Retail media advertising platforms are self-service platforms, or ad networks, that brands use to buy retail media at scale. These platforms control how many ads and ad types are served to each page on a retailer’s website. Retail media platforms reach consumers at the digital point of sale with brand-funded ads on retailer websites, and the most common ads served are sponsored product ads and commerce display ads. Sponsored product ads are the most well known retail media ad format and are directly tied to search results. These are native ads that blend in with the retailer’s organic content and are seen on relevant search results pages and product detail pages.
Using retail media advertising platforms, brands can gain visibility into real-time product performance on retailer’s websites, including data around shopper purchases and marketing attribution. Retailers also use these platforms to decide how ads will appear on their site and can offer consent-based, personalized ads without relying on third-party cookies. Retail media advertising platforms enable retailers to earn incremental revenue and maintain pricing and profit margins by helping retailers monetize their highest-value website positions.
To qualify for inclusion in the Retail Media Advertising category, a product must:
- Allow the ability to serve ads on retailer’s websites (i.e., native sponsored product ads, responsive banner ads, commerce display ads, etc.)
- Provide a reporting dashboard to give brands insights into key performance indicators (KPIs), such as ad impressions, click-through-rate, and campaign-level reports
- Provide APIs on retail media networks to allow communication to flow from server to server and set up automated actions (i.e., campaign scheduling)
