Scheme unlocks £5.5bn retail data

Brands are being offered the chance to target consumers online based on their high-street purchasing behaviour with a new scheme which claims to unlock £5.5bn worth of retail purchase transactions.
The scheme is the brainchild of a partnership between Exponential Interactive, a provider of digital advertising intelligence, and I-Behavior, which offers database marketing and behavioural targeting services.
I-Behavior’s data, representing £5.5bn worth of UK purchase transactions, is gathered from over 100 retailers and is supplemented by consumer demographic and lifestyle information, such as holiday travel and leisure interests.
I-Behavior aggregates this information to build audiences, such as ‘home electronics buyers,’ and then anonymizes those audiences and shares them with Exponential. The company then integrates I-Behavior’s segments into its own online audience segments.
The result is that brand advertisers can deliver their digital messages to consumers who it is claimed will find them more relevant and interesting without using any personally identifiable information (PII).
Exponential UK managing director Niki Stoker said: “The partnership creates a much greater link between what people buy in a shop and their online behaviour. Consequently, it’s much easier for advertisers to find their target audiences online and to create more tailored ads that appeal to them. It’s about recognising people not just as ‘online audiences’ but as ‘audiences online.’
“For example, a supermarket chain could target groups of people online who regularly spend over £100 a week at a competitor’s store, a travel company could target people who go on at least two European holidays a year, while a cereal manufacturer could target families with young children that buy multiple cereal brands.”