When retail media comes up in discussion, most of us think about retail websites or apps. This is what we now refer to as onsite retail media. Users visit an e-commerce website or platform and advertisers place ads close to the point of purchase.

These ads often take the form of sponsored listings. This is where a product is elevated to the top of a search on retailers website. Sponsored listings can also appear underneath the product a user has clicked on.

Reaching More Shoppers With Offsite Retail Media

For online-only retailers, onsite retail media may be all they need and this works quite well for the brands they’re partnered with if they can deliver enough impressions. But most retailers make 80 to 90% of their sales to customers buying from their physical stores and do not have the same kind of scale on their digital storefronts. However, they still have access to valuable first-party data at their disposal.

With offsite retail media, brands get to essentially join in on a retailer’s ad campaign on other platforms such as display, paid search and social media. For example, Dove might pay to be featured in a Walmart Facebook ad that puts their product in front of the right customer using first-party data.

According to emarketer, 68% of advertisers say that offsite is a necessary part of their retail media strategy.

While these ad placements are not quite as close to the point of purchase as on a retailer’s website, offsite retail media still offers higher performing product-purchase data for brands to take advantage of. And these ad campaigns typically encourage a consumer to visit the retailer’s e-commerce asset.

The real benefit of offsite retail media is how it allows retailers to capitalize on in-store shoppers by reaching them where they frequent online. In many cases, consumers don’t think of a retailer as an online e-commerce platform yet. Reaching them on other sites and platforms is key to making the most of what retail media has to offer. Not to mention, this can unlock a whole new level of scale for brands to reach the retailer’s customers wherever they visit online.