With Google Chrome slated to deprecate cookies by the tip of this 12 months, entrepreneurs are on the lookout for new alerts to search out and measure potential audiences. Transaction information—information of what we buy—is rising as an alluring different.
The promise of transaction information has fueled the retail commerce media business, which is projected to develop by 28.5% to $59.6 billion in U.S. advert spend this 12 months, per Insider Intelligence.
Retail media corporations, notably Amazon and Walmart, can use their buyer databases to focus on advertisements on their web sites and throughout the web, after which hyperlink these advertisements with purchases, with out relying solely on cookies for closed-loop attribution.
Some suppose transaction information may turn into a crucial foreign money for all media corporations, and never simply retailers. Solely walled gardens with profitable commerce companies can achieve a post-cookie world as a result of, with out cookies, the likes of Meta and TikTok received’t be capable of monitor whether or not advertisements on their platforms result in purchases on manufacturers’ web sites.
“Should you don’t have a funds enterprise, you possibly can’t construct an advertisements enterprise,” mentioned James Borow, co-founder of ecommerce advertising and marketing tech firm Market AI.
Others be aware that transaction information can by no means absolutely exchange cookies, as a result of these alerts usually are not identifiers. Retail media corporations want an e mail deal with or cookie with the intention to know that the one that noticed the cleaning soap advert purchased the cleaning soap. Nonetheless, in a world the place many alerts go darkish for advertisers, transaction information could emerge as a extra essential useful resource.
The social commerce thesis
With out cookies, even walled gardens will lose their edge for entrepreneurs, which want to have the ability to present that their advertisements drove conversions, Borow mentioned. When Apple deprecated cellular identifiers on iOS in 2021, Meta struggled to accurately report conversions, inflicting some entrepreneurs to transfer spend away from the platform. These issues might be exacerbated when third-party cookies are now not obtainable on the open internet.
“It is advisable have the transaction information to optimize your public sale,” Borow mentioned. “With out figuring out the kinds of issues that [customers] bought, it’s very arduous to be sure to’re exhibiting the precise advert to the precise particular person.”