Before heading out for the weekend, check out the latest Weekly Retail Roundup to stay up to speed! This week, Amazon announced a new integration with TikTok and Pinterest, eMarketer released its Programmatic Advertising Forecast and Ad Tech Trends for H2, Macy’s launched a new partnership with Rokt, and Lowe’s rebranded its retail media network.
Amazon Expands its Social Commerce Integration with TikTok and Pinterest
Amazon announced an expansion of its social commerce integration to include TikTok and Pinterest. This integration will allow users to purchase products directly from ads on the respective platforms, similar to the agreement between Meta and Snap in November last year. This is yet another strategic move by Amazon to capture the Gen Z market and low ASP shoppers who purchase from the likes of Temu and Shein. Amazon’s CFO Brian Olsavsky sighted this as a challenge during their Q2 earnings call, during which Amazon narrowly missed its retail sales projections.
Cookies are Back, but Walled Gardens, Including Amazon Marketing Cloud, are Not Going Away
eMarketer released its Programmatic Advertising Forecast and Ad Tech Trends for H2 2024 report earlier this week, which showed impressive growth predictions for programmatic ad spend. Programmatic ads like Amazon Demand-Side-Platform give brands the ability to purchase programmatic placements directly on 3rd-party sites. With Cookies back in, there were concerns about what this would mean for brands who had invested heavily in Walled Gardens, like Amazon Marketing Cloud. eMarketer’s report crushes any concerns with walled garden growth continuing to significantly outpace open-web programmatic spend in the open-web.
Macy’s is Tapping into Non-endemic Advertising Revenue Through its Partnership with Rokt
Yesterday, Macy’s announced a partnership with eCommerce tech provider Rokt, enabling non-endemic brands to deliver personalized ads to customers post-purchase. ROKT’s AI-powered offering will enable brands to tap into rich first-party data to create personalized offers. Michael Krans, VP of Macy’s Media Network, shared his excitement about the partnership: “Rokt’s unique AI-powered technology enables us to use our first-party data to provide our customers with high quality, premium offers from non-endemic advertisers post-purchase, communicating the right message at the right time, ultimately leading to increased customer engagement.” As more non-endemic brands eye retail media as a way a new channel, this partnership makes sense for Macy’s as it continues to grow its retail media revenue stream.
Lowe’s Retail Media Network Gets a Rebrand
Lowe’s One Roof Media Network, which initially launched in October of 2021, has received a rebrand, including a new name: Lowe’s Media Network. This strategic move aimed to bring its retail media business closer to its core retail business. “Over the past few years, we’ve transformed our enterprise marketing strategy to become more integrated with Lowe’s merchandising strategy, and that transformation has been in tandem with Lowe’s Media Network,” said Jen Wilson, Lowe’s Chief Marketing Officer. “The rebrand of our media network strengthens its association to Lowe’s brand and is the culmination of the close collaboration we’ve built between merchandising and marketing. We have a talented team of retail and media experts who work cross-functionally to build customized strategies that help our brand partners show up in the moments that matter throughout the customer journey.”
Back to School is Around the Corner. Is Your Team Ready for this Micro-season?
Pacvue’s President and Co-Founder Melissa Burdick shared her expert insights into how brands can use AI to quickly create a custom ad and product detail page content relevant to specific shopping periods. With back-to-school just weeks away and Cyber-5 only 112 days away, now is a great time to think about how your team can utilize AI to increase conversion. Check out the article here and follow Melissa on LinkedIn to stay up to date with her latest insights.
