In Episode 11 of Commerce Media Minute, Shaun looks at three developments from this past week that show just how broad the industry is becoming.
McDonald’s is building a media network
McDonald’s is testing the McDonald’s Media Network across 450 company-owned U.S. restaurants and says it aspires to eventually build it into a billion-dollar business.
With more than 70 million daily customers globally and touchpoints including its app, kiosks, digital menu boards and restaurants, McDonald’s offers another example of a company looking at an existing customer ecosystem and asking whether it can become a media business too.
Citi enters commerce media
Citi has launched Citi Commerce Media, using transaction-based insights to connect brands with Citi credit-card customers.
Citi says it serves more than 70 million U.S. customers and sees 6.5 billion transactions annually across more than 700 spending categories.
The bigger question: Does commerce media have to start with a retailer—or can it start with the commerce signal itself?
DoorDash and Instacart bring the physical shelf into the data conversation
DoorDash’s new Brand Center uses consumer-order information alongside more than one million shelf signals collected daily on average to help brands understand availability, out-of-stocks, substitutions and potential missed revenue.
Instacart is also expanding its shelf intelligence. The company says its network of approximately 600,000 shoppers generates more than 10 million unique in-store data points every day, helping create a real-time picture of what’s happening on grocery shelves.
For marketers, that raises another important question: What good is creating demand if the product isn’t actually there when someone wants to buy it?
The takeaway
McDonald’s has restaurants, screens and digital interactions.
Citi has transaction signals.
DoorDash and Instacart have visibility into the physical shelf.
Different businesses. Different signals.
But all of them have something increasingly valuable: commerce intelligence.
If there’s one thing to remember this week, it’s this: commerce media is expanding beyond the retailer and beyond the website. The next media network might start with something much simpler—a valuable signal about how people actually shop.
Sources & Further Reading
McDonald’s — NEXT Growth Strategy
Marketing Dive — Inside McDonald’s New Marketing Model
Citi — Citi Commerce Media announcement
DoorDash — Brand Center announcement
Instacart — Real-Time In-Store Software announcement