For decades, brands paid for the best spots in the store: eye-level shelves, gondola ends and in-store promotions. That shelf hasn’t disappeared. It has moved onto screens, into the search results of marketplaces and the apps of the retailers where South Africans already shop.
That is retail media: advertising sold by retailers on their own websites, apps and increasingly in their stores, powered by what they know about their shoppers.
Why it matters
- It’s the closest ad to the till. Someone searching a retailer’s app for coffee is already shopping. Few other ads reach people that close to buying.
- It can connect the ad to the sale. The retailer sees both the ad and the purchase, so it can report on sales, not only clicks.
- It runs on first-party data. As third-party cookies fade, a retailer’s own shopper data becomes one of the most useful ways to reach the right people.
In South Africa, marketplaces such as Takealot and Amazon.co.za already sell sponsored placements, and more retailers are building advertising offers of their own. For brands that sell through retail, it is quickly becoming part of the cost of being found.
How to buy it well
1. Fix the listing before you pay for traffic. Retail media sends people to your product listing. If the title is unclear, the photos are weak or the reviews are thin, you are paying to lose the sale. Get the listing right first.
2. Start with search. Sponsored results on the terms shoppers actually type carry the most intent. Begin there, learn what converts, then widen to display and off-site placements.
3. Measure new sales, not just return on ad spend. A high return can hide the fact that many of those shoppers would have bought your product anyway. Ask the retailer how it measures incremental sales, and compare periods with and without spend.
4. Ask what you get back. Before you commit budget, ask what reporting and shopper insight come with it. The data can be worth as much as the placements.
5. Keep one story everywhere. The product a shopper sees in a sponsored slot should look and sound like the brand they met on social and on the shelf. Retail media works best as part of the campaign, not as a separate line in the budget.
6. Test with a fixed budget. Set a monthly amount, review results weekly, and move money towards what sells. Small, steady tests beat one big launch.
It’s not a channel. It’s the shelf.
It is tempting to treat retail media as one more media line to hand to a buyer. It is really the digital version of the shelf, and it deserves the same attention you give to your packaging and your in-store presence: strong product content, a clear story and a plan for what success looks like.
Planning retail media for your brand? See how we help brands grow across marketplaces, social and retail media.
