Retail Media Networks have been set-up all over the world. It’s not just the US or Europe – there is lots of innovation in Retail Media Networks in Latin America, Asia, Australia, New Zealand – and we are going to profile some of them here on Internet Retailing. This week’s profile is one of Latin America’s biggest retailers, Cencosud.
Cencosud is one of the largest retailers in the Americas. It operates in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Peru, Colombia and the US, and has a commercial office in China and a tech hub in Uruguay. Cencosud has a successful multi-format strategy that employs over 110,000 people.
Cencosud’s operations include supermarkets, home improvement, department stores, shopping centres and financial services. It currently serves more than 26 million customers in the region, with some 1,450 stores and 67 shopping centres.
Cencosud Media was created as Cencosud’s Retail Media division and is currently live in Chile, Colombia, Argentina, Peru and Brazil. Cencosud Media leverages its audience generation and insights through first-party data, an omnichannel ecosystem with both onsite, offsite, in store advertising, out of home as well as end-to-end measurement.
Retail Media in LATAM
Retail Media is emerging as one of the top three advertising channels regionally. With the rise of more robust retail media advertising options, spending on Retail Media in Latin America is expected to reach USD $2 billion in 2024, according to eMarketer, accounting for 8.3% of digital ad spending.
The sector is anticipated to triple its investment by 2028, reaching 15.6% of the region’s digital advertising market. This growth is driven by advertisers’ decisions to diversify their marketing budgets in search of better results.
In 2023, Cencosud Media was recognised as the sixth fastest-growing Retail Media in LATAM by eMarketer.
Cencosud Media’s Omnichannel ecosystem
Cencosud Media’s value proposition is built on three concepts:
- Know
- Connect
- Convert
In Spanish, they work even better: “Conoce-Conecta-Convierte”
“Know” refers to deep customer insights for brands and high-value audiences.
“Connect” relates to Cencosud’s omnichannel ecosystem, which impacts over 26 million customers and more than 80 million sessions on their eCommerce sites regionally, enabling effective customer connection.
Finally, “Convert” focuses on omnichannel measurement to understand campaign impact on the results for brands Cencosud work with.
Cencosud Media manages advertising media channels across its ecommerce platforms, physical stores, and shopping centres, offering brands an omnichannel solutions for their marketing campaigns within a brand-safe ecosystem.
The following channels are part of the Cencosud Media proposition:
- Offsite: Social media and display ads (Google, Meta, TikTok)
- Onsite: Sponsored products, banners, live shopping, shoppable content
- Direct Marketing: Email marketing, app push, web push, loyalty programs
- Instore: Digital spaces (screens, audio branding, sensors) and static spaces (shelves, sampling, protective covers, etc.)
- Out of Home: 3D screens and activations in shopping centres
The Cencosud analytics team uses real-time measurement platforms to assess campaign results based on advertisers’ objectives. They offer omnichannel campaign measurement and the incremental sales generated by campaigns.
Cencosud Media innovation
Among Cencosud Media’s latest innovations is the ability to run ads on the largest interactive 3D screens in Latin America, located in major shopping centres in Chile and Argentina, reaching a huge audience.
In Colombia, digital screens with sensors have been installed in physical stores to measure customer reach, viewing time, gender, and age.
In Brazil, brands can include ads in “NIC,” a robot in stores that interacts through artificial intelligence, adapting to the customer’s profile and mood, providing a more engaging and personalized shopping experience.
In the ecommerce, a new “Shoppable Content” format has been launched, allowing customers to click on a promotional banner, email marketing, or offsite campaign and be directed straight to their cart with the advertised products, facilitating easy purchase with a high conversion likelihood thanks to technology developed to enhance the customer shopping experience.
Additionally, Cencosud Media is focusing on customer self-management through a self-service reporting platform, offering real-time campaign result monitoring. This tool provides brands with easy access and continuous updates to understand the impact of each activation with a closed-loop focus and track incremental sales generated from first-party data audiences.
Finally, Cencosud Media’s analytics team employs machine learning and artificial intelligence models to create customer segments, propensity engines, and predictive models, among other tools, to offer products and services tailored to each consumer’s interests.
What’s next for Cencosud Media?
Cencosud Media is working to further strengthen its technology platforms to enhance the experience for its regional brand partners by standardising ad formats, technologies, and measurement across all operating countries. Retail Media in Latin America has evolved in recent years to integrate even more in-store channels into its omnichannel strategy, and Cencosud is well-positioned to tackle this trend with innovative formats that complement its 360-degree approach.
