The context
Since 2020, the periods of Covid-19 lockdowns greatly accelerated e-commerce.
In Europe, online sales will continue to grow, even if at a slower pace. This year, total turnover should reach €797 billion on the Old Continent, up by 11% from 2021. Last year, it reached €718 billion, an annual increase of 13% (Ecommerce Europe and EuroCommerce Europe).
In the U.K, 30.7% of product sales (excluding services) were made online in 2021. In 2 years, e-commerce has gained 11.5% of market share as total retail. In the Netherlands, e-commerce reached a 25% market share. These two countries are the most advanced in Europe. In France and Germany, e-commerce accounted for around 15% of the retail market in 2021 (excluding services) and for around 10% in Spain and Italy. However, in some categories, e-commerce is reaching a glass ceiling. In France, for example, in Q1, Q2 and Q3 of 2022, online sales of products were falling, particularly for technical goods.
The growth of e-commerce is accompanied by a significant increase in customers and search for of these sites, which represent a significant source of revenue for retailers. Businesses monetise them via advertising with sponsored products, retail search and brand banners. For brands and advertisers, the budgets allocated to e-retail media have increased by 45% in France in 2022 (source: Publicis Commerce). Indeed, retail media can’t be closer to encouraging a customer to make a purchase. This is a highly valued R.O.I. advertising lever in a context of economic reductions. In addition, retail media relies on first-party data and is therefore only slightly impacted by the forthcoming end of computer third-party cookies. For all these reasons, e-retail media is becoming increasingly important for both retailers and advertisers.
Challenges
Developing the sales offer
Despite the craze for this advertising lever with the arrival of an array of new players (Boots, Galeries Lafayette, Mirakl Ads.), e-retail media inventories are small. Apart from Amazon, which launched this whole this market, e-retail media is still mainly driven by large grocery and technical retailers including Walmart, Tesco, eBay, CDiscount, Fnac-Darty and Carrefour.