How to Monetize Sales Channels with Digital Advertising
In recent years, the world of large-scale retail trade (GDO) has undergone a profound transformation, driven by digitalization, e-commerce and the growing centrality of data. One of the most significant trends in this evolution is the emergence of Retail Media: a model that allows retailers to monetize their sales channels through digital advertising, transforming physical and digital spaces into real media channels. This approach represents an unprecedented opportunity to enhance points of contact with the consumer, intercepting them at key moments in the purchasing journey.
Cos’è il Retail Media?
Retail Media is an advertising system that allows brands to promote their products directly in the retailer’s touchpoints, both digital and physical. In online channels, such as e-commerce, apps and newsletters, advertising content can be personalized based on the customer’s browsing and purchasing behavior. In physical stores, on the other hand, digital totems, screens, smart shelves and promotional materials are used to convey targeted messages. Unlike traditional media, Retail Media allows a very high level of targeting thanks to the use of the retailer’s proprietary data, also called first-party data, offering contextual and personalized communication precisely at the moment in which the consumer is about to make a purchase decision.
Why it is strategic for large-scale retail trade
Supermarkets and large-scale retail chains have a unique competitive advantage: the availability of a considerable amount of first-party data. This includes purchasing preferences, receipt history, consumer behavior, responses to promotions and loyalty through loyalty programs. This information allows for the construction of extremely detailed profiles, ideal for activating high-precision advertising campaigns.
Supermarkets and large-scale retail chains have a unique competitive advantage: the availability of a considerable amount of first-party data. This includes purchasing preferences, receipt history, consumer behavior, responses to promotions and loyalty through loyalty programs. This information allows for the construction of extremely detailed profiles, ideal for activating high-precision advertising campaigns.
How It Works in Practice
Here are some concrete and operational examples of Retail Media applied in large-scale retail trade:
- Sponsored banners and native ads on the supermarket’s e-commerce, shown based on the individual user’s purchasing preferences.
- Dynamic and personalized suggestions, such as “recommended products” while browsing, in the wishlist or in the cart.
- Advertising spaces within weekly newsletters sent to registered customers, with targeted promotions.
- Digital and interactive flyers, where brands can buy premium visibility.
- Digital screens in the store, positioned in strategic aisles, to promote products in real time with messages adaptable to the audience present.
- Integrated omnichannel campaigns, where the retailer’s CRM data is used to reach customers outside the store, via external platforms such as Google Ads or social media.
- QR code su scaffali e prodotti che rimandano a contenuti extra, recensioni o promozioni dedicate, creando una connessione tra fisico e digitale.
The Benefits for All Actors Involved
- For retailers: monetization of existing assets, greater control over promotional flows, customer loyalty thanks to a more consistent and personalized experience.
- For brands: access to high-quality data and promotional spaces in high-conversion contexts. Ability to optimize advertising budgets by investing where effectiveness is measurable.
- For consumers: less intrusive and more useful advertising content, personalized offers and greater relevance of the communications received, both online and in-store.
The Challenges to Face
Implementing an effective Retail Media strategy requires specific skills and a solid technological infrastructure. It is necessary to have integrated platforms that combine CRM, business intelligence systems, DSP (Demand Side Platform) and predictive analysis tools. No less important is the ability to create engaging, relevant and consistent advertising content with the brand’s tone of voice.
Data management is another crucial point. The adoption of transparent practices, compliant with GDPR, is essential to maintain customer trust and ensure the sustainability of the model.
Finally, the collaboration between retailers and brands must be strengthened: it is not enough to sell advertising spaces, it is necessary to build an ecosystem in which both actors share objectives, KPIs and analysis tools.
The Future of Retail Media
Retail Media is set to grow exponentially in the coming years, with increasing investments from brands and growing interest from technology players. It is expected to become one of the main sources of advertising revenue for large-scale retail trade, together with solutions such as proprietary digital marketplaces and internal affiliate networks.
In a context where third-party cookies are disappearing and the importance of first-party data becomes crucial, Retail Media is establishing itself as a fundamental tool for building more effective, personalized and measurable communication. Today, large-scale retail trade has the unique opportunity to transform itself from a simple place of transaction to an integrated media platform, redefining its role in the digital marketing landscape.
Those who are able to seize this revolution in time will have a significant competitive advantage, not only in terms of advertising revenue, but also in terms of customer loyalty and knowledge.
Retail Media is no longer a gamble: it is a strategic reality for the future of distribution.