By Stephanie Famolaro, senior business development director ANZ, The Trade Desk
Over the past two years ‘retail media’ has been one of the hottest topics of conversation within Australia’s advertising industry. What’s lesser known, but arguably an even more important topic, is that of ‘retail data.’
Set to be the new oil of the advertising industry, retail data enables marketers to connect ad spend to real-world sales, enabling brands to reach more relevant shoppers beyond simply a retailer’s owned media channels or websites.
It’s arguably the biggest game-changer in retail we’ve seen in decades. In this article, I’ll explain why and how advertisers can best take advantage of it.
What retail data is, and where it came from
Retail data refers to the rich first-party data that belongs to retailers. It includes anything from shopping spend data, purchasing preferences, purchase frequency, shopping cart content and loyalty program data.
Over the past few years, the surge in ecommerce has vastly increased the amount of retail data that retailers now own. Many of them are now sitting on a treasure trove of valuable, opt-in data across the shopping landscape.
If we look at the digital media landscape today, retail data probably has the most authenticated logged-in data sets. And, in a world that’s about to go cookie-less, that data has become hugely valuable to advertisers.
Why retail data is so valuable for advertisers
Firstly, retail data is based on real transactions, not just purchase intent. Such insights allow advertisers to better forecast how customers will buy in the future.
Secondly, retail data offers holistic customer insights across the entire customer journey, so advertisers can use real-time insights to optimise their campaigns, maximising every media dollar.
Finally, advertisers can use retail data to close the loop between brand awareness campaigns and real-world sales. They can now see when a customer buys their products, be it online or at physical stores, after being exposed to their advertising campaigns.
How advertisers can best use retail data
Let’s look at an example – Flybuys – which has made its retail data available to advertisers via The Trade Desk. If a toy brand wants to reach parents about its latest product, that brand can use Flybuys data to connect with people who regularly buy nappies and baby products. Because those people use the same email address for their Flybuys account across open internet channels like news sites, music streaming, broadcast video-on-demand (BVOD) and more, advertisers can reach those parents across those channels with highly personalised advertising. If a consumer then purchases the toy brand’s product after seeing the ad, the brand will be able to tell, thanks to Flybuys sales data.
Marketers can then refine their ad campaigns based on which ads work best, with which kinds of customers, at what times and on what channels. This represents the holy grail of marketing — where brands can measure the impact of their digital ad campaigns across offline and online sales channels. You can also optimise campaigns, based on the data you get back on shoppers’ reactions.
The whole advertising process becomes more refined, more effective, and more valuable.
What the future holds
Retail data is just the tip of the iceberg here in Australia. We’ve witnessed in other mature markets, such as the United States, that this is set to grow exponentially.
As we enter an era of consent-based marketing, more advertisers will look to unlock the value of loyalty and ecommerce data in a safe and secure way. Retailers’ first-party data is set to be the cornerstone of every marketer’s strategy.
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Stephanie Famolaro is senior business development director, The Trade Desk. She is responsible for leading the Business Development team in Australia and New Zealand and spearheading the API/Platform Customisation initiative across Asia Pacific.
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Top image: Stephanie Famolaro