(Cover photo of this article is copyright WARC, source: https://www.warc.com/reports)

I had the opportunity to write an article for WARC. This WARC exclusive article talks about shoppable media, which has been one of the hottest topics for our industry recently. The article was co-authored with Patrick Deloy, the managing director of Isobar Commerce.

In the article, we discussed the pros and cons for companies when considering investing in paid shoppable media advertising. The integration of commerce with social content promises to shorten the consumer path to purchase, but it is not without potential drawbacks – not least the data that brands will likely lose to the platforms on which the sale takes place.

Summary

• Shoppable media allows the path to purchase to be drastically reduced while improving convenience for consumers.
• Where Chinese platforms like WeChat have led the way with integrated checkout tools, Western digital media owners like Facebook and Pinterest are looking to follow.
• Aerie, part of American Eagle Outfitters, reported a 25% increase in ROAS after launching a campaign using shoppable video ads for YouTube.

Takeaways

• Brands can gain an advantage by engaging ‘findable’ and ‘buyable’ audiences in the same channels, although higher transactional costs on platforms like Facebook need to be factored in.
• Shoppable media requires additional operational efforts to keep prices, product info and stock synchronised, and assets need to be (re-)designed for every shoppable media channel.
• Social media should remain an additional touchpoint as part of an omnichannel approach, but should remain less attractive than the visitor experience on a brand.com site

WARC subscribers can read it here: https://www.warc.com/content/paywall/article/WARC-Exclusive/Shoppable_media_as_an_omnichannel_strategy/135731

If you would like a copy of the article, please email me directly at nathan@petralian.com.