The Retail Media landscape is constantly changing, with retailers adopting current trends to stay ahead in a competitive retail landscape. Among these trends, we have seen a selection of retail companies who have served as a benchmark in becoming more innovative in how they generate revenue.
In this blog, we will discuss in more depth how these innovators have created new business opportunities through adopting new Retail Media initiatives, with the hopes of inspiring more retailers to think more about what trends their business can adopt for 2025 and beyond.
Uber
Uber has some of the most cohesive and progressive Retail Media tactics. Having three different managers in charge of each division of the business (Uber Rides, Uber Eats, and Groceries), they have paved the way of demonstrating how to take advantage of all touchpoints of the consumer journey.
Uber has an incredibly synchronized Omnichannel strategy and is constantly providing competitive ad space that focuses on consumer’s wants and needs.
An example of their Endemic Retail Media includes combining their three subsidized apps and recommending certain products from one app, based on the purchases and decisions made on the other. For example, if a customer orders fast food on the Uber Eats app, they will be suggested related products on the grocery app. These new adaptations to Uber’s retail model have been a contributor to their year over year increased revenue. The most recent results of Uber Technology’s increase in revenue reported to be $10.70 billion in June 2024, a 16% year on year increase.
Examples of their Non-Endemic Retail Media include a partnership with energy supplier, Octopus, with the opportunity to provide ad space on the back of seats when customers are taking rides with the Uber Rides app.
If you want to hear more from Uber on how they’ve managed to diversify and increase their revenue with Retail Media, you can read an exclusive interview with Uber’s Head of Advertising for UK and Ireland Paul Wright, in this recent Diversifying Revenue Report, or watch the interview on our YouTube channel: Diversifying Revenue Streams Report Launch Event – 2024 (youtube.com)
Deliveroo
Being the third largest food delivery service in the UK, Deliveroo has a tremendous network of loyal customers who use the platform weekly. In 2022, Deliveroo launched its own Retail Media Network, providing brands with more advertising space that reaches a larger audience. Since then, Deliveroo has expanded their business with “Deliveroo Shopping,” giving consumers a more personalized and immersive shopping experience, with the ability to order what they need on demand and additionally being offered add-ons such as grocery items, gifts and more.
These additional offerings not only help create an enhanced experience for consumers, but also offers Deliveroo’s merchants more targeted and relevant ad space and in turn, creates greater revenue opportunities for Deliveroo as a whole. If you want to hear more from a Deliveroo representative on this expansion, watch the Recap of our Retail Gazette Roundtable event, interviewing Commercial Director, Ron Sachs, on this very topic.
Looking at Deliveroo’s large-scale advertising initiatives, there is a whole list of different solutions to choose from. Advertisers can utilize their on-platform display and search ads, which can combine with a non-digital sampling solution. Alternatively, Deliveroo also is giving advertisers the option to run exposure and delivery campaigns, for both endemic and non-endemic brands to the business.
Deliveroo started these programs at a lower cost for advertisers who were willing to be a part of their test and learn initiative with launching, giving brands the chance to get their foot in into the Retail Media space at a lower cost. To learn more about Deliveroo’s advertising capabilities, visit their website: Deliveroo Media & Ecommerce.
Amazon
Amazon has created a significant investment in the Retail Media space, owning 37% of the market share.
Because Amazon serves as a diverse marketplace that includes thousands of different brands offering similar products, its Retail Media advertising capabilities allow shoppers to discover new brands offering similar products to what they have searched or are looking for, which can also be an extremely helpful tool for brands who are trying to increase their consumer reach and brand recognition.
Their Search Ad platform is a fantastic example of how they have made this possible. For example, if a consumer is searching for a specific brand or product, a similar brand or product will show up at the top of the search results. Because Amazon’s consumers have high purchase intent, conversion rates remain high within this strategy and in turn, businesses are willing to invest more in ad spend to achieve promising results against their competitors. To learn more about Amazon Ads, visit their website: Understanding Amazon Ads: A guide to our ad products
Tesco – Tesco Media and Insight
Tesco has constantly proven to be a leader in the Retail Media landscape, by focusing on expanding its business through valuable partnerships. After building its own successful Retail Media Network, “Tesco Media and Insight”, Tesco announced its partnership with the media investment business, Group M.
