Ecommerce advertising platform CitrusAd today (29 June) announced the expansion of its partnership with Ocado Retail that will deliver a retail media proposition to help suppliers grow their businesses on the Ocado website.
Combining the latest grocery delivery and retail media technology, the two companies will be working closely to develop new technology features that will make it easier for brands of all sizes, and media agencies, to plan, buy and optimise their media campaigns, CitrusAd said.
Initially, the platform will allow brands to launch self-managed sponsored product directly into the Ocado website and measure campaign results more efficiently. At the same time, the platform will allow a better customer experience by helping to deliver personalised ads to shoppers.
As part of the expanded rollout, all suppliers, from the smallest to the largest, will be invited to join the media platform over the next 12-18 months. The platform will initially serve only a part of the onsite media inventory, with the vision to gradually transition all key onsite media inventory by 2022-23. Smaller brands, who were part of the very successful first phase of the rollout, are already seeing an average of 300-400 per cent return on ad spend (ROAS), according to CitrusAd.
CitrusAd and Ocado Retail will continue to build and innovate on the technology together to create an industry-leading retail media and insights platform, which is already delivering robust, real-time reporting dashboards. This will offer advertisers full transparency of the performance of their media at a granular level, allowing them to measure the success of campaigns and activate them directly.
Christina Hawley, chief commercial officer at Ocado, said: “Our partnership with CitrusAd is a key moment in how we work with and support our suppliers. The platform will allow us to better serve our suppliers, helping them to manage and optimise their media campaigns, leveraging campaign data, such as return on investment. CitrusAd’s market-leading technology, alongside our Crunch insights platform, will ultimately make it easier for our suppliers to put their products in front of more customers and build their business with Ocado.'
This partnership is part of Ocado Retail’s broader initiative to help suppliers build their businesses, which comes hand in hand with the launch of the UK’s most complete online supermarket shopping data, Ocado’s Crunch Grocery Insights.
As the largest pure-play online grocery company in the world, Ocado has decades of experience using data to drive business growth. The platform offers suppliers the ability to see their performance in context with the full range of their competitors, enabled by Ocado's unparalleled product range. Crunch offers product and category data, also giving suppliers a view on competition and cross-category performance.
Kim Ludlow, head of UK, CitrusAd, added: “We are excited to be expanding our partnership with Ocado Retail, which brings together two leading technology companies in their respective fields. We will continue to deliver a powerful technology platform that will help Ocado Retail monetise and personalise its website and deliver more value to its partners. It means any supplier, regardless of size or ad spend, has an opportunity to get in front of shoppers and engage with digital audiences. This provides a huge boost for brands wanting to raise their profile and grow their business.”
CitrusAd’s retail media technology has now been adopted by some of the world’s most successful retailers in 25 countries. It allows retailers to effectively monetise their digital shelf space, while helping suppliers increase sales by launching targeted and cost-effective sponsored product and banner ad campaigns right at the point of purchase. Using the self-serve platform, suppliers manage campaigns directly to get products and banner ads in the best highest selling positions and in front of the right customer at the right time, but with the flexibility to change and personalise them as required.
Ocado Retail Ltd is a joint venture between Marks & Spencer Group and Ocado Group. It is responsible for Ocado.com and Ocado Zoom.
CitrusAd is a white-label, self-serve, ecommerce advertising platform that enables retailers to monetise their digital shelf-space while enabling suppliers to increase sales by launching targeted and cost-effective digital campaigns right at the point of purchase.
Since it was launched in 2017, CitrusAd powers the fastest growing ecommerce ad network in the USA and has become the global, retail industry’s preferred sponsored product, banner ad platform, service and retail media sales organisation.
