As the holiday season approaches, new definitions and
measurement standards for in-store retailers will provide transparency and consistency across retailers, brands and CPGs, as well as guidelines for advertising formats and store zones.
The
Interactive Advertising Bureau, through a collaborative effort with IAB Europe, has released standards and guidelines, and opened them for public comment until November 1.
The announcement was
made at the IAB Connected Commerce Summit in New York City.
Efforts brought together 14 Retail Media Networks (RMNs) such as Ahold Delhaize, Douglas Marketing Solutions, Kingfisher,
MediaMarkt, and Schwartz Media, among others. The process also involved virtual workshops and consultations with buy- and sell-side partners.
“Retail Media Networks have already
had a meaningful impact on the digital advertising industry in a short period of time,” stated David Cohen, CEO, IAB.
Omnichannel retail media
ad spend in the U.S. will reach $129.93 billion in 2028 -- up from $54.85 billion in 2024, according to June data from Emarketer.
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Standards and guidelines were developed to address
rapidly expanding in-store opportunities in retail media at companies. They were designed to unlock the potential for this channel and help capture budgets traditionally allocated to linear TV and
out-of-home (OOH).
In-store retail media consists of digital screens, printed and static ads, audio, connected shopping and experimental ads, but non-digital in-store retail media, which
are printed and static ads, and experiential offerings such as product sampling are not included in the in-store standards.
The standards cover definitions, formats, and store zones, but measurement will prove to be the most helpful. Measurement guidelines support tracking, reporting, and
analyzing campaign performance across various in-store formats.
How to define an impression was one of the more impactful outcomes from the standard, which must be within the view of a
person, per the IAB. The report states Retail Media Networks "should report on ad play and gross impressions as a minimum. The formula used to determine the following metrics should be
disclosed."
The report also states that a viewable ad impression is a more accurate measure of an ad's visibility because it takes into account whether the ad had the opportunity
to be seen by the user.
Yara Daher, Retail Media Consultant, IAB Europe, told MediaPost an impression can be defined as a funnel in an
in-store environment.
"It begins with 'Ad Play,' determining whether the ad was played," she said. "This leads to 'Gross Impressions,' which estimates the number of individuals who might have
seen the ad during a specific time."
Then it goes to the next level, what Daher called an "Opportunity to See," defined as "a reliable proxy for viewable impressions that we recommend retailers
adopt." Further down the funnel, there’s "'Likelihood to See,' which relies on sensors and analytics technology but is often limited by privacy concerns or capital expenditure
constraints."
Viewable adjustment measures applied for digital place-based media are expected to conform to the requirement for digital video because it represents an opportunity
to see, rather than confirmation that someone has seen the ad.
The joint initiative builds on IAB/MRC Retail Media Measurement
Guidelines and IAB Europe’s Retail Media Measurement Standards. They were released by IAB
in January 2024 and IAB Europe in April 2024.