“Advertisers are on the lookout for more of a full-funnel approach, from end to finish, working with a smaller set of DSP partners, thinking about a approach to connect all of the touchpoints and to be more personal, to tailor that message. The paths all have to unite to be in a position to have the best data, the best touchpoints, the best customer journey.”
Thoughts from a wide-ranging conversation on retail marketing and promoting with Sherry Smith, executive managing director, Americas, at digital promoting platform Criteo. The discussion began with the possible divestment of Chrome by Google.
So what if Google sells Chrome? Any court-compelled sale of Chrome by Google is a good distance down the road. Can retailers forget about it for now? “I feel it’s a sensible challenge we should be thinking about now,” said Smith. “The industry is changing so rapidly. We went forwards and backwards for years over the potential deprecation of cookies; we now have to have Google in our sights in terms of what could proceed to vary.”
Smith also talked about the fast growth of retail media and CTV. He noted that customers are actually taking non-linear paths once they shop. “At Criteo, we’re always thinking about how this world is constant to evolve and how you can anticipate that. It’s higher to organize.”
Nevertheless, even following a sale of Chrome, Google would presumably retain its search and promoting businesses. There are already changes happening in search, not least with the AI input in search results. “Retailers have to think about how you can ensure they’re getting the eyeballs they need and the conversions they need,” said Smith. “I feel these changes create a singular opportunity for retailers to foster a more competitive, open web environment.”
If a sale happens, Chrome would likely proceed under latest ownership. Any issues it faces would help Firefox, Microsoft Edge or Safari. But life would go on as usual. “As far as what the tip result would be,” said Smith, “I’m not entirely sure. I feel we’re trying to have a look at different outcomes for our partners to think about.”
Dig deeper: DOJ seeks sale of Chrome in Google antitrust case
The search and discovery process has modified already. The sale of Chrome would have an effect, however the space is feeling impacts from other sources already. “Social has been on the rise for the past several years so far as discovery goes,” said Smith. Another latest horizon is the flexibility to make use of LLM capabilities to go looking for services. Google may offer AI Overviews, but consumers can just go direct to ChatGPT.
“One thing our clients are focused on,” said Smith, “is how they make their website experience frictionless and straightforward to navigate and offer more predictive-type search. App development for retailers goes to be really interesting — how they proceed to supply an omnichannel-type experience for shoppers in-store.”
The rise of retail media. Criteo’s customers are thinking about how they’ll leverage all the info they’ve in order to work with advertisers, Smith said. “There has been an absolute rise [in retail media] and our goal is to be certain we’re helping to attach the ecosystem. It’s cumbersome to work with multiple retailers one-by-one so we try to enable capabilities to work across not only multiple, but to do it globally and at scale.”
Isn’t the term “retail media network” becoming too narrow, since it’s not only retailers which have large first-party datasets that may be leveraged to create relevant audiences. Publishers do too, for instance. “We work with delivery partners outside the retail space,” Smith said. “Uber is a really big client of ours. How are these corporations thinking about that beneficial data and the way they’ll monetize it and create some sort of commerce network?”
Speaking of publishers, Criteo works with Hearst too, said Smith. “It’s been interesting to see this space evolve and I feel it’s going to be saturated with those beyond the retail space as well.”
CTV is true across the corner. CTV isn’t a part of Criteo’s purview today, said Smith. “It is where we’re going tomorrow.” Will we see more activity from Criteo in the CTV space next yr? “I feel you will notice more of Criteo in the upper funnel, period,” said Smith.
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