Retail Media Is Becoming Impossible for CPG Brands to Ignore
You’ve done it. Finally, after weeks of planning, months of preparing, and years of hard work, your brand broke into traditional retailers. Your product has earned shelf space at major stores like Walmart, Target, and Amazon. It feels like you’ve crossed the finish line! It’s time for celebration, but there’s a caveat.
A big one. Distribution doesn’t guarantee sales. What you thought was the finish line is actually just the beginning. Your new race? Getting those products you worked so hard to put on shelves, off. And one of your biggest assets in tackling this new challenge is retail media.
Retail media are advertising opportunities owned by retailers and commerce platforms that allow brands to reach shoppers using retailer-specific shopping data and environments. This includes things such as Amazon Sponsored Products, Walmart Connect, Target's Roundel, Instacart advertising, display and video within retailer ecosystems, and off-site targeting using retailer audiences.
Retail media is unique because it lives unusually close to the purchase decision, targeting shoppers who have already decided to purchase that kind of product, but not specifically which one.
Assets of Retail Media
Retail media possesses three main advantages: proximity, measurability, and access. Because retail media lives close to sale, it can influence shoppers in the final stage of consideration. That proximity lends itself to measurability. There are few, if any steps between retail media and final sale. Coupled with its native placement at the point of sale, it’s incredibly easy to calculate the effects of an ad. And finally, retailers possess a wealth of information on shoppers that is incredibly valuable for brands.
When to Deploy
When does retail media actually make sense?
Meaningful retail distribution: how many retailers are you in? How many locations? Ensure your product has sufficient distribution to ensure ROI.
Accelerate trial: have the best new product or brand that everyone needs to try (but hasn’t?) Use retail media as that little extra push.
New retail launch: first foray into the retail space? Support your launch with retail media, and spread the word that your product is now offered at retailers!
Useful measurement capabilities: retailers have not only access to but ownership over incredibly vast networks of customer purchasing data. Information about transactions, demographics, and engagement is incredibly helpful for optimizing campaigns, inventory planning for demand, and audience targeting.
When to Avoid?
Flawed at Conception: Advertising can’t permanently fix sales for a product consumers don’t want.
Misattribution: Just because an ad was seen doesn’t mean it was responsible for the sale.
Insufficient ROI: Product margins or CLV isn’t high enough to rationalize paid acquisition.
Retail Media won’t replace socials or paid search, it’s another tool in the arsenal to creating sales and repeat customers.
The Apricots Media Tip: Optimize product page!
Driving traffic to a page that displays your product poorly isn’t just a waste of spend, it jeopardizes your brand image. Visuals: Make sure to have high quality images, including UGC or lifestyle shots, not just poor quality stock images. Text: use a conversational tone in all copywriting, making sure all text is easily scannable.
