It’s no secret that retail media ad spend is on the rise right now. There were rumbles about a major take-off as early as January last year. So far this decade, the channel has seen a steady incline, but it is projected to grow substantially this year – by over £1.3 billion.
At Cannes Lions, back in June, several big retailers arrived with significant expansions to their retail media networks and partnerships, including Kroger, Target, and Tesco.
The area is witnessing tremendous growth, buzz, and investment.
But, are affiliates taking notice?
Yes, it gets brought up at events and a lot of us are describing it as ‘the next big thing’, but how can affiliates actually take a slice of the pie?
I spoke with Simon Baptist, who puts forth a theory on how publishers can begin to tangibly involve themselves in the retail media sphere, drive more conversions for their partners, better deals for their customers, and attract greater investment.
Affiliate is commerce media
The first thing Baptist proposes is that we shift the way we think and talk about affiliate marketing.
“If we talk about commerce media, affiliate is a cornerstone of that and (always) has been. It’s basically what we’ve always been doing,” he says.
