Highlights from Shoptalk 2024: The Shift to a Unified Retail + Commerce Experience
By: Allison Lewis, RJ DiBella, Catie DiSanti
The Shoptalk Spring 2024 conference was the place to be for anyone excited about the future of retail and commerce.
Held in Las Vegas from March 17 – 20, this 4-day conference brought together 225 senior-level industry and marketing leaders, brand innovators, retailers and innovative startups, as well as prolific investors, all of whom were keen to discuss the latest technological advancements and commerce strategies that are being tested and deployed today. This was the ninth year of the conference, marked by a broader range of attendees, as well as a focus in the areas of interest and debate.
With over 50 sessions, the conference provided a fantastic immersion into the rapid changes in consumer expectations and the urgent pivots and changes that businesses are making to create and capture attention and demand.
In this report, we present the key insights and implications from the event, centering our points around the move towards unified commerce, the resilience and adaptation of physical stores, the significant role of collaborations, how to authentically reach the Gen Z audience to build brand trust and loyalty, and the potential of AI as both a driver of growth and innovation.
1. The Move to a Unified Retail + Commerce Experience:
For brands looking to stay ahead of the curve, ‘omnichannel’ is out, and ‘unified commerce’ is in. Retailers must be expansive in how they think of their entire ecosystem, so their customers, business, technology, as well as their associates’ needs when creating a unified experience. Every single interaction that a customer has with a brand matters, which means the connection points between and across commerce, creativity, media, and culture must be thought through and accounted for, because ‘retail is detail’.
Therefore, the stakes are higher and the steps to creating a consistent and frictionless journey across a brand’s ecosystem remain key.
Retail media networks offer the potential for additive and valuable experiences for customers, and advertisers should integrate them into the customer journey as a driver for greater brand loyalty, heat, and love, rather than simply viewing them as an added revenue stream.
Data & Technology is the Centrepiece.
Data and new technology play a crucial role in today’s retail landscape, enabling teams to better understand their customers’ unmet needs and future desires, and refine opportunities along the customer journey to reach new and loyal shoppers in innovative ways to drive brand and business growth.
Melanie Babcock, VP of Orange Apron Media at The Home Depot, shared that it starts with organizing data to identify why the customer is at your store, versus simply who they are. The Why Behind the Buy is a critical unlock, because it’s that understanding of the shopping occasion a customer is involved in, the home improvement project they’re committed to completing, that a brand is truly able to assist them and be their trusted partner. And yes, the thoughtful application of that data does indeed allow retailers to share unique data that advertisers don’t have access to, which ultimately creates a new revenue stream for your business.
Harnessing data effectively allows retailers to engage with consumers closer to the point of purchase across offsite channels, bridging national media with Retail Media. Laura Knebusch, SVP of Marketing & CX at Georgia-Pacific, talked about the challenges of CPG, and the importance of foundational research for understanding the customer journey, consumer touchpoints, and pain points. Georgia-Pacific focuses on “right-time analytics” to determine what works, bringing their Media Mix Model in-house for greater transparency and agility.
This helps provide like-for-like measurement across their national media and retail media campaigns, enabling investment flexibility that in turn can maximize the impact of investments.
Adaptive Personalization Across All Touch Points.
Retail Media is no longer just retail search; it’s about inserting your brand message at the right time when the customer needs it. It’s about being present at the discovery stage to create a spark for consideration and having the right product at the right time of need.
Colleen Aubrey, Amazon’s SVP of Ad Products & Technology, described retail media as a means to help a brand seamlessly connect with a customer during their shopping journey. It provides all the information the consumer needs: price, shipping, availability, and the ability to compare products. Furthermore, it allows for optimization across creative, onsite, in-store screens, and product availability in real-time. This ensures the customer receives exactly what they need, right when they need it. This journey needs to be seamlessly connected from online (on & offsite), and in store.
Bridging Brand Advertising and DTC/RM Together.
Retail media does not only have to live onsite but can exist offsite on channels like video and social platforms.
Consider these to enhance your DTC and retail media practices:
- Branded content is in high demand, with 80% of shoppers making direct purchases after watching a brand’s video. If you aren’t using shoppable video, you should consider it. And if you are, it’s time to think about the connective thread between commerce and entertainment centered around culture.
- Consider leaning into conversational video commerce on platforms like TikTok and YouTube, which taps into the consumer’s desire for entertainment, fashion, retail, and shopping.
- Look for relevant cultural moments that garner higher levels of attention. Consider the platforms and partners that are innovating in the cultural and contextual data space so that you can get more specific about the placements and messages that allow you to connect creative to culture, where creativity can be harnessed better to increase the rate of transactions.
- Find ways to further integrate shoppable content into larger sponsorships that are grounded in sports and performance, as well as music and entertainment cultures like the Super Bowl, the Olympic Games, and FIFA World Cup. These landmark sporting events not only bring in some of the most passionate and scaled audiences, but they offer the creative media canvas to bridge brand advertising and direct-to-consumer retail media into one cohesive strategy. Leverage the power of OMG’s Optimum Sports agency to identify sports sponsorships that will help bring your brand to the forefront of culture.
- Integrating shopability into entertainment is the next significant video advancement, as Jill Toscano, VP and Head of Media at Walmart noted, creating seamless connectivity between live entertainment and purchase, both offsite and in store.
2. The Resilience of Physical Stores: Brick-and-mortar isn’t dead. It’s evolving.
Understanding that sneakers are used for self-expression and identity, the company is transforming their try-on experience. This includes adding in-person events and providing a platform for individuals to share their choices and styles. Frank emphasized the importance of unified commerce, ensuring that merchandising, assortment, and inventory are available and transactable for all consumers, regardless of where the transaction occurs. It is critical to connect the consumer experience across digital and physical to inspire purchase and loyalty.
Tony Spring, the CEO of Macy’s, Inc., spoke about “A Bold New Chapter” for Macy’s and how digital disruption has forever changed Macy’s business. Macy’s is betting that customers don’t want an ‘endless aisle’; they want the best aisle. They are pivoting to a smaller, more productive store fleet with an optimized product selection and better, more luxurious merchandising.
Chris Rupp, the Chief Consumer Officer at Victoria’s Secret & Co., went as far as to say that malls are their number one consumer acquisition channel. Liza Lefkowski, VP of Proprietary Brands and Retail, announced that Wayfair will open a brick-and-mortar location in Chicago in May 2024. Wayfair views this as an opportunity to provide ‘proactive customer service’ and to give customers confidence in their purchases.
3. There is immense power in collaboration.
From Post Malone to micro-influencers and everything in between, brands talked about the power of collaboration. It was apparent that there is no one-size-fits-all when it comes to collaboration.
Heidi Cooley, SVP & Chief Marketing Officer at Crocs, discussed how Crocs experienced a resurgence in popularity, driven by strategic improvements in relevance and engagement with a broad, democratic consumer base. She highlighted successful collaborations, such as with Post Malone, and the importance of authenticity in partnerships.
Kimberly Wallengren, VP of Marketing, North America at Coach, shared how she is harnessing the power of celebrity talent like Lil Nas X, Camila Mendes, and Youngji Lee to overcome the perception that Coach is ‘my parent’s brand.’
American Eagle shared how influencers have become a huge part of their strategy. They work with over 600 creators per season, focusing on mid-range and nano to create a mix of content. They’ve found that store associates perform better than models, and lo-fi content performs best.
Eva Press, VP of Global Business Group at Meta, agreed that creators are huge and that an authentic voice is important to help brands connect and resonate with consumers.
Creo, OMG’s Media-centric Influencer Marketing Capability, takes a data-led approach, using Omni, to identify talent. This first-to-market audience-based influencer discovery capability allows marketers to accurately identify Creators that align with Omni audiences and brings data-driven planning to creator media investments. Creo is integrated early in the planning cycle and the audience-led discovery tools allow Creo to identify underutilized talent and activate at rates below market prices, buying only for the duration and usage required.
4. Audiences that Matter:
How to Win Among Gen Z and Build Brand Trust/ Loyalty
Brands and retailers need to stop focusing on getting consumers where they want them and instead focus more on meeting them where they are.
Social media continues to be a Large Part of Gen Z Culture.
They use it to connect, discover, inspire, influence, and buy. Because of this, we are starting to see a decline in product searches on search engines and Amazon, and an increase in searches on social channels.
With technology seen as an extension of themselves, the presence of social media has made it easy for Gen Z to consume and share information, many using social media as their main source for news. The speed at which Gen Zs connect with brands and people opens additional opportunities for brands to meet and influence future customers.
Kendra Bracken-Ferguson, Founder & CEO of BrainTrust, spoke about the power of Social Commerce in Gen Zs, where over 71% are likely to purchase on Instagram directly versus 40% of total US Adults. These numbers were similar across other social channels: YouTube, TikTok, Facebook, and Snapchat. Sales continue to rise year over year, with an estimated 10% of all Commerce sales coming from Social by 2027. The lack of established retail habits has allowed social channels to emerge and cement their path in the Gen Z buying journey.
