Wherever you make a purchase, whether it be a product or service or purchased in a physical store or online, the transaction takes place in a specific location. Therefore, analysing and understanding purchase behaviour based on location can significantly improve the effectiveness of your advertising strategies.

With 3rd party cookies going away, the industry has been looking for new ways to understand and target consumers across digital channels. Hence, we´ve seen the rise of retail media networks with their unique first party data and ability to cover the “last mile” before the moment of purchase.

‍Let´s view Retail Media as a Strategy

‍Retail media is best viewed as a strategy rather than just a standalone channel, one that is becoming increasingly important in the world of advertising. With growing privacy concerns and the continued search for third-party cookie alternatives, brands are turning to retail media networks to gain access to valuable first-party data and reach consumers at the critical moment before purchase.

One of the key aspects of retail media is the importance of location in understanding consumer behaviour. Everything happens somewhere, and purchases are no exception. By analysing data by area, advertisers can gain valuable insights into where their products are selling best and who is buying them. This information can then be used to create more targeted and tailored omnichannel campaigns.

There are several use cases for incorporating location into your retail media strategy. Let´s consider some approaches:

‍Start with Your Data

‍Every advertiser sells something, so begin by mapping your data by area. This may encompass total sales, eCommerce versus in-store sales, or app and delivery service volumes. Identify areas of strength, focusing on regions with the highest sales or delivery volumes. Understand audience characteristics by areas. By examining diverse online and offline datasets including demographic, behavioral, mobility, and media performance, marketers can gain insights into who is purchasing their products. This allows for the creation of more targeted and tailored area-based campaigns. At Taptap, our Geo Lookalikes solution for example helps you discover new, high-potential areas with similar characteristics to areas where your past campaigns were successful.

‍Start with Your Ideal Customer Profile

Understanding your ideal customer profile allows you to use location-based strategies to find more customers like them. If you have a clear view of your ideal customer's demographics, behaviors, mobility patterns, and past purchases, you can utilise hundreds of georeferenced online and offline data points to build your audience profile. This then enables you to identify areas where your audience is concentrated. This allows for smarter activation where budget, media strategy and creative can be tailored according to the areas of different audience concentration for maximum efficiency and impact.

‍Start with Your Objectives

Sales don’t start and end in store. Building awareness and consideration earlier own in the purchase journey is critical to effectively drive conversions.

‍First Mile

‍Raising awareness and consideration of your product can be done more effectively by strategically targeting regions with a high concentration of your ideal customer profile who also reside within proximity to a store. Additionally, by identifying areas where your products or similar items are being purchased based on purchase data you can further target your marketing investments.

Last Mile

Here, store-level sales performance can be assessed to prioritise media investments in proximity to high-performing locations. Strategies like digital out-of-home (DOOH) advertising and mobile engagement can drive footfall and sales, supporting both high-performing and underperforming stores.

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Delivery vs. In-store

‍For quick-service restaurants (QSRs), the importance of location is paramount for managing delivery and in-store sales channels. To enhance delivery performance, identify areas with a concentration of your ideal customers but low delivery volumes. Focus your investments in these areas, particularly during relevant contextual moments, such as meal times and weekends.

‍Intelligent Store Support

Rank stores based on audience affinity and allocate your spending wisely. Invest more heavily in high-affinity stores while scaling back in those with lower affinity scores, ensuring your resources are used efficiently.

Everything happens somewhere and embracing an area-based marketing approach can significantly expand your retail media strategy and integrate it into your omnichannel plans.

As brands strive to minimise the distance between the sofa and store, employing location intelligence can dramatically enhance retail media strategies.

‍Key Takeaways for Retail Media Strategies

1. Supplement Your Retail Media Data: Make use of hundreds of georeferenced online and offline data points to enrich your understanding.

2. Rank Store Performance: Continuously evaluate your best-performing stores and areas to optimise your marketing efforts.

3. Explore Audience Concentration: Focus on areas with a high density of your target audience to maximise impact and efficiency.

Ultimately, leveraging location intelligence in retail media is essential for brands seeking to engage consumers in a personalised and effective manner. By understanding the "where" behind purchases, businesses can enhance their strategies and drive meaningful results.