Molly Hop, EVP, Havas Market at Havas Media Network, expands on the growth of retail media spend and the opportunities this presents for the customer shopping experience.
In your opinion, what has been the catalyst for this explosive growth of retail media?
At its core, the explosive growth of retail media can be attributed to its revenue potential for the entire commerce ecosystem. For advertisers, retail media is a way to comprehensively cover the shopper’s journey, from product discovery to product purchase, and ultimately incorporate ROI goals into media strategy. For retailers, retail media presents a new way to monetize their owned websites, and for end customers, retail media offers simplicity, helping them navigate a complex environment and find products that fit their needs faster.
Retailers are becoming media owners. How will this impact brand strategy and media planning?
As brochures and catalogues progressively disappear, retail media represents both a new revenue stream and a new operating model, supporting the shift from offline to online for retailers. For brand strategy and media planning, this enables a full-funnel approach to media planning. In addition to traditional lower funnel measures such as sponsored product ads, we’re moving towards a full-funnel strategy to guide customers along their journey effectively.
What opportunities do AI and CX data offer brands in the customer journey?
With AI there are a lot of unknowns. As brands pursue this space for the first time, it’s essential to ensure they are using this technology the right way vs just using it for the sake of it. We have found AI add value in copy and image testing for PDP and brand stores. At a much faster clip, we can identify descriptors and keywords that drive the highest conversion and resonate with costumers in their journey. Optimizing the content and the users experience with the PDP ultimately increases organic exposure and, in the long-term, decreases the need to leverage paid tactics.
What kind of retail experiences do GenZ and GenA value? [ optional question ]
Social media plays an integral role across the key stages of the shopping journey for these younger audiences. Our own research found that 88% of 13 – 34 year olds use social media to discover new products or window shop for inspiration, and 44% use it to evaluate items for consideration and purchase. This audience is composed of tech natives, and more immersive video and augmented reality formats resonate with them. Brands looking to connect with these audiences should provide retail experiences that are personalized, authentic, seamless, and, above all else, entertaining.
How can brick and mortar locations evolve so that they remain relevant in a digital world?
It’s important to remember that retail media spans both online and offline activity, involving both physical activation in point of sales and digital ads on retailers’ websites. At Havas Market, the main challenge we’re addressing for brands is evaluating the real incremental value of their retail media strategy. We don’t want to just move offline sales online or vice versa, and our forecasting tools and methodology comprehensively analyze hundreds of data points to assess this incremental opportunity. Ultimately, consumers want a seamless shopping experience that spans both the brick and mortar and digital world. This means stimulating shopping touchpoints that emphasize entertainment, integrating payment options across offline and online, and creating a clear return process that caters to consumers’ instore or digital preference.