I grew up with Back to the Future. The retail media industry mirrors Marty McFly’s journey, where we live in the future, but the past still has plenty to teach us.
Lessons from the Past
We are constantly chasing the next big thing—whether AI, automation, or a new tech buzzword—but we often overlook the fundamentals. Take loyalty programs, for example. They have been around for decades and are the foundation of retail media. Before anyone talked about identity graphs or first-party data, loyalty programs were already building those relationships and gathering consent-based data. However, it is easy to lose sight of the strength inherent in these well-established systems as we push forward with new technology.
Retailers who understand the importance of loyalty include Tesco and Sainsbury's. Due to their understanding of consumer interactions, they were among the first to use what is now known as retail media technology. They built their strategies on a solid foundation of customer insights, so they are far ahead in leveraging retail media today. These retailers are not just pushing ads on websites—they are personalising experiences and creating value for their customers in ways that traditional publishers did not manage to do, and with good reason. According to the IAB, the growth rate of retail media is four times that of the total ad market (22% vs total ad market of 6%).
The Evolution of channel-less Retail Media
Retail media has evolved through different eras: from the early internet days dominated by big publishers to the search-driven era of Google, and now into the social media era. Today, we are stepping into a new dimension—channel-less marketing, where retail media transcends specific platforms and touchpoints. Retailers are well-placed to break down the boundaries between owned, earned, and sponsored media owing to the confluence of adtech and martech.
This new frontier is about creating seamless experiences across all channels. Martech traditionally focused on owned channels and direct customer relationships, while Adtech was about reach and scale. Now, these worlds are colliding, giving retailers a unique advantage: they can combine the scale of ad tech with the personalisation power of martech, allowing brands to connect with consumers in ways that weren’t possible before.
This consolidation requires technology that can seamlessly connect, so when assessing which platforms can work to support channel-less marketing, always ask how the platforms maintain persistence – of identity, audiences, and reporting at least as these can be challenges that are worthwhile to overcome.
In the Epsilon State of Retail Media survey from 2023, of 689 respondents, 43% said inconsistent targeting across channels and tactics was a top source of inefficiency and in the IAB Attitudes to Retail Media Report 2024, 58% of brands said fragmentation was the biggest buy-side investment barrier. Solving this problem with the right partners, technologies and data will open additional investment opportunities for retailers.
The Power of First-Party Data
Traditional loyalty programs were, in part, a way to better understand customers – their purchase behaviour, their engagement with a retailer and their drivers for these actions. Retail media requires this kind of data to be actionable for the benefit of both the advertisers and retailers. The IAB Attitudes to Retail Media Report (2024) highlights that of the 160 respondents, 87% said access to retailer first-party data was a top investment driver.
To make this data actionable, retailers can use martech platforms such as Customer Data Platforms (CDPs) or potentially Clean Rooms to gather, organise, clean and enrich first-party data, and even have the option for second-party data collaboration between their data and a brand’s data. The platforms required may depend on the retailer size and maturity. Using this kind of technology to store data gives an opportunity to ensure customers have been given the chance to communicate preferences on how their data is used, complying with any relevant local privacy regulations, and ensuring a trusting relationship where those choices are respected.
Once this data is organised, consented and actionable, ad tech provides a way to reach these customers in a personalised manner, across whichever touchpoint is relevant, be that at the point of sale on the retailer site or app, or in the open web, driving demand back to site. The outcome of this is facilitating an ongoing relationship between brands and consumers and ultimately driving outcomes which may be ROAS, or more upper funnel metrics to capture all stages of the customer lifecycle.
Personalisation Without Borders
The idea of channel-less marketing means specific platforms or touchpoints no longer constrain us. The convergence of martech and ad tech enables retailers to deliver hyper-personalised experiences at scale, regardless of where the customer engages. We are talking about a "one view, one vision, one voice" approach—where every interaction feels connected and coherent.
Considering evolving your loyalty program into a connected, channel-less retail media network? Be sure to remember the basics:
- Organise data to ensure its actionable everywhere
- Structure a retail media offering that is easy to use for brands and agencies to buy at scale, across any channel or touchpoint
- Work with the right partners where needed, or plan the resource, time and experience required to drive value
- Deliver the right insights and reporting for brands
This unified strategy makes for a better consumer experience. Picture this: fewer ads, but each one resonates deeply with the viewer. Customers can enjoy a harmonious experience customised to their needs and preferences rather than a disjointed experience across different channels.
And it’s not just a better experience for the customer, a connected journey across different channels and touchpoints will drive increased revenue for the brands and retailers. One CPG brand complemented their holiday display campaign with CTV to support a new product launch, and the group who received CTV + Display had 24% higher sales per converter compared to those who received display only.
Let's learn from Back to the Future. We do not need a time machine, but we should remember what has worked before, adapt it to the current environment, and be prepared for tomorrow when marketing transcends all platforms and provides a cohesive, compelling experience.