Retail media: how to integrate commercial investment and media without counting the result twice

Retail media brings together advertising opportunities tied to retailers and their environments, audiences and data. For large advertisers, the question is how to integrate this investment into category and brand strategy, with clear measurement rules. A report of attributed sales should not be automatically added to the results of other channels.

The budget may involve marketing, trade and sales teams. Without alignment, the same investment ends up with different objectives: selling in the short term, expanding presence, strengthening a negotiation or reaching new buyers. All of these purposes can exist, but they need to be made explicit and evaluated separately.

Define the role of each activation

A sponsored position in the retailer's search relates to purchase intent differently than a video campaign outside that environment. Organize the plan by role in the journey and context of exposure. Do not treat all retail media inventory as if it had the same capacity to generate additional demand.

Before contracting, assess coverage, formats, product availability and the quality of the destination experience. An efficient ad does not fix a page with insufficient information or an unavailable product. Commercial operations are part of the results hypothesis.

Align the measurement definitions

• Attribution window and the difference between exposure, click and purchase.
• Products and categories included in the attributed result.
• Treatment of returns, cancellations and duplicates.
• Definition of a new-to-brand buyer and the period observed.
• Possibility of testing incrementality and limits on data access.

The IAB/MRC retail media measurement guidelines offer a reference for discussing definitions and transparency. The contract and the analysis design still need to reflect the actual operations of the advertiser and the retailer.

Avoid adding up incompatible dashboards

The same purchase can appear in reports from different platforms, each with its own windows and rules. Adding up attributed conversions does not automatically produce total sales generated. Keep platform readings as operating instruments and build a business view with data reconciliation.

In a hypothetical example, a manufacturer might see sales growth at the retailer that received the campaign but a drop in another channel. It is necessary to investigate whether demand expanded, shifted between channels, prices changed or some combination of factors was at work.

What needs to be in the executive review

Consider category results, margin, availability and evidence of acquiring relevant buyers. Present attributed sales, incrementality hypotheses and commercial benefits that were not causally measured separately. Transparency keeps a negotiation from looking more efficient only because its dashboard is more favorable.

Establish a routine among marketing, trade, sales and data. What is learned should guide assortment, product content and the next tests, not just media buying. Without this integration, the program tends to repeat investments without clarifying what they actually add.

Should retail media come out of the trade budget or the marketing budget?

The accounting origin does not define the objective. The investment needs owners and shared criteria, avoiding duplicated goals.

Is attributed sales the same as incremental sales?

No. Learn more about incrementality and the work of the Media practice.