CPG ad-buying patterns hint at the greater retail media ecosystem's future

Consumers typically buy consumer packaged goods (CPG) more frequently and often in-store, making those purchases different from general merchandise. Nonetheless, ad-buying on retail media networks (RMNs) is somewhat more established with more sophisticated options for CPG than for general merchandise because retail media has been a staple of CPG ad-buying for longer. That means CPG ad-buying habits could be a model for future trends in retail media.

“As we keep an eye on the retail media landscape, CPG [consumer packaged goods] ad-buying behaviors could be a signal of what to come for general merchandise brands,” said our analyst Sarah Marzano.

Here's what to know about how CPG and retail media intersect.

CPG and general merchandise brands want similar features from ad platforms. Traffic quality and return on ad spend (ROAS) ranked as the top two desired attributes for both CPG and general merchandise ad-buyers in our "Retail Media Networks: Ad Buyer Perceptions" survey. These features were followed by audience targeting capabilities for CPG and by reporting metrics and KPIs for general merchandise.

CPG companies tend to work with more media networks and ad tech companies. This is likely because retail media has been a part of CPG ad-buying for longer than many other categories. There are many options and sophisticated ad tech to help service these placements.

• 26.4% of CPG companies work with five or more RMNs compared to 20.0% of general merchandise companies.
• 20.0% of CPG ad-buyers use 11 or more tech platforms, compared to 12.5% of general merchandise companies.

In-store marks a key difference between CPG ad-buyers and general merchandise buyers. The biggest opportunity gap for CPG ad buyers is access to in-store purchase data, while general merchandise ad buyers are more concerned about ad costs.

• 91.2% of food and beverage purchases occur in-store, compared with 83.8% of US commerce at large.
• Improving in-store attribution could be a major ad spend unlock for RMNs that sell to CPG companies.

AI and commerce media are two areas ad-buyers and RMNs alike need to watch.

• More than half (56.5%) of RMN ad buyers already use or are piloting AI programs in media planning, with ad personalization as the most common use case.
• More than half (50.8%) of ad buyers have a strong interest in working with non-retail commerce media networks, like ones from travel and payments companies.

“We're in early innings when it comes to nonretail commerce media networks, and it will be up to these new players to demonstrate their value, whether that's reaching new audiences, reaching specific demographics, unlocking new ad formats,” Marzano said.

This was originally featured in the Retail Media Weekly newsletter. For more marketing insights, statistics, and trends, subscribe here.