Building Brand Trust with Authenticity and Purpose Drives Initiatives.
Authentic collaborations, co-creation with talent, partnerships, personalization, and short-form content are all important levers for reaching next-generation consumers. Short-form video emerged during the pandemic and has continued to be one of the most consumed formats for Gen Z audiences. In a culture where everything is available with a click of a button and where attention spans are short, the competition for attention continues.
The short-form video also allows Creators a forum to show their personalities in an easy-to-watch and controlled way. In the past year, 33% of Gen Zs have purchased from an influencer-founded brand, and there has also been a rise in gamification mechanisms and reward platforms like Fetch that reward customers for their everyday purchases and shopping, incentivizing them to return for more. Since this audience will peak in size and scale in the next 10-15 years, their ability to shape the future of shopping was certainly noted by many speakers including.
Scott Mezvinsky, President of North America for Taco Bell, commented on the need to apply the myriad inputs into the strategic marketing plans and consider how to meet next-gen consumers where they are and with what they want.
5. The Potential & Power of AI:
Karen Tracy, Head of Industry, Retail at Meta, demonstrated Meta’s Ray-Ban glasses and showed how she used Gen AI to help find the right outfit for Shoptalk. She shared Mark Zuckerberg’s vision for Meta and AI: “Moving forward, a major goal will be building the most popular and most advanced AI products and services.”
Maria Renz, Global Head of Commerce at Google, asked us to imagine an outfit in our head and type it into Google Search. Google’s generative AI will provide you with the top 5 retailers that have what you are looking for, allowing you to purchase it instantly – a customer experience we’ve never had before. For many companies, AI is nothing new; Meta has been using AI since 2006, powering the News Feed and optimizing ad delivery. Karen also shared tools within Meta that can help advertisers use Gen AI to enhance or generate creative assets.
Discussions also centered around internal AI applications to improve efficiency and processes within organizations. Tactical applications, such as using AI and metadata to write product descriptions, were examples of quick, lower-risk wins. The need for greater transparency and ethical considerations regarding the use of AI and data was acknowledged, especially given the evolving landscape of data privacy laws and consumer expectations.
How to Apply Shoptalk 2024 Key Themes to your Brand:
- Create a Unified Experience: It all starts with your customer and ensuring you use all touchpoints—offsite, onsite, on app, and in-store—to create a ‘unified’, not omnichannel, approach to meet them where they are and help build better business outcomes. Align your brand to cultural moments and use them as a platform to bridge your brand & commerce and turn this into more immediate transactions. Holistic measurement strategies are necessary to avoid the temptation of over-investment in tactics that provide quick revenue gains.
- Don’t Sleep on Brick-and-Mortar Retail: Brands are finding success with new, evolved retail approaches that better meet the customer’s needs. For many brands, their customers find value in in-person shopping where they can see, sit on, try on, and smell products. Retailers are wise to curate their in-store experience with strategic merchandising and should not try to recreate the “endless aisle” in their store. They must position their online and retail experiences in a way that feels seamless and, first and foremost, meets the customers’ needs.
- Authentic collaboration is effective: Brands that understand their customers and can create authentic collaborations are finding success. For some brands, partnerships with celebrities are yielding the desired results. For others, they are seeing much greater success with a micro-influencer approach. The brands’ positioning and objectives will determine the best path forward to create the most authentic connection with their customers.
- Use the Power of Social Media & Authenticity to Reach Gen Z Audience: With lifelong access to technology and an always-on purchase mentality, it is essential to continue to understand how and why this next-generation audience prefers to discover and purchase. Short-form content, authentic partnerships, and social platforms are key to reaching this audience, but the shifts must be monitored.
- Embrace AI with thoughtful rigor and a disciplined path to innovation: Brands should simultaneously embrace AI while also being aware of the challenges. Those who jump in without a plan put themselves and their customers at risk. It is critical to approach AI strategically and carefully to maximize the positive impact while guarding against the risks. Internal-facing solutions are often a good place to start.
Reporters
Allison Lewis
Head of Commerce and Growth Marketing, OMD U.S.
RJ DiBella
Executive Director, Client Leadership at OMD U.S.
Catie DiSanti
Senior Director, Integrated Media Planning, OMD U.S.
