Could retail media offer news publishing a path forward

By Marcus Billingham-Yuen

Client Strategy Manager

News Corp Australia

Sydney, Australia

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I've been curious about how news publishing will evolve lately.

News publishing's unique value is in the editorial voices we admire, the advocacy it offers on topical issues, and the entertainment it delivers through trusted titles.

It's adapted to the digital age and social media age, too, with Web site equivalents and short- and long-form videos across the likes of TikTok and Meta.

But how will news publishing respond to the boom in retail media?

Retail media's popularity is driven by online shopping, which, after more than a decade of growth, was super-charged by the pandemic. It's created a new need for a new type of media directly positioned to reach shoppers closer to the point of purchase in the online and offline places where they explore, compare, and purchase.

According to Statista, retail media is the newest media kid on the block and predicted to be worth US$175 billion in advertising spend worldwide by 2028.

Not to be confused with e-commerce, retail media is a sub-category of the wider commerce boom that's focused on leveraging the benefits of first-party data, precision, and audience intelligence unique to retail media networks. This is the case for both online spaces (like marketplaces such as eBay) and offline (like the supermarket Walmart).

The number of retail media players has increased dramatically in the last decade, with major players setting up their own retail networks quickly to capitalise on the unique branded spaces they already have in stores, online, and everywhere in between.

I'm speculating there is opportunity in extending the value of news publishing into retail media environments. On the other hand, news publishing can legitimise retail networks because of the trust in editorial voices and brands, adding value to the shopping experience.

Imagine shopping for groceries and hearing a breaking story in a supermarket over the speakers about a car accident that may affect your trip home. If you had not known, you could've been stuck in traffic waiting for the accident to clear up for hours - forcing you to get home and cook a late dinner - when you could have driven around it.

Imagine retail outlets broadcasting information that was relevant and timely for shoppers in the store.

Another example: Picture yourself shopping online at a pharmacy Web site. Before you purchase all your things, you see a news headline in a display unit flashing "record-breaking heat wave anticipated for tomorrow," and you proceed to add sunscreen to your basket to avoid a nasty sunburn.

Embedding the value of news publishing into retail media can keep shoppers informed, entertained, and more.

However, the downside of so many new retail media networks currently setting up shop is the fragmentation of all the players. How do you decide who to team up with?

There isn't a clear-cut answer yet. For now, anecdotally, advertisers have approached this topic based on contextual alignment: If I sell sexual health products, for instance, I ought to sell in a pharmacy retail network as that is the most relevant place.

The irony is that with all this fragmentation, I hypothesise that retail media may follow a similar path to news publishing. Acquisitions or coalitions of networks are already happening: Australian supermarket giant Woolworths Group bought out Shopper Media Group, a market leader in shopping centre screens.

There are also numerous privacy and compliance headaches to consider. The ethics behind safely using first-party data capture will always be on your mind, especially when you want to personalise news stories to the right person at the right time - just when they're about to shop.

Bringing this all back to news publishing, it's fun to speculate what the future could look like with retail media. It's not all perfect, and there are hurdles. The value is there to discover, certainly in advertising dollars and social impact.

I leave you with a fact and thought: News publishing has somewhat adapted to digital and social media, yet it remains in a tough period due to a struggling market. However, retail media continues to secure ad dollars from advertisers. How will both thrive? Together, or alone?

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About Marcus Billingham-Yuen

Marcus Billingham-Yuen is a client strategy manager at News Corp Australia in Sydney, Australia. Marcus can be reached at [email protected].

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