The Importance of Trust and Transparency in Retail Media Networks

"You search for toothpaste online. While browsing a retailer's app or checking your email, you see an ad for toothpaste. After that, you return to the site and make the purchase. The retailer now knows what you browsed, what you bought, and which ad you saw before checking out. It connects your initial search, your ad exposure, and your final purchase. That is retail media in action."

"Remko Van Hoek is a professor of supply chain management at the University of Arkansas's Sam M. Walton College of Business and advises companies on procurement transformation. He previously served as a chief procurement officer at a number of companies."

"Stephanie Thomas is an associate professor of practice of supply chain management at the Sam M. Walton College of Business at the University of Arkansas. She previously held supply chain roles at Lowe's Companies, IBM, and Stanley Tools and is the executive director of Women Impacting Supply Chain Excellence (WISE)."

Retail media links online browsing, ad impressions, and final purchases to reveal which ads influenced consumer behavior. Retailers track searches, app or email ad views, subsequent site visits, and transaction data to connect initial interest with ad exposure and checkout decisions. The assembled consumer-behavior and purchase intelligence is packaged and sold to toothpaste and other product suppliers to inform marketing and placement strategies. Remko Van Hoek is a professor of supply chain management at the University of Arkansas's Sam M. Walton College of Business and advises companies on procurement transformation, with prior chief procurement officer experience. Stephanie Thomas and Rodney Thomas hold associate professor roles in supply chain management and bring industry and leadership expertise.

Read at Harvard Business Review