I interviewed Sam Knights, CEO of SMG, to find out more about SMG’s recent Deliveroo partnership and the wider opportunity for retail media and quick commerce. SMG operate six-plus Retail Media Networks for retailers such as Boots, Co-op, Morrisons, Asda, The Very Group and WHSmith North America.
Deliveroo announced a strategic partnership with SMG to drive its growth of its advertising and media offering, Deliveroo Media. The SMG partnership will play a key role in accelerating Deliveroo Media in the UK & Ireland, Deliveroo has expanded its offer across restaurant, grocery and retail and has over 7M monthly active global users and around 186,000 restaurant, grocery and retail sites delivering around 300M orders per year. Deliveroo’s ad revenue as a % of GTV increased to 1.4% in Q4 2024. The business has a target of 2+% GTV in 2026.
Colin Lewis: What is the opportunity for Deliveroo with Retail Media?
Sam Knights: Quick delivery is the shortest customer funnel you could ever imagine because you’ve got:
- The audience that you can target really effectively with the first party data
- The “eyeballs” in the app with intent and just seconds away from purchasing a product.
- The ability for brands to advertise what they are selling through grocery retail, restaurants and fast food.
There’s are huge opportunity for non-endemic advertisers as well, which I believe is very interesting for media agencies. Agencies can create a real opportunity for their clients to get their brand in front of front of consumers right as they’re making a purchase decision in a way that the funnel almost totally collapses in that moment. Quick commerce advertising delivers a really targetable audience, really clear eyeballs, and the clear link to purchase.
CL: How are SMG going to help Deliveroo deliver on their Retail Media proposition?
SK: We’ve built a team internally at SMG that’s going to help them in three ways:
- Build out what their ad operations look like for agencies. We are going to focus on making it easier for agencies to buy, bringing in self-service, bringing the right measurement that Deliveroo require to see the brand uplift,
- Deliver a ‘white glove’ service for their big suppliers. Large advertisers like Coca-Cola who sell a lot through Deliveroo need a real managed service that can deliver on their objectives.
- SMG will bring quick delivery together with some of our other partnerships. For example, SMG partners like Boots and Co-Op all use delivery, so we can great a connection between what’s happening in those retailers and what’s happening with Deliveroo.
CL: How do you see these sorts of partnerships working?
SK: Quick commerce partnerships are already happening. For example, Boots is seeing a big growth in the delivery channel because if you are ill and need medicine, it is a really good way of getting it without actually going out!
In a totally difference context, if you are going out on a night out on a Friday and you’ve forgotten some specific beauty product that you want to use, it’s a really interesting opportunity for brands to tap into that moment.
And it’s the same for other retailers that we work with. For example, just the other day I was at home with the three kids and I didn’t want to leave them at home, but they were demanding I get them some crisps! There’s a really good opportunity for partner retailers like the Co-Op to work hand in hand in delivery to get those purchases they would not have got anyway.
CL: What are the challenges in linking brand advertisers, retailer and quick commerce?
SK: The challenge for SMG is to make sure that the brand are able to link these two worlds – supply and demand – together. They need to get one holistic plan which enables brands to think about quick commerce alongside traditional retail media platforms and to use both in tandem to create holistic experiences.
CL: What should the non-endemic brand do and how should they approach this opportunity?
SK: For non-endemic brands, it’s about context and relevance. In those moments when you are picking a takeaway or you’ve got that last minute need, there are certain relevant moments for brands that you can imagine.
For example, TV shows that are on Sky, or entertainment venues that you might be going on a Friday night or even holidays that link into products that you are buying for that specific moment.
Quick commerce creates a really great opportunity for advertisers to get right in the moment of contextual advertising for non-endemic brands with a huge traffic, and then bring products that link into that context in front of targeted audiences.