As we have discussed in our Retail Media Challenges blog, more advertisers are relying on Retail Media networks to help them navigate new Retail Media territory. Tesco currently owns a 28% grocery share in the UK, with over 21 million households engaging in its Club Card program. It has provided an innovative advertising opportunity for its clients through utilizing the data from its loyal consumer base.
Boots Media Group
Boots is another retailer who launched their own Retail Media Network, Boots Media Group, back in 2021 through a strategic partnership with Three Fold, a leading Retail Media Network specialist in New York and London.
The creation of their media group aims to better connect online and in-store experiences for customers, while boosting their client’s brands. Alongside this, Boots Media Group provides their advertising clients with detailed campaign reports and access to rich data and insights. Particularly, there is a focus in positioning Retail Media to be more personalized through this data thanks to a strategy focused on AI optimization, which benefits their retail offerings on third-party platforms and their owned channels.
eBay
eBay has maintained its position of being a strong player in the Retail Media landscape, taking the place of having the 4th largest marketplace by its share in retail ecommerce sales.
eBay have developed their own Retail Media group called “eBay Ads”, offering a service called “Promoted Listings Standard Ads” that provides great visibility for advertisers at an affordable cost, as well as “Promoted Listings Advanced” which gives notable brands top-of-search payment opportunities. Additionally, eBay is providing offsite opportunities for ads as well. These offerings have paid off for their year-over-year revenue growth – as they are expected to see a 23% increase in revenue by the end of the year.
eBay is a fantastic example of an older marketplace platform that has successfully adapted to the modern-day ecommerce landscape to keep business flowing between advertisers and its customers and maintain a competitive edge against other major marketplaces in the Retail Media landscape.
Walmart Connect (US)
Walmart Connect has earned the title of being one of the top ten advertising platforms in the United States.
Walmart Connect has developed a successful and highly strategic omnichannel Retail Media strategy, through focusing on app-based shopping and enhancing customer experience. Its advertising model offers a variety of possibilities for its brands, and with the connection of the app to its in-store products, it has seen a whopping 22% increase in retail sales alone, which is double the amount of their e-commerce rival, Amazon. This is primarily due to expanding its display auctions, predictive targeting, and search relevancy enhancements, as well as offsite Retail Media through partnering with a leading AdTech company called “The Trade Desk”.
Want to learn more about Walmart Connect? Read this article on Walmart’s Marketplace: Selling on Walmart Marketplace: Benefits & Best Practices [Updated] | Tinuiti
Webloyalty
At Webloyalty, we work with over 200 online retailers internationally to help them build stronger, more profitable, relationships with their customers through our unique Retail Media approach that leads consumers to our shopping programme. We help our online retail partners’ customers save hundreds of pounds a year while providing the partner with an additional secondary revenue stream. You can learn more about our solutions by visiting the ‘Case Studies’ page on our website, or by sending an inquiry.
Conclusion
As we reflect on this analysis of some of the top innovators in Retail Media, it is evident that each has a unique approach.
Retailers like Boots and Tesco have chosen to partner with powerful media companies to hone-in on gaining valuable access to consumer data to create a more personalized and relevant advertising experience for their customers.
E-commerce retailers such as Amazon and eBay are learning to bridge the gap between loyal consumers and non-endemic brand discovery, whereas Walmart, Deliveroo and Uber have mastered an Omnichannel approach that synchronizes an advertising strategy to match the purchasing journey of their consumers.
If you are interested in hearing from other businesses who have explored additional revenue opportunities, download our latest report with Retail Insider, “Diversifying Revenue Streams”.
Sources
- Uber Technologies Revenue 2017-2024 | UBER | MacroTrends
- Uber’s Evolution Shows How Retail Media Will Get More Complicated – And Lucrative | AdExchanger
- Tesco signs ‘landmark’ retail media partnership – Retail Gazette
- Inside Boots’ mission to create a ‘world class media agency’ (marketingweek.com)
- The Rise of Retail Media: How Amazon Drives Search Ad Growth (ampd.io)
- As retail media networks multiply, Amazon stands alone | Marketing Dive#
- Deliveroo’s media platform is a game-changer. Here’s why – Wavemaker UK (wavemakerglobal.com)
- Deliveroo Media & Ecommerce
- What is Walmart Connect? | Tinuiti
- Top 15 Retail Media Networks to Watch in 2024 [Updated] | Tinuiti
- Tesco Media and Insight Platform – dunnhumby