OPINION Will retailer first-party data give rise to the ‘Kantar Killer’? 

Insights and Data from Retailer 1st party data is the hot topic in retail media but can it reshape the Insights Industry

“Retailers have the most valuable asset – intention based consumer behaviour data…. First party data. This, to me, is what is going to change business models.”

– Satya Nadella, Microsoft, CEO. National Retail Federation Conference, 2020.

One of the more interesting aspects of Retail Media growth in the last few years is the emergence of true “Insights and Analytics” platforms built directly on the bedrock of first-party shopper data. 

The immediate consequence of this development is the rise of what I call the “Kantar Killer”— a provocative metaphor for the potential of retailer-driven data to rival traditional insights firms like Kantar and Circana.

Of course, the question is slightly facetious as there are 28,000 Kantar colleagues around the world, who do a lot of things other than just insights, including brand strategy, digital media optimisation, analytics and a depth of human insight and experience.

Where does the insights and analytics opportunity for Retail Media Networks come from? The starting point is understanding the nature of first party data.

What can retailer first party deliver?

First party data is the information a retailer or brand collects directly from its own audience or customers through its own channels. First party data from retailers is spoken about in two contexts:

• First party data delivers audience targeting and insights.
• Retail Media delivers closed loop reporting – connecting an ad to a sale by analysing the data.

But the world ‘data’ is doing a lot of heavy lifting. There are three different types of data that can be thought of as first party data:

However, data is just data – numbers on a page are no use on their own. Data is a collection of facts, measurements or descriptions of a specific situation. Data is not insight. Data is only valuable if you can translate it into actionable insights.

Where advertisers get interested is less about the ‘data’ but more about the insight that you can drive from the retailer data.

What are the retailers doing about data and analytics?

Tesco and Dunnhumby have had a long partnership with some of the richest data set in the UK. Dunnhumby also work with Walmart on their Scintilla insights offering. 

Ocado have had their ‘Beet’ data and insights offering for years. Asda and eStore Brands launched ASDA Xpert as a “groundbreaking insights platform” earlier this year. Kroger’s data arm, 84.51°, has announced the unification of its entire ecosystem, blending retail media, consumer insights and loyalty marketing into a seamless offering. 

Retail Media Networks outside of the US and UK are also getting in the game, such as Profi in Romania (part of Ahold Delhaize) leveraging Footprints AI, TerryWhite Chemmart in Australia and The Warehouse Group in New Zealand. 

The next frontier: live, insights and analytics

This new generation of platforms goes far beyond the historical, descriptive reporting offered by older tools. I’ve recently seen vendