Amplifying awareness and boosting incremental sales: Co-op flags power of retail media in a convenience setting

A new study from Co-op shows how convenience retail media not only boosts sales for the retailer, but also in surrounding grocery stores of up to fourfold the original sales conversion.

Earlier this year, the Co-op Media Network went live, in partnership with SMG, pitched as the UK’s first retail media network in the convenience sector.

The research, in partnership with Circana, suggests a positive halo effect for brand’s overall awareness when advertising in Co-op shops, which can lead to longer term incremental sales uplifts in surrounding non-Co-op stores of up to four times the amount of the immediate sales.

As part of this study, Circana used its test vs control measurement solution (Media Lift), which uses its complete market sales data to evaluate the sales impact of in-store marketing activity in both Co-op’s own stores and surrounding non-Co-op stores. 

Using the site lists of the campaign activations, Circana built store catchment models based on store and purchase attributes. The catchment stores were then used with Circana’s matching algorithm to build statistically significant test and control panels of Co-op and halo stores.

The analysis identifies key brand sales metrics, such as percentage increase in sales value, incremental sales and return on ad spend. The unique part is that the full impact of the brand's retail media spend can be measured, from Co-op’s own stores and surrounding grocers.

Dean Harris, Head of Co-op Media Network, says: “The results from our research with Circana is clear, when brands activate campaigns with Co-op there is an immediate positive sales impact in our store but also within the surrounding area with retailers that we would typically class as our competitors.”

“As a retail media owner, our main goal for the brands that advertise with us is to generate sales regardless of where that customer purchases the product.”

One of the retail media campaigns reviewed within the study – a global beer brand – generated a brand sales uplift of 12%  in Co-op stores and Circana was able to identify that it drove a further 3% uplift in non-Co-op halo stores.

This uplift in the latter represented four times the total incremental sales value seen in the Co-op stores alone. Circana credits this to the high number of halo stores where the sales uplift occurred, and the larger pack sizes bought in those stores.

Finally, convenience is a frequently shopped channel for top up missions and often in addition to a bigger shop. Data shows that Co-op shoppers engage the most with other grocers, which provides convenience retail media with an extra amplifier effect on halo sales.

Harris says: “The analysis of the beer campaign shows that by influencing brand purchase decisions in other non-Coop stores, the retail media activation is able to generate higher incremental sales by tapping into larger pack sizes available in supermarket stores.”

“This halo effect data is incredibly insightful and gives further confidence to talk to our clients about the power of retail media in the convenience setting.”

Mark Hurst, EMEA Head of Retail Media at Circana, says: “As the advertising industry continues to expand traditional retail media inventory and accelerate digital and addressable channels and privacy regulations limit traditional measurement methods, retailers are increasingly in need of more agile and accurate ways to measure campaign performance across channels and tactics.” 

“Being able to analyse media lift through a range of sales-based measurement approaches including test and learn, tactical comparisons and mid-campaign analysis, results in faster and more cost-effective decision making, enabling retailers like the Co-op to demonstrate brand impact and how it drives incremental value.”