In our Skai 5 series, we discuss digital advertising tips, tricks & trends to keep you one step ahead of the consumers, the market trends and your competition. For this portion of the series, we spoke with CitrusAd’s Sean Cheyney to get answers about the future of retail media.

To say that retail media advertising is booming right now would be an understatement.

Now the third-largest channel in the US, retail media is on pace to go from $13 billion in 2019 to over $52 billion by the end of next year.

The most prominent retailers in retail media include Amazon, Walmart, Target, and Instacart. But, just about every major online retailer is either already offering it, launching it, or exploring ways to go to market. 

As the channel grows, retail media marketers will have to find ways to scale efficiently. One of the key ways they plan to grow their programs is to expand their existing programs to more retailers. 

That’s where a company like CitrusAd comes in. 

CitrusAd is a technology company that helps marketers and retailers partner on advertising initiatives. CitrusAd provides a technical foundation for retailers of varying sizes to launch a comprehensive retail media program quickly. In addition, the company enables marketers to launch and manage retail media campaigns either through their platform or via integrations with third-party tools like Skai recently.  

“The grocery and CPG e-commerce market is growing exponentially, and brands and agencies are increasingly looking for integrated solutions that allow them to tap into this space and meet their customers where they are,” comments Nich Weinheimer, GM of Strategy and Commerce at Skai. “By continuing to expand our partnership with CitrusAd, we are providing brands and agencies with the frictionless technology they are seeking, as well as critical insights that allow them to understand their marketing mix better.” 

Today, we learn more about this exciting company and its mission with an interview with CitrusAd’s Sean Cheyney.

Five Questions with Sean Cheyney

Sean Cheyney is a nationally recognized media executive with 20+ years of growing revenue and profits through online and offline media. As EVP, Global Retailer Sales, he leads CitrusAd’s global retailer sales team responsible for retailer client acquisition, market expansion, sales positioning, and growth strategy. Cheyney is an online veteran who spent nearly seven years at Triad Retail Media before coming to CitrusAd and over a decade before that AccuQuote. 

1) What is CitrusAd, and what is your role? 

CitrusAd is the world-leading, white-label, self-serve, ecommerce advertising platform that enables retailers to monetize their digital shelf-space while enabling suppliers to increase sales by launching targeted and cost-effective digital campaigns right at the point of purchase. 

Since it was launched in 2017, CitrusAd powers the fastest growing ecommerce ad network in the USA and has become the global retail industry’s preferred sponsored product, banner ad platform, service, and retail media sales organization. Successful retailers across all verticals from 25 different countries are leveraging the CitrusAd platform and real-time relevancy engine to create a more personalized shopping experience and deliver more significant ROI for suppliers. 

In my role, I head up global retailer sales. This means that my team and I speak with retailers to identify the best solutions within the CitrusAd platform and services to help them operate their retail media business.

2) Advertisers certainly have found value with retail media, but what’s the value for a retailer?

With margins for sales of goods at retail generally in the low single digits, the high margin Retail media revenue quickly becomes high profile within an organization compared to the number of goods that would need to be sold to equal the net margin from retail media.  The revenue can then be deployed to fund customer-focused initiatives, marketing, or go straight to the bottom line.

Additionally, it produces measurable incremental sales for the retailer (when done right), helping to build basket size and therefore per transaction revenue and margin. As a result, the multiple revenue streams have raised the priority level of retail media.

3) When you first engage with a retailer interested in leveraging CitrusAd, what are their initial questions? 

The questions asked by each retailer are dependent on where they are within their retail media journey. For example, retailers starting from the beginning have different questions than those who have a couple of years of experience. Questions focus on the retailers’ objectives, UX, and performance capabilities. In addition, they want to know how easy it will be for them and their suppliers, the revenue they can generate, and ROAS ranges for their suppliers.

Retail retailers who have more experience in retail media are generally looking to find ways to take their program to the next level, often eyeing a 2-4x revenue increase over the next few years, with a clear revenue target in mind. Their questions are also more centered around the unification of data and a concrete plan to get them to their revenue goals. They want to know the strategy and what they need to do as an organization to hit the goal.

4) Retail Media is just one marketing channel for retailers and brands. What are some of the other ways these two sides partner? 

Over the past few years, we have seen a convergence of trade, shopper, and co-op. Additionally, while traditionally deployed in-store only, those funds have been shifting a higher percentage into digital tactics. When it comes to the national media dollars (typically held within the media agency or the brand’s marketing team). 

The key is getting all budgets working together to meet the varying objectives. It becomes a 1+1 = 3 situation when there is alignment, and the budgets are working in concert holistically.

5) What is your outlook for Retail Media? What will happen this year, and how will this channel look in 5 years?

Over the next year, we will see late to the game retailers jump into retail media. The retailers who have spent the last 1-2 years testing out their programs or running programs manually will bring on technology partners to significantly scale their programs, bringing additional media types, data, self-serve tools, and enhanced reporting to their suppliers.

Over the next three to five years, we will see the ongoing sophistication and growth of retail media networks, with 3rd party buying platforms like Skai playing an even more important role in the retail media ecosystem. Data and identity resolution will play a significant role in retailers’ value to their supplier brands beyond diversified ad placements. Throughout this process, it will bring the retailer and supplier brand closer partnership.

Take your retail media campaigns to the next level

Increase sales, grow market share, and drive ROI on Amazon, Walmart, Target, Instacart, and dozens of other retailers with Skai retail media solutions.

As the leader in retail media, it’s imperative for brands to get their retail media advertising strategy right. Skai helps you realize your brand’s growth potential, how to stand out in a crowded market, capture demand and drive sales. Unlock data intelligence and grow your share of voice through Skai’s advanced optimization, analytics, and automation solutions.

Reach out today to schedule a brief demo to see all of our cutting-edge features firsthand.

Read the Press Release: Skai expands API integration with CitrusAd, offering brands and agencies faster retailer network growth

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