#4—Retail media in the Nordics: Seizing new opportunities
Hey, welcome back to Retail Radar—your go-to for all things retail!
Last time, we unpacked Google’s cookie phase-out delay and what it means for retailers. Today, we’re diving into something equally exciting: retail media. Retail media is not just the next big thing—it’s rapidly reshaping how brands reach shoppers at crucial decision-making moments. For Nordic retailers, this offers a unique window of opportunity.
As retail evolves, the game changes—retailers are transforming into advertising platforms. By using customer data, they’re helping brands connect with shoppers through targeted, personalized ads. This month, we’ll look at what this growing trend means for the Nordic market, the challenges it presents, and how you can make the most of it.
Ready? Let’s go!
Retail media—a quick overview
Retail media is all about retailers selling ad space to brands, using first-party customer data to make ads more precise and personalized. This results in a better shopping experience for both the retailer and the brand.
Retail media networks are platforms where retailers offer ad placements on their websites, apps, and even across the wider web. Brands then bid for these prime spots in real-time auctions, giving them dynamic, scalable campaigns.
What makes retail media stand out today is its ability to offer precise targeting and attribution and its proximity to the purchase. With retail media networks, brands use advanced data to fine-tune their targeting and create smarter, more impactful ads.
The rise of retail media
Retail media began in the US, with companies like Amazon and Walmart leading the way. Google and Meta dominated the ad market, controlling 54.7% of U.S. digital ad revenue at their peak in 2017. They continued to control more than 50% of the market until 2024, when their combined share dropped to 48.4%, partly due to the growth of retail media.?
Inspired by the evolution in the US, Nordic retailers are eager to get started, but there is not enough infrastructure and process to seize the new opportunities for local markets. Globally, retail media is expected to surpass linear TV ad spending—and we will be catching up in the Nordics, too.
"One reason for the rapid rise of retail media is the decline of third-party cookies, which has made it harder for advertisers to track consumers across the web. Retail media solves this by using first-party data collected directly from shoppers’ purchases and behaviors," explains Bj?rn Karlstr?m, Portfolio Product Manager at Voyado.?
Opportunities for endemic and non-endemic brands
There are two types of brands involved in retail media: endemic and non-endemic. Endemic brands sell their products through the retailer where they advertise, while non-endemic brands use the retailer’s platform for advertising but don’t sell their products there.
Looking at the Retail Media space now, there are more solutions for endemic brands, and that is why they typically see the highest returns. However, there are growing opportunities for non-endemic brands, especially as the market matures and new ways to utilize data emerge.
Why the Nordics?
Retail media is thriving worldwide, but the Nordic region presents unique challenges and exciting opportunities. A major hurdle is scale—Nordic retailers are often smaller than their counterparts in markets like Germany or the UK, making large investments in technology more difficult. However, Nordic retailers can adopt a "last-mover" strategy, learning from bigger markets and applying proven best practices with more agility and efficiency.
“Unlike in the US, where Amazon dominates the retail media space, the Nordics have less of a presence from the retail giant. This opens up opportunities for local retailers to establish themselves in this fast-growing sector,” says Bj?rn.
Another key advantage in the Nordics is the strong focus on loyalty programs. Many Nordic retailers are already experts at gathering and using first-party loyalty data, which is crucial for driving success in retail media.
Must-haves for a successful retail media strategy?
For retailers looking to build or expand their retail media network, there are three essential elements to focus on:
Placements—Covering the full funnel
When building a retail media strategy, it’s crucial to offer ad placements that cover the entire purchase funnel, from awareness to conversion. This allows advertisers to choose the most effective placements to reach their target audience at different stages of the journey.
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By offering a wide range of placement options, retailers enable brands to run campaigns that engage customers at every stage of the purchase funnel, maximizing impact and driving sales.
2. Targeting—Personalization through first-party data
Effective targeting is the backbone of a successful retail media strategy. Retailers have a unique advantage by using first-party data information collected directly from their customers. This allows them to create highly personalized ad campaigns that use insights from customer behavior, purchase history, and demographics.
Some effective targeting methods are:
?3. Reporting—Measuring Incremental Impact
Detailed, real-time reporting is essential to gauge the success of retail media campaigns, but it’s not enough to just look at traditional metrics like return on ad spend (ROAS). Retailers must also demonstrate the incremental lift—the additional sales or conversions that can be directly attributed to the ad campaign, beyond what would have happened organically. This is crucial for advertisers to assess the true value of their investment.
By providing advertisers with insights into the incremental effect of their campaigns, retailers can showcase how their ad placements lead to actual sales growth, both online and offline. Closed-loop attribution, combined with incremental reporting, ensures brands see the full impact of their advertising efforts, helping them to optimize their strategies and allocate their budgets more effectively.
Overcoming challenges
Sure, retail media offers huge potential, but it's not without its challenges—especially in Europe and the Nordics. The region’s fragmentation, with multiple languages, cultures, and markets, adds complexity and often requires more time and effort for a smaller investment compared to traditional digital advertising. It’s not always the case, but siloed tech setups—where organic and paid search are managed separately—are something retailers should aim to avoid, as they can negatively impact the overall customer experience.
"Retail media requires a shift in mindset. Retailers need to think of themselves as publishers, which means investing in new skills and organizational structures to run these campaigns effectively," says Bj?rn.
There are also regulatory and financial hurdles to tackle. The EU’s strict data regulations, like GDPR, limit how customer data can be used for advertising. But there’s a silver lining: first-party data, gathered with consent, helps retailers navigate these legal waters while still offering valuable insights. And on the budget side, departments often work in silos, so new relationships and offerings need to be built to bridge those gaps.
Building a retail media network—best practices
To tap into marketing budgets and scale your retail media, focus on these four key areas:
1. Programmatic advertising
Ensure your ad placements cover the full funnel and can be bought and optimized programmatically—this is a must for major advertisers.
2. Self-service solutions
Scalability and cost-effectiveness rely on offering a self-service platform, giving advertisers control over their campaigns.
3. Real-time reporting
Advertisers expect real-time reporting and optimization, allowing them to adjust their strategies based on live performance data.
4. Rich insights from first-party data
Provide advertisers with valuable insights based on first-party data gathered with consent, helping them to create more targeted campaigns.
Thank you for tuning in to this month's edition of Retail Radar! Keep an eye out for next month’s issue, where we’ll delve into another hot topic in the retail world.
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