Ocado has unveiled a pioneering retail media service, marking a significant step in its strategic journey. This service aims to provide brands with tools for measurable growth and personalised customer experiences. Utilising the Beet platform, Ocado offers sophisticated insights and analytics to advertisers. The initiative targets transforming Ocado into a central hub for grocery advertising trials. The UK retail media market is forecasted to grow substantially in the coming years.
Ocado has launched a new retail media service that signifies a transformative chapter in its strategic journey. This development is positioned to empower brands by offering them the capabilities to drive measurable growth and enhance customer engagement through relevant and personalised advertising experiences. Utilising a partnership with retail media platform Zitcha, Ocado Ads provides comprehensive campaign planning and management tools, allowing advertisers to reach audiences across various mediums, including onsite, offsite, social media, and connected TV.
Through its advanced Beet platform, Ocado offers advertisers robust insights and analytics. This cutting-edge technology enables brands to understand customer behaviour and optimize their marketing strategies effectively. The service also features an NPD Lab, renowned for being the fastest in the UK, which facilitates rapid product development and A/B testing to assess different creative approaches.
Ocado has distinguished itself as the UK’s fastest-growing supermarket for six consecutive months, a fact underscored by recent Kantar data. The retailer is positioning itself as the ‘home of test and learn’ for grocery advertising in the UK, striving to revolutionise how brands interact with consumers in this space. Head of Ocado Ads, Jack Johnson, highlighted the flexible nature of the service, which challenges the conventional one-size-fits-all approach of traditional retail media networks, offering an adaptable model that can be fully self-serve, entirely managed, or a hybrid.
The UK retail media landscape is on the verge of significant growth, with ad spend predicted to surpass £4bn this year according to Insider Intelligence. This spending is expected to nearly double by 2027, positioning the UK as the leading market for retail media expenditure in western Europe. As numerous supermarkets enhance their retail media services, Ocado’s innovative offering sets it apart in an increasingly competitive market.
Ocado’s ambitious expansion into retail media services marks a strategic advancement in its business model, positioning it as a formidable force in the retail media landscape.