The retail landscape is experiencing a seismic shift in how consumers interact with brands. During Black Friday 2024, a staggering 57% of the day's $13.3B online sales came through mobile devices, marking a dramatic shift from 33% in 2019. Even more telling was the surge in mobile-driven Buy Now, Pay Later purchases, which reached an all-time high of $991.2M, accounting for 75% of all BNPL transactions.Yet, despite this digital surge, brick-and-mortar stores remain the backbone of retail, commanding 83.7% of total sales. This dual reality presents both an opportunity and a challenge for retailers: how to effectively bridge the physical-digital divide while ensuring measurable returns on advertising investments across all touchpoints.
The answer lies in developing a robust omnichannel retail media strategy. However, many retailers struggle with fragmented approaches, treating physical and digital channels as separate entities rather than components of a unified customer experience. This fragmentation not only hampers advertising effectiveness but also limits the ability to accurately measure campaign performance and ROI.
This article explores how retailers can build and implement effective omnichannel retail media strategies that meet the demands of today's connected consumer. We'll examine the evolution of retail media networks, address key implementation challenges, and provide practical insights for creating seamless shopping experiences across all channels.
The Evolution of Retail Media Networks
The retail media landscape has transformed dramatically from simple in-store displays and website advertisements to sophisticated, data-driven networks spanning physical and digital realms. Today's consumers expect seamless experiences across all touchpoints, with 76% demanding consistent interactions whether they're shopping online or in stores. This fundamental shift in consumer behavior has catalyzed the evolution of retail media networks (RMNs).
Modern RMNs now engage shoppers at crucial decision-making moments across all channels, reaching audiences up to 70% larger than traditional digital channels alone. By leveraging first-party data, these networks create comprehensive customer profiles that inform both online and offline experiences, enabling retailers to deliver personalized messaging at scale while providing brand partners with deeper insights into consumer behavior.
This evolution in measurement capabilities has made RMNs increasingly attractive to advertisers, who can now track customer journeys across multiple touchpoints and understand how digital advertising influences in-store behavior. As these networks continue to mature, they serve as the foundation for truly omnichannel retail strategies, enabling cohesive brand experiences that meet customers wherever they are.
Building Blocks of an Effective Omnichannel Strategy
A successful omnichannel strategy must seamlessly integrate both physical and digital touchpoints while maintaining consistent brand experiences. The foundation begins with understanding how different channels complement each other and contribute to the overall customer journey.
In-store displays continue to demonstrate remarkable effectiveness, with physical retail displays showing a 10% higher recall rate than digital advertisements. This heightened recall stems from the multisensory experience that in-store environments provide, allowing customers to forge deeper connections with products and brands. Modern retailers are enhancing these experiences through interactive technologies such as touch screens and motion sensors, encouraging active customer participation and exploration.
Digital integration plays a crucial role in bridging online and offline experiences. Real-time inventory visibility ensures retailers only promote in-stock products, leading to better return on advertising spend and enhanced customer satisfaction. Advanced attribution models now capture customer activity across both digital and physical touchpoints, providing retailers with comprehensive insights into the effectiveness of their omnichannel strategies.
Personalization capabilities serve as another critical building block. Retail media networks leverage first-party data to enable advanced audience segmentation and precision targeting. This allows retailers to deliver tailored messages to customers regardless of where they interact with the brand. The effectiveness of these personalization efforts can be measured through incrementality studies, which reveal the true impact of advertising across channels.
The success of an omnichannel strategy ultimately depends on how well these building blocks work together to create a cohesive customer experience. By carefully orchestrating in-store displays, digital touchpoints, and personalization capabilities, retailers can create engaging shopping experiences that drive both customer satisfaction and business results.
The Power of Offsite Integration
While onsite retail media remains crucial, successful omnichannel strategies must also incorporate offsite channels. Offsite retail media extends advertising opportunities beyond retailers' owned properties to include paid social, search, email, and other external channels. This expansion allows retailers to:
- Connect with potential customers beyond their websites
- Lower customer acquisition costs through brand advertiser partnerships
- Create diverse revenue streams across multiple channels
- Engage consumers throughout their entire shopping journey
Common Challenges and Solutions
Implementing an effective omnichannel strategy comes with several significant challenges:
1. Attribution Complexity: Tracking customer journeys across multiple touchpoints can be challenging, especially when combining online and offline interactions. Modern retail media networks address this through advanced attribution models that can track the entire customer journey, from initial ad exposure to final purchase.
2. Cross-Channel Data Sharing: Many retailers struggle with siloed communication channels operating independently with separate systems and data. Success requires implementing unified data platforms that maintain privacy while enabling seamless information sharing.
3. Measurement Standardization: The industry currently faces challenges in establishing universal metrics and KPIs across different channels. Retailers must work toward creating standardized measurement frameworks that accurately capture performance across all touchpoints.
Practical Implementation Steps
To successfully implement an omnichannel retail media strategy, retailers should consider the following steps:
First, invest in integrated data platforms that can consolidate information from various sources, including in-store interactions, online behavior, and purchase history. This creates a foundation for understanding customer behavior across all channels.
Second, enhance in-store media infrastructure to support dynamic content delivery based on real-time data. For example, Walmart has successfully implemented digital signage that adjusts based on customer traffic patterns, leading to a 50% improvement in promotional effectiveness.
Third, implement advanced analytics tools to analyze unified data and identify key customer segments and behaviors. Share these insights with brand partners to optimize product offerings and marketing strategies.
Finally, establish continuous monitoring and optimization processes to refine strategies based on performance metrics and customer feedback.
The Future of Omnichannel Retail Media
The retail media landscape continues to evolve rapidly. According to Deloitte Digital, nearly three-quarters of consumers say they're more likely to purchase from brands that deliver personalized experiences—and they spend 37% more with those brands. This underscores the growing importance of creating cohesive, personalized experiences across all channels.
Success in this environment requires retailers to maintain flexibility while staying focused on customer needs. Those who can effectively bridge the gap between physical and digital experiences, while maintaining privacy and data security, will be best positioned to capitalize on the growing retail media opportunity.
The key to success lies not just in implementing technology, but in using it to create meaningful, personalized experiences that add value for both customers and brand partners. As the retail media landscape continues to evolve, the ability to deliver seamless omnichannel experiences will become increasingly crucial for competitive advantage.
Interested in learning more about how to implement a successful omnichannel retail media strategy? Visit trycarter.com or schedule a chat with a retail media expert at talk@trycarter.com.
