More than 60% of bol visitors come looking for inspiration. Yet many brands still use retail media purely as a conversion channel, missing opportunities to drive brand growth throughout the customer journey.
The appeal of retail media is easy for marketers to explain: advertising close to the point of purchase, with sales as a tangible outcome. That makes the channel easy to justify internally. But according to Kathinka de Veer, Head of Marketing at bol Retail Media, this focus on conversion also determines which opportunities remain overlooked.
“For years, retail media has primarily been used to drive immediate sales. There’s nothing wrong with that. It works. But brands that view retail media solely as a conversion channel are leaving a large part of its potential untapped.”
According to De Veer, it starts with consumer behaviour. “Consumers begin researching long before they’re ready to make a purchase. It is during this stage that brands are chosen, considered and remembered. Brand growth does not happen at the moment of transaction, but much earlier in the customer journey.”
The choice is still open
The perception of bol as a place where consumers simply work through a predefined shopping list is too limited. Inspiration and discovery also play an important role, says De Veer. Research shows that 63% of consumers visit bol with inspiration or fun shopping in mind. In addition, five out of six searches start without a specific brand in mind. This means consumers are highly open to discovering new brands.
This offers an interesting insight for marketers. Interest in a product category does not necessarily mean there is already a brand preference. A consumer may know what they are looking for while still being undecided about which brand to choose. “For brands, that is a crucial moment,” says De Veer. “If someone has not yet decided which brand they want to buy, there is an opportunity to introduce them to your brand. That is exactly where branding adds value. We can help ensure that the brand gains visibility both on the bol platform and beyond.”
This also calls for a broader evaluation of campaigns. Those who only look at direct purchases gain little insight into a campaign’s contribution to awareness or consideration. Yet those effects can influence purchasing decisions at a later stage.
One customer, different budgets
Within marketing organisations, brand growth and performance marketing are often divided across different disciplines, objectives and budgets. De Veer understands why organisations take this approach, particularly larger brands. The challenge arises when that division also starts to dictate how marketing efforts are managed.
“At a certain level, that split is logical because larger brands have different marketing disciplines. But ultimately, you are focusing on the same customer, and it is important to optimise for the bigger picture. That also means reallocating budgets when a different stage of the customer journey requires more attention.”
“Brands that view retail media solely as a conversion channel are leaving a significant amount of potential untapped.”
The question, then, is where a brand can achieve growth and what combination of investments is needed to make that happen. “Every marketer knows that brand growth increases the likelihood that consumers will choose your brand later on. As a result, your performance campaigns become more effective. That’s why retail media is increasingly taking on a broader role, where brand building and performance reinforce one another.”
De Veer points to analyses conducted with research agencies such as Kantar. “What we see is that retail media generates an average uplift of 39% across the entire funnel. Not only in conversion, but also in brand awareness, brand preference, consideration, and purchase intent.”
Research into retail media’s contribution to the media mix points in the same direction, according to De Veer. “Research we conducted together with Kantar shows, for example, that traditional brand campaigns across channels such as TV, online video, and digital out-of-home deliver an average brand lift of 18%. When bol Retail Media is added to that mix, the average brand lift increases to 34%. In other words, that represents an additional uplift of 16 percentage points.”
Context matters
Beyond reach and measurability, the environment in which an advertisement appears also plays a role. According to De Veer, research shows that consumers perceive ads on bol as more trustworthy, more relevant, and less intrusive than on many other online platforms. “When someone is actively exploring products, they are simply more receptive to brand messages. That changes the quality of the interaction.”
For marketers, this context deserves a place alongside direct performance metrics. “The interesting, and challenging, part of marketing is that we are expected to drive impact in both the short and the long term. Conversion is tangible and makes ROI easy to explain, which is why management teams without a marketing background often focus on it. The challenge for marketers is to keep building future demand while consumer behaviour continues to evolve.”
That is exactly why De Veer argues for paying attention to the moments when brand choice is still undecided. “The greatest growth opportunities often lie with consumers who are still open to inspiration and discovery.”