Editor’s Note: The retail marketing show Shoptalk, which took place March 25-27 in Las Vegas, features some of the biggest executives in retail across 75 sessions and before more than 10,000 attendees. Chief Marketer Network publication Multichannel Marketer was on the ground reporting on trends, programs and executives making waves in the retail industry. Takeaways from the conference content include: AI is a must have; CMOs need to prioritize retail media; and an agile organization is required to pivot in uncertain times. Below is an excerpt from the piece; head to Multichannel Merchant to read the full article.
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The Shoptalk conference this spring in Las Vegas brought out all the glitz to tout retail’s next golden age. According to the show organizations, the industry is on the precipice of its next golden age, and it constructed a massive disco ball to prove its point.
The show, which took place March 25-27, attracted more than 10,000 attendees and 840 exhibitors. Shoptalk featured an agenda packed with dozens of top-level executives over 75 sessions.
Here are the top takeaways from this year’s event:
1. The obvious: brands need to be using artificial intelligence today
Generative artificial intelligence-powered tools have been in market for more than a year now. And early adopting brands are ready to showcase their results from this powerful technology.
Apparel brand Tillys is using artificial intelligence to help power its on-site search and product recommendations. Gone are the days of shoppers received no search results on a page, said, Erik Quade, chief information officer at Tillys.
2. CMOs need to make retail media a top priority
Retail media networks have gained retailers’ attention for the past few years and the marketing platforms are only going to continue to increase in their level of importance.
Chief marketing officers need to be the drivers in the fast-growing retail media space as these ads can unlock incredible return on ad spend and incrementality, said Lisa Valentino, president of ads at Best Buy. Plus, when brands add in multichannel to retail media ad spend, results go up 15-30% on average, she said.
3. TV marketing’s evolving importance
At the start of the show, Best Buy’s Valentino came out swinging at TV advertising: Marketers spend billions without clear performance.
“The dirty little secret is the majority of the television business is still traded on reach and frequency,” she said. “That’s billions of dollars that are still being purchased on demos, reach and frequency.”
Of course, Valentino’s role as leading the chain’s burgeoning retail media network influences her rhetoric. But she’s not wrong, as the path to purchase after a shopper sees a linear TV ad can be murky, especially when contrasted to an on-site, sponsored product ad.
Head to Multichannel Merchant to read the full article.
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