entail partnering with other retailers in creating comprehensive first-party data. Lastly, retailers should ensure that all available data is up to date. This data should be transparent and easy for advertisers to access. This should be strengthened with external verification as an extra measure of trust in the data. The challenges for advertisers are great, although the rewards will be greater. With assistance from cooperating retail media networks, the journey over the next four years may be easier than imagined. Afterwards, advertisers and retailers may celebrate success. If the information above looks overwhelming to you, don’t worry. The EGC Group can help. (Review the paragraph above about advertisers who are seeking help from agencies.) Whether you need assistance with analytics or marketing services (or both), we’ll have you covered. Contact us to learn more.
