Retail Media Radar: October
This month’s edition of Retail Media Radar dives into the latest innovations in category management, retail media & data monetisation. This month we look at Tesco’s expanded partnership with The Trade Desk, Gopuff’s immersive ‘brand shops’ and Home Depot’s self-service retail media platform. Alshaya Group unveils Alshaya Media Connect to tap into Middle Eastern markets and both Sainsbury’s & Tesco continue to create dynamic branding experiences in-store.
As we continue to develop our own GenerativeAI platform capabilities, we’ve applied some AI to Retail Media Radar, as we welcome our new virtual employee ‘NextGen Peter’.
You can dive into all the detail of the stories below, too.
1. Tesco Expands First-Party Data Use with The Trade Desk Partnership
Tesco is deepening its use of first-party data by expanding its partnership with The Trade Desk. This collaboration empowers Tesco to harness its rich customer insights, creating highly personalised advertising campaigns that align with shopper preferences and behaviours. By strategically using its own data, Tesco is set to deliver ads that resonate more effectively with its target audience.
The focus of this partnership is to optimise ad placements across Tesco’s digital platforms, ensuring that consumers receive the most relevant ads at key moments in their shopping journey. This approach not only enhances the shopping experience but also boosts engagement rates, as customers are more likely to interact with ads that speak directly to their needs.
Moving beyond traditional loyalty programmes, Tesco is embracing a fully integrated data-driven strategy. This means leveraging every customer interaction to refine and improve ad targeting, making its marketing efforts more efficient and effective. This shift indicates a broader trend in the industry towards precision marketing that maximises the potential of first-party data.
We see Tesco’s initiative as a pivotal moment in retail media. By setting a high standard for data utilisation and reducing dependence on third-party cookies, Tesco is leading the charge in creating more impactful, measurable ad campaigns. For brands, the lesson is clear: investing in first-party data capabilities is crucial to staying ahead of the curve, driving better business outcomes, and future-proofing their advertising strategies in a cookie-less world.
More information: Tesco and Trade Desk
2. Gopuff’s new retail media solutions enable brands to reach Gen Z and Millennial customers across the shopper journey
Gopuff is a US-based on-demand delivery service that focuses on delivering everyday essentials, such as snacks, groceries, household items, beverages (including alcohol in some areas), and over-the-counter medicines.
They have has launched three new solutions that help brands engage more effectively with customers, particularly Gen Z and Millennials.
The first is ‘Brand Shops’, where FMCG/CPG brands can create immersive, customisable digital storefronts on GoPuff’s digital channels to showcase their products directly to consumers. These shops allow brands to create personalised experiences, control how their products are presented, and drive engagement with targeted audiences. The goal is to enhance visibility and provide a branded shopping experience, ultimately boosting product discovery and sales.
The second retail media innovation, is a partnership with AdAdapted, allowing customers to add products to their Gopuff cart from anywhere online. This tool enhances product discovery and simplifies the purchasing process, as users can quickly add items to their Gopuff order with a single click, reducing friction and improving conversion rates for brand campaigns.
Finally, Gopuff has introduced real-time insights for sampling campaigns - this enables brands to distribute product samples directly to customers alongside their regular Gopuff orders whilst being able to tap into real-time tracking and insights on consumer engagement, feedback, and repurchase behaviour. Brands can measure the effectiveness of their sampling campaigns by analysing metrics such as customer satisfaction and the likelihood of repeat purchases, helping them refine their product offerings and marketing strategies based on the data collected. This creates a more targeted and efficient way to introduce new products to Gopuff’s audience.
More information: Gopuff
3. Home Depot creates a DIY experience for Retail Media
Home Depot has launched a self-service platform allowing advertisers more control over their campaigns. The platform enables brands to plan, purchase, and manage their ads more efficiently across Home Depot’s digital properties.
The platform provides advertisers with access to premium placements across HomeDepot.com, including key positions such as homepage banners and category pages. This enhanced flexibility and reach allows brands to drive awareness and conversions with more targeted, on-demand access to ad spaces.
Home Depot’s self-service system leverages AI to provide advertisers with insights on consumer behaviour, enabling better optimisation of ad content and placements based on real-time data. The platform also offers detailed performance metrics to ensure transparency and accountability for brands’ campaigns.
This move by Home Depot reflects the broader trend in retail media towards greater advertiser autonomy and self-service tools. By combining data-driven insights with streamlined access to retail media placements, Home Depot offers a scalable solution that is likely to appeal to brands looking for efficiency and impact in their retail media strategies.
More information: Home depot self service
4. Alshaya Group Launches Alshaya Media Connect
Alshaya Group is a multinational retail franchise operator based in Kuwait with a portfolio of international brands across sectors such as fashion, beauty, food, pharmacy, and home furnishings.
Following the success of their partnership with Ooredoo Kuwait to launch the Aura Mobile loyalty app, Alshaya Group continues its focus on customer engagement with the introduction of Alshaya Media Connect, a digital advertising platform that enables brands to tap into Alshaya’s vast customer network across the Middle East and North Africa. This platform offers a unique opportunity for brands to reach consumers directly via digital channels across Alshaya’s diverse retail portfolio.
Alshaya Media Connect leverages Alshaya’s rich first-party data, enabling advertisers to target campaigns with precision. With access to customer insights across sectors like fashion, beauty, food, and home, brands can create highly personalised and effective digital marketing strategies.
The platform allows advertisers to integrate their campaigns across multiple channels, including social media, in-app advertising, and e-commerce platforms. This comprehensive reach ensures that brands can engage consumers at key moments in their shopping journey.
The launch of Alshaya Media Connect is a major step forward in the digital transformation of Retail Media in the region. With Alshaya’s broad retail presence and robust data, this platform offers brands a scalable way to optimise their digital advertising efforts, driving more targeted and impactful campaigns.
More information: Alshaya Media Connect
5. Tesco Unveils New Video Advertising and Store Wrap Options
Tesco’s retail media division has launched a new video advertising option, allowing brands to feature short-form video content across Tesco’s website and app. This new feature offers advertisers a way to connect with Tesco’s online customers using dynamic and engaging video content.
The use of Tesco’s first-party data ensures that video ads and in-store displays are precisely targeted to the right audiences. Brands can leverage this data to enhance campaign performance and deliver tailored content that resonates with customers both in-store and online.
In addition to video ads, Tesco is expanding its in-store advertising capabilities with store wraps at up to 50 locations. Store wraps offer large-scale, high-visibility branding opportunities, with Tesco having wrapped its London Wembley store during the Champions League final in June. The promotion featured PepsiCo’s major brands—Pepsi, Doritos, and Walkers—offering a bold, immersive brand experience.
Tesco’s integration of video advertising and store wrap media reflects all retailers’ focus on delivering measurable brand experiences in order to secure more of their FMCG/CPG suppliers’ above-the-line and advertising budgets.
More information: Tesco video advertising and store wraps
6. Sainsburys doubles down on floor & shelf space media combos
Sainsbury’s continues to enhance it’s in-store media within increasingly creative in-store brand experiences
Floor graphics have become a prominent brand tool visible across neatly all aisles – this month’s standout is the aisle-length, beautiful Lurpak graphic in the butter/milk aisle, designed to grab customer attention and drive brand recall.
But floor media is also increasingly being used in conjunction with floor to ceiling shelf displays for brands. Examples this month include Tyrells, Covent Garden Soups, Starbucks, and Nestle Pet Food (Felix).
These retail media tactics demonstrate how Sainsbury's continues to use simple, creative in-store signposting to produce dramatics in-store theatre, enhancing both customer experience and brand visibility.
