Retailer Media
Retailer media is one of the fastest-growing revenue generators for large and small retailers in the US, and soon, Australia. Most people, whether they know it or not, are familiar with retailer media, especially with its rise in adoption. Retailer media is simply out-of-home advertising that is located in retail environments such as supermarkets and department stores.
What Does Retailer Media Look Like?
Retailer media refers to a range of different advertising platforms including website ads, catalogue ads and TV ads. In this circumstance, we are talking about digital out-of-home advertising, in particular, digital signage located physically in stores.
Digital signage can take many forms for retail businesses.
It’s usually a separate standalone device, but recently we’ve seen it take the form of fridge doors and on-shelf.
Retailer Media Background
In general, retailer media operators partner with the producers of fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) and consumer packaged goods (CPG). These partnerships usually involve the retailer playing advertisement material of the FMCGs on their screens. This has been particularly successful overseas in the US, prime examples of this success are Walmart and Amazon.
Digital out-of-home advertising such as digital signage isn’t a new concept, and for retailers, deploying signage in-store has proven to be profitable. One of the key reasons for this is thanks to retailers having a large amount of customer data. Retailers can use this data to dictate and determine what content is played and maximise the impact digital signage will have on customer purchasing decisions. It should also be noted that FMCG’s generally have a large digital marketing budget that, according to Mi3 Australia is expected to rise to $20 billion, collectively, by 2025.
When putting these two together it’s no surprise to see the uptake of digital signage in the retail environment. Retailer media provides these companies with a huge ROI, and digital signage fits this role perfectly. Companies like Amazon and Walmart are already taking advantage of the low cost and high ROI, it's only a matter of time before the rest of the industry catches on.
Retailer Media In Australia
Australia is known for being slow on technology uptake at times, but digital signage isn’t one of those cases. There’s fierce competition brewing in the retailer media market and at the top are Woolworths, Coles and Wesfarmers. According to a Mi3 Australia report, it is estimated that Australian retail owned media channels will total $1 billion in ad revenue by 2025. This is attributed to the reasons previously mentioned and seen in the US, low cost and high marketing spend.
After grocery stores and convenience stores start rolling out their media devices, department stores will soon follow. Stores such as Target, Kmart, Big W and Bunnings are eagerly awaiting the results from the sideline. These stores are poised and ready to take action but are reluctant to make the first move.
Large amounts of retailer-owned digital signage are referred to as a ‘network’, these networks are very attractive to advertisers. As previously mentioned the data that the retailers have access to allows for more accurate and impactful advertising. For advertisers, this means they are no longer paying for an audience, but are able to specifically target a particular segment of customers.
Going forwards over the next few years, expect to see grocery and department stores rolling out digital signage networks. It will be similar to how McDonald’s and other fast-food chains rolled out their self-serve kiosks. Soon you won’t even notice retailer media as part of your everyday life.
Retailers aren’t the only ones interested in the success of digital signage at both small and large scales. Councils, pubs, cafes, gyms, any physical location with access to power and the internet can benefit from digital signage. This is a section of technology you should watch closely and start investing in. If you own a physical location, digital signage is a must, it’s affordable, easy to use, and creates revenue. Read more about digital signage here, or read this article to learn more about using digital signage in retail.
