Retail Media Networks: Reach and engage shoppers with powerful performance marketing

A retail media network is a brand-specific digital advertising platform. These platforms allow brands to have a direct relationship with customers – from product discovery to purchase. They also help brands generate and access user-provided first-party data, which can provide valuable insights. 

Put simply: Retail media networks expand on the benefits of in-store advertising by bringing brand-specific product discovery into the digital age. 

But while retail media networks can boost customer acquisition and sales, they are less efficient than omnichannel marketing solutions like Fetch. Here’s how retail media networks can factor into a marketing strategy – and why omnichannel solutions are more effective. 

What are retail media networks? 

A retail media network is a retailer-specific digital advertising space. For example, if a retailer with a media network wanted to boost sales of a specific paper towel brand, they could feature that brand on the app or homepage. This form of grocery advertising aids customer product discovery and improves sales. 

Why are brands turning to retail media networks?

Media networks can be an important piece of a retail marketing strategy. They offer several advantages over more traditional forms of advertising. Retail media networks help marketers:

• Track impressions and direct purchases
• Collect first-party data, which is more reliable than third-party data and circumvents privacy limitations on data usage and targeting
• Achieve higher ROI than other types of advertising

In the retail advertising space, this type of relatively low-cost marketing can even offset other expenses or losses.

Retail media networks: What are their shortcomings? 

Despite these advantages, there are downsides of retail media networks: 

Expense

Launching a retail media network is both costly and laborious, especially at a time when many CPG brands have limited or decreased marketing spend. 

Limited scope

Retail media networks are necessarily limited by the “walls” of their digital space. Advertisers only have access to shopper purchasing data as it relates to the specific retailer. By contrast, other forms of digital marketing, like the Fetch app, can provide a more holistic view. To that end, brands are unable to connect with potential customers who don’t shop at that specific retailer. 

Difficult to manage

Retail media networks only encompass a single retailer’s consumer base. As a result , brands are often forced to manage multiple network platforms across a variety of retailers. A 2022 Forrester survey found that nearly half of advertisers reported having “too many RMNs to manage.” The same survey noted that brands experienced inconsistent measurement across platforms; 40 percent of respondents had difficulty comparing sales and product performance across networks. 

What are the alternatives to retail media networks?

Fetch provides a solution for brands and retailers who want the benefits of retail media networks without the drawbacks. The Fetch app keeps all purchasing information in a single platform, streamlining performance analytics and the brand experience. Partnering with the app also eliminates the need to invest costly time, labor and resources into creating a new, brand-specific retail media network. 

With the Fetch app, users can snap physical and digital receipts regardless of the retailer. Personalized incentives in the form of Fetch points, the platform’s in-app currency, can directly impact consumer behavior, recapturing previous buyers and enticing new ones. 

The Fetch app has additional benefits for brands in search of marketing strategies for retail stores, including:

• Omnichannel verified data that provides a 360-degree view of shopper behavior across retailers and platforms
• A turnkey solution that decreases the cost and effort of launching a retail media network
• Purchase and sales live within  a single platform, allowing for consistent measurement

There are benefits of retail media networks, but the Fetch app simplifies and optimizes everything these networks provide.  Partner with Fetch to unlock the power of cross-channel consumer behavior and take your brand to the next level.