Retail media to hit £21bn in drive for first-party data

RetailRetail media is one of the fastest-growing sectors within the digital advertising industry, with spend forecast to grow from €8bn (£6.9bn) to £21bn (€25bn) in Europe by 2026, as more and more brands turn to the sector to target consumers.

A new study from IAB Europe and Xandr Microsoft reveals that 92% of advertisers and 74% of agencies are already partnering with retailers and of those who have not yet engaged, 88% of advertisers and 77% of agencies plan to do so in the next year.

The report confirms a Criteo study – published in August – in which an overwhelming 92% of retailer CMOs reported their first-party data was in high demand.

According to the IAB report, more than a third of buyers cited data as a key driver of retail media adoption, but while 91% of buyers have a first-party data strategy in place, 49% are still working towards scaling their data strategy.

Even so, despite the positive feedback, a third of the respondents cited scale and integration with other advertising technologies as their top two barriers.

IAB Europe claims buyers want to be able to purchase their advertising via “one or a few” technology partners and the lack of retail media ad tech integration remains a stumbling block.

IAB Europe chief economist Daniel Knapp said: “Retail media in Europe is already an €8bn market and growing double-digit despite economic headwinds.

“The pandemic-induced rise of ecommerce, paired with retailers’ first-party data in a world of signal loss, and the ability to combine ad exposure and conversion into a single platform are key market drivers. We see further potential for off-site retail media to integrate retailer’s role more widely in the upper marketing funnel.”

In the past few weeks alone, Tesco has rebooted its media platform, while Boots and DunnHumby have signed deals with ITVX to use their loyalty club data; Asda, Sainsbury’s and Morrisons all run media operations.

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