Globally, retail media spending totals USD 45 billion and is expected to surpass spend on TV advertising by 2028. Interestingly, Search – which is considered the first digital wave – took 14 years to achieve USD 30 billion in ad revenue. The second wave of digital advertising, Social, took 11 years. Retail media has breached USD 30 billion in ad spend in just 5 years. It’s no surprise then, that retail media is being considered the third wave in digital advertising. Retail media plays a crucial role across the consumer journey, making it an essential touchpoint for brands to drive both awareness and conversion. In the era of Retail Media 2.0, the focus has shifted from a narrow emphasis on search-driven e-commerce to a more holistic, full-funnel approach that leverages the wealth of first-party shopping and streaming signals to power impactful advertising solutions.
MMA Global India organized DATA Unplugged 2024 at DoubleTree by Hilton, Gurugram, Delhi NCR. The event saw industry experts come together and share their views on ‘Data First, AI Next’. The day explored how businesses can harness data to drive digital maturity, enhance customer experience, and prepare for an AI-driven future.
“We are thrilled to champion the consumer journey transition for marketers and enable the marketer outlook and member insights in the new playbook. 79% of shoppers discover products through retail media online whilst 82% of media professionals are currently leveraging retail media solutions. These numbers signify the critical mass and clearly underscore the growing influence and future potential of retail media and its role in full-funnel marketing,” said Moneka Khurana, Country Head and Board Member, MMA Global India.
At the event, MMA Global India and Amazon Ads launched a playbook, on the evolving retail media landscape in India titled ‘Retail Media 2.0: Moving up the funnel’. This playbook covers the retail media landscape, emergence of Retail Media 2.0 and shows how brands and agency professionals can integrate retail media in their marketing and advertising strategies.
The new playbook is powered by two studies: Consumer journey trends and Marketer outlook. The study (Sample size: 7880) conducted through Kantar explores the role of various online and offline touchpoints in consumer journey across 10 product subcategories including FMCG, Electronics and Durables or Appliances. Here are some of the key findings from the study:
45% respondents said that they experiment with their brands, or are willing to consider newer brands
61% respondents believe retail media touchpoints like Amazon have influence on their final purchase decision
Consumer journeys that start with retail media are shorter in length
79% respondents said that they discovered products through retail media while shopping online
The role of retail media is not restricted only to online purchases, with 45% respondents saying that they discovered products through retail media during their exploration journey for offline purchases
The playbook also contains insights from an MMA Global India study conducted with 150 Indian marketers and agency professionals to understand their views on retail media, the role it plays in the today’s landscape and its future outlook. Some of the key takeaways are:
82% of media professionals currently use retail media solutions. On an average, retail media constitutes 11%-20% of digital ad spend in media plans of the respondents
35% have started using retail media across the three stages of the funnel (upper, mid and lower)
70% respondents will increase their spends on retail media next year
Click to download the playbook
