In this recent interview, we had the opportunity to sit down with Alex Crowe, Global VP of Omnichannel Strategy at Criteo. Alex offered insightful discussions on the evolution of retail media, the ongoing shift to e-commerce, and the increasing importance of first-party data for advertisers. These topics, along with Alex’s predictions for future retail media innovation, make for an enlightening conversation.
Navigating the Evolution of Retail Media: Seeking Value in the Digital Landscape
Before retail media became the fastest-growing channel in marketing, retailers primarily focused their online websites on providing their customers with the best shopping experience. Now, the landscape is changing. Retailers increasingly recognize the value of their digital real estate and the opportunity to provide a unique value proposition for advertisers.
It’s great value for a retailer because it increases the value of their overall business model. It’s great value for advertisers because it’s really rich first-party data that can scale into the open web.
Alex Crowe, Global VP of Omnichannel Strategy, Criteo
The Biggest Asks from Advertisers: Consistency and Performance
In this evolving digital space, advertisers are seeking more from retailers. The key asks revolve around consistency, performance, and ease of working with retailers. They want to understand the performance of their ad dollars and need consistency in standards, measurement, and data usage.
Retail Media Innovation: Harnessing First-Party Data
With the impending cookie deprecation, brands and agencies increasingly rely on retailers’ first-party data for campaign targeting and analysis. Retailers are crucial in helping advertisers understand campaign success and using data insights for future strategies.
Alex predicts that retailers will improve at predicting future customer behavior, driving a more relevant conversation with customers. He believes that the next 2 to 3 years of retail media will be marked by this drive for relevance and the better use of data.
With data comes power. It’s inevitable that what we’re going to see is, you know, retailers becoming better at predicting future customer behavior to enable them to better target.
Alex Crowe, Global VP of Omnichannel Strategy, Criteo
The Continued Rise of E-Commerce
Despite the importance of in-store transactions for most retailers, the growth of e-commerce cannot be understated. According to Alex, most of the growth we’re seeing is through e-commerce, and he doesn’t see it stopping. The key for retailers will be understanding how to optimize the omnichannel experience for their customers.
Watch the full interview
Alex Crow sheds light on the current retail media landscape, providing his unique perspective on the rising importance of first-party data, the challenges facing advertisers, and the continued rise of e-commerce. For industry professionals and those interested in the ever-evolving digital marketing space, this interview offers valuable insights and predictions for the future.
We highly recommend taking the time to watch the entire session to gain a deeper understanding of these topics.
