‘If you’re not sharing shopper data with brand partners, rethink your retail media strategy’

There’s a reason why retail media has exploded over the past couple of years, and for retailers, it’s definitely a win-win.

First, retail media campaigns bring in incremental revenue to a business. Our research suggests a typical retail media programme generates up to 7% of the retailer’s total sales in additional media revenues.

Second, it serves targeted advertising to shoppers, driving them into stores, whether online or physical, where they have the opportunity to buy the product they were targeted with – and are likely to buy others, too.

However, there’s a significant opportunity and compelling reasons for retailers to unlock even greater value from their retail media campaigns by more confidently sharing shopper data with partners in a privacy-safe way. This is where some retailers are currently missing a trick.

Right consumer, right time

Why should retailers be prepared to share shopper data with partners? The first reason is purely financial. Our research suggests that when they do share this data, their core sales increase by an additional 5%.

Another reason is that when brands can tap into shopper data, they can layer it with multiple other datasets and use it in their digital advertising campaigns – on social, display, out-of-home and on connected TV.

This means they can tap into the power of identity to target their messaging more precisely, hitting the right consumers with the right message about the right product at the right time, all of which will increase their propensity to buy.

“By unlocking the power of data, you will supercharge your brand campaigns and everyone will reap the rewards”

According to Statista, 72.7% of total global ad spend is on digital media. When brands have access to shopper data, they can make their digital campaigns so much more effective and powerful.

The retailer’s customers benefit, too, as they are on the receiving end of more relevant and personalised brand offers based on their interests and purchase history, whether that’s discounts or loyalty scheme benefits.

This even extends into non-endemic partners (brands that retailers do not sell directly) such as a recent award-winning campaign from car maker Vauxhall, which offered Tesco customers £500 of Tesco Clubcard points to drive interest in their electric vehicles.

Strategic rethink

Let’s take a real client example to show the power of this. In the second quarter of 2024, Samsung ran a full-funnel campaign combining display, online video and connected TV to engage tech enthusiasts.

The campaign, which we were involved with, leveraged Currys’ first-party data and Epsilon’s Core ID digital identity solution to build awareness of Samsung TVs and drive online and in-store sales. Overlaying Samsung’s data with that solution also identified potential customers outside the traditional core market for large-screen OLED TVs who would otherwise not have been included in the target audience for the campaign.

The strategy attracted 56,000 visitors to Currys locations, boosted in-store sales by 20% and drove a 46% increase in conversions, with an ROI of three times. This innovative approach positioned Currys’ Tech Hunters retail media platform as a groundbreaking solution, seamlessly blending audience targeting with measurable sales impact. But without the use of identity data to inform this campaign, which was only possible because Curry’s was willing to share its shopper data, it would not have been anything like as successful.

For any retailer not currently sharing shopper data with their brand partners, my advice would be to rethink your strategy. By unlocking the power of data, you will supercharge your brand campaigns and everyone – you, your customers and your brand partners – will reap the rewards.