Despite their massive popularity, retail media networks have been plagued from the start with measurement shortcomings, most notably the disparity among methods across retailers. And since retailers usually do not share their data or their particular measurement methodology with brand partners, the lack of transparency also puts a strain on the retailer-advertiser relationship. How can both parties overcome these challenges to monetize data and prove ROAS?
RMN has an ongoing measurement problem
Ideally, advertisers who partner with retailers to advertise on their media networks should be able to close the loop on customer purchase decisions and overall campaign performance. The whole appeal of advertising on these networks, after all, is to take advantage of first-party data to drive performance and reach incremental audiences. In a recent survey conducted by IAB, RMN ad buyers reported plans to increase spend by 11% YoY in 2023. Their top motivators were to:
- Reach incremental audiences (55%)
- Leverage retailer first-party data (52%)
- Drive performance (48%)
- Leverage customer data (45%)
The reality, however, looks fairly different. In the same IAB study, 62% of buyers cited the lack of measurement standards as a top challenge, with nearly 60% expressing a need for greater transparency. Overall, collaboration and communication is an area of opportunity for retailers offering these networks. Sixty percent of ad buyers reported wanting better collaboration and communication, while only 12% said they were “very satisfied” with their RMN partner relationships.
First-party insufficiency drives the divide
At the core of the regional retailer/advertiser relationship is the first-party data driving the retail media network’s success.
Many retailers simply lack the necessary data scale to warrant advertiser spend in the first place.
Furthermore, for those that do move forward with a partnership, the data supporting campaign audiences often turns out to be lacking in depth. It’s also usually still aggregated, making it difficult for advertisers to derive insights that would inform future decision making.
On the measurement front, advertisers are also dependent on their retail partner to deliver metrics. How can advertisers know that these measurements are accurate? Additionally, for advertisers taking advantage of multiple networks, it’s almost impossible to compare campaign performance, since each retailer usually uses its own measurement methodologies and standards.
Rippl sparks a sea change for RMN
Our new data and media network Rippl helps mitigate these challenges by bringing multiple regional retailers together into one network, expanding and enhancing their first-party data along the way. As a result, advertisers have one point of access to a national footprint of individual shoppers at scale, allowing them to more efficiently and effectively execute multi-retailer campaigns with consistent measurement capabilities.
For advertisers, Rippl unlocks a new level of granularity and transparency when it comes to shopper data, accessible via a user-friendly interface or streamlined data lake. They can create tailored audiences and enable direct offsite digital media activation. They can also analyze the actual impact of their efforts on sales through transactions and SKU-level purchase data tied to media impression logs to provide visibility to sales attribution. Using behavioral shopper data, advertisers can further derive insights at the intersection of trade, promotion, and media to optimize their spend with tactics that drive maximum brand volume.
About Rippl
The Rippl data and media network unlocks regional retailer and advertiser collaboration through enriched first party data using Bridg's proprietary offline identity resolution capability. Advertisers have access to regional retailers’ first party data to execute campaigns across multiple retailers with consistent measurement and improved retailer collaboration.
Contact us today to learn more.
