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In a complex and interconnected world of Retail Media, understanding its intricacies as a holistic system is utmost for effective decision-making and strategic leverage. John Greca, a thought leader in this domain, emphasizes the necessity of perceiving Retail Media beyond its fragmented components. In today's blog post, we are going to share some of John Greca’s reflections about the need for a comprehensive understanding of the Retail Media system and its multifaceted interactions.
Just to start, Greca put us in front of a simple question: How might one anticipate or forecast the potential consequences of reducing the price of a product? At this point thinking of sales increase is quite reductionist. Numerous elements come into play, including customer behaviors, competitor strategies, market trends, and more. These elements are intertwined, impacting each other in ways that are challenging to predict, creating what we term as complexity.
Greca suggests not dismembering Retail Media into its different actors and components in an attempt to understand it. As a complex system, it's necessary to study it in its entirety to evaluate how action in one part yields various possible cause-and-effect scenarios.
So let's now explore how we could understand the entire system that comprises Retail Media:
Retail media constitutes a framework encompassing multiple participants, including retailers, brands, agencies, consumers, shoppers, and technological platforms. These entities engage and cooperate with each other in diverse manners, or sometimes not at all, thereby generating a
multifaceted and ever-evolving environment.
John Greca proposes a few recommendations for addressing and understanding the Retail Media system more effectively. They serve as guidelines that could steer those working in this field towards achieving a deeper understanding and better influence over this complex system.
- Establish baselines by understanding:
- Source of truth between you and the retailer.
- Cause-effect relationships of digital activations on store, shoppers, consumers' future occasions, and unmet consumer needs.
- Share CA[PA]² data and incentivize scorecards between stakeholders.
- Potential augmentation of retailer data with brand data for innovation.
*Content, Assortment, Price, Availability, Placement, Relevant Activation.
- Map these elements to the retail media system:
- Analyze connections and influences among these factors.
- Identify variables under influence or control.
- Detect feedback loops and delays within the system.
- Identify commercial and operational intervention points:
- Determine areas where interventions can make a difference.
- Leverage capabilities to test assumptions and actions.
- Utilize the interconnectedness within the system for quicker learning.
- Gain a holistic understanding:
- Avoid excessive focus on individual parts or incorrect criteria.
- Aim for comprehensive outcomes to avoid incomplete or counterproductive results.
- Partnering discussions:
- Initiate conversations about collaborations
- Prepare shared learning agendas for both sides.
- Consider the status of ongoing or planned Retail Media collaborations through Joint-Value Investments.
Greca's approach emphasizes a proactive stance, encouraging action and collaboration within the Retail Media system. He emphasizes the importance of looking beyond immediate criteria, focusing on holistic understanding, and taking meaningful steps towards productive and impactful outcomes.
If you're ready to collaborate and forge your own connections between factors and their outcomes for the benefit of your business ¡Let's team up and elevate your Retail Media strategy together!
