How 2 Large Retailers Approach In-Store and Out-of-Store Retail Media
As shoppers broaden their network of retailers to meet their shopping needs, retailers are also expanding their networks to meet customers wherever they are on their proverbial buying journey. At Progressive Grocer’s recent GroceryTech event in Dallas, two major retailers shared how they’re deploying retail media networks (RMNs) to drive engagement and revenue for their operations and their brand partners.
Tyler Lusebrink, director, ad sales at Dollar General Media Network, (DGMN) and Nik Rochnik, senior director, product management at the Albertsons Media Collective (AMC) arm of Albertsons Cos., agreed that the pace of change in RMNs has sped up over the past few years, and that their respective organizations continue to invest in those capabilities.
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In a conversation with Progressive Grocer Multimedia Editor Emily Crowe, Rochnik and Lusebrink shared how in-store media is one emerging avenue for growth. “Whether their journey started online or in store, or any combination of that, we want to address that journey. For us, the journey to in-store media has been about putting the foundational technology in place, and we’ve been very encouraged by what we’ve done so far,” said Rochnik.
Lusebrink likewise affirmed the growing emphasis on-store retail media. “Our average square footage is around 7,000 square feet, and so, when we think about the consumers that we're engaging with in our unique shopping journey, in-store media is absolutely critical. For customers who are in the store for less than 14 minutes at times, we have to elevate opportunities to influence loyalty, trial and the value they are seeking,” he said.
The experts also delved into ways that retail media boosts performance of the digital side of the business. AMC, for its part, is pursuing complementary RMN efforts. “From the shopper experience, we don't want to confuse them with what messages they may have seen online and the messages they see in the store,” Rochnik asserted.
DGMN is likewise working to sync up messaging as it expands its own delivery service in addition to teaming up with DoorDash for order fulfillment. “We’ve got about 30 million monthly visits to dollargeneral.com. They’re landing on the site and within two days, generally 50% of them come to actually purchase something in the store,” Lusebrink said. “For us, the unlock is how we can reduce barriers to transactions when they engage with our ads.”
Connecting with consumers across the omnichannel also means finding new touchpoints for engagement. Lusebrink shared how Dollar General worked with the Recess platform to create an out-of-store experiential sampling program. “Recess is engaging across music festivals, dorms for move-in day and other sporting events. We found that customers a little bit further away from their checklist shopping journey are more likely to try something new and tie that back to the local Dollar General and community. For us, it hits the mark and it also impacts what we can measure,” he noted.
Indeed, measurement and accompanying measurement standards are crucial considerations in RMN deployments. “We definitely want to contribute to the standards and be compliant because that actually benefits the entire media industry,” asserted Rochnik, adding, “As the measurement gets more sophisticated, we need to support measurement.”
During their GroceryTech session, the retail media pros also addressed how their organizations evaluate potential solution providers. “We look for partners that share our values around innovation and around transparency and shopper-centricity. We look for collaboration where we contribute both ways, meaning that partners bring some unique expertise to the table,” said Rochnik. “However, we also expect them to sometimes take specific guidance from us as to how to evolve their solution towards our goals. And above all, we look for partners to take long-term deals around value.”
Lusebrink said that DGMN evaluates partners in three ways: “First, is it going to build a meaningful connection with our unique customer? Our customer is going to look a little bit different than some of the others. Second, is it helping solve a problem for the customer? The third one is for our brand partners -- is it valuable? Is it going to bridge a gap where they can connect it with our consumer to ultimately drive loyalty and drive trial with them as well?”
As for the next phase of RMNs, Lusebrink and Rochnik expect capabilities to expand along with brand and retailer interest. “We think the technology will essentially evolve to match the precision and sophistication of technology that exists in digital channels, on-site, global and so on. That will give advertisers the ability to have the same precision in the store and then measure the impact of that. In short, the digital and physical worlds of advertising will converge,” predicted Rochnik.
Lusebrink concurred. “In the future, I would imagine where we’re going as an industry is two-way directional communication,” he offered. “How can we personalize the in-store experience so the customer feels like they're encountering something that caters to them? How can we optimize in-store tactics to better serve the customer and better serve the advertiser as well, from a performance standpoint? There’s a lot that needs to happen, but I think that's a massive opportunity.”
