Key Highlights from our In-Store Measurement Standards Workshop Hosted in Partnership with Criteo

On the 10th and 11th July, representatives from more than 10 Retail Media networks in Europe gathered to discuss and debate in-store Retail Media. As Retail Media continues to grow and evolve, more channels and formats become key to the overall media mix. IAB Europe wants to ensure standardisation is in place across all Retail Media channels, including in-store.

Key takeaways of the Workshop include:

• In-store ad formats are variable between digital and physical
• There are market divisions between what qualifies as in-store Retail Media (e.g. For most German retailers printed and physical assets are not part of Retail Media but in the UK they can be)
• In-store is a huge growth opportunity which can capture linear TV and OOH budgets but for that to happen the investment in technology and standardisation is key
• Non-endemic brand investment is crucial to in-store being the “new TV”
• As in-store moves to programmatic infrastructure, CPM trading will be critical and we need to align a CPM definition 
• Most in-store media can be measured based on some before and after comparison but  incremental sales lift requires an A/B test
• One to one measurement is nascent and restricted to a number of formats. Despite being the most accurate form of measurement It also carries scale and privacy  limitations and privacy limitations. The question is if and when it is required?
• In-store Retail Media ads are set to power the future growth of the third big wave of digital advertising. 

In April, we published measurement standards for on-site and off-site Retail Media ads.  We convened this second workshop in Paris, supported by Criteo, to ensure there is consistency in how in-store Retail Media is defined and the measurement standards applied to those formats. We are working in parallel with IAB US to develop consistent standards across Europe and the US. It is worth noting that Europe is 3 to 5 years ahead of North America in the development of in-store Retail Media. This is particularly evident when comparing the shopping experience of a typical American supermarket with European stores. 

The Retail Media networks represented at the Workshop were:

• Ahold Delhaize
• Auchan
• Douglas Marketing Solutions
• Dunnhumby (representing Tesco)
• FNAC
• ICA
• Kingfisher
• MediaMarkt 
• REWE
• Schwarz Media
• Shopper Media Group (representing the media networks for Asda, Boots, Coop, Morrisons) 

Thanks to the support of Criteo for hosting the Workshop at their offices, we enjoyed two days of rich discussion, debate, and alignment on in-store Retail Media standards in the areas of in-store ad formats, store zones, media metrics and sales measurement. The Workshop was moderated by Yara Daher and Marie-Clare Puffett and featured insights from industry analyst, Andrew Lipsman, RMNs Ahold Delhaize and SMG. Advertima and Venvee also collaborated with IAB Europe on the development of the content for the Workshop. Discover what was discussed below.  

Day One 

The Workshop kicked off with a discussion around the definition of in-store Retail Media and the formats that are in scope. The group broke out into pairs to discuss whether in-store should be defined as digital or measurable. 

The group was then joined by Andrew Lipsman for industry insights and thought-leadership on the development of in-store Retail Media. Key takeaways from Andrew’s presentation include:

• The future growth of digital advertising’s third big wave will be powered by three waves: off-site display & video, streaming TV and in-store ads. 
• Shoppers want in-store Retail Media to be both informative and entertaining and brands want to drive sales whilst also considering mid and upper-funnel objectives. 
• The main barriers on the RMN side are CapEx and CX–the capital requirements to implement and the risk of disrupting in-store customer experience.  
• Physical stores can deliver audiences at scale that can power branding and performance which means these stores could be the new TV. 

The group was also joined by Ahold Delhaize and PRN for an in-store case study and measurement overview. The workshop then moved onto the topic of media measurement and how an ad impression and opportunity to see can be defined in a store environment. The group took inspiration from the MRC Digital OOH Measurement Guidelines.  The group managed to align on a framework for defining an ad play, ad impression, opportunity to see and likelihood to see. 

The end of day one concluded with a session on store zones and how these can be defined and the type of executions included within each zone. 

Day Two

Day two kicked off with a networking breakfast followed by a summary of the previous day. The group doubled down on finalising a definition for in-store Retail Media and the associated groups of ad formats followed by a final discussion on defining ad plays, impressions and opportunity to see. The group then focused on sales measurement and discussed what the key metric and attribution window for in-store sales is. The group agreed that sales / brand lift is key to the measurement of in-store media as well as incremental sales lift. The group also discussed the different approaches to measuring these metrics, e.g. A/B testing, multivariate testing and one to one vie technology solutions. 

Commenting on the workshop, Jessica Wegner, Senior Vice President of Retail Media at DOUGLAS said: “In-store Retail Media has the potential to disrupt advertising, whether it is capturing media budgets from linear tv or challenging DOOH. Transparency around calculations and standard definitions to KPIs is key to the product’s entry into the programmatic advertising ecosystem, which will unlock its scalability to compete with onsite and offsite retail media. Douglas Marketing Solutions is happy to play a pioneering role in moving this needle forward via the IAB Europe standardisation initiatives.”

Summary

Overall, the Workshop is a pivotal moment and a key starting point for the industry to define in-store Retail Media and the associated measurement metrics. 

The outcome of the workshop will be an initial set of recommended standards for in-store Retail Media metrics and measurement. A document outlining the recommendations will be published as an initial draft for industry feedback within the next month. 

The development of Standards for Retail Media Advertising in Europe is a key focus of the IAB Europe Retail Media Committee work plan. This multi-stakeholder Committee brings together retailers alongside leading Retail Media businesses in Europe to advance and shape the future of this exciting digital advertising space and has already produced valuable resources including pan-European definitions, the first-ever industry association-led Retailer Digital Advertising Capability Map a Retail Media Glossary. You can find all of these resources and more on IAB Europe’s Retail Media Hub here. 

To find out more about IAB Europe’s Retail Media work and how you can get involved please contact IAB Europe’s Industry Development & Insights Director, Marie-Clare Puffett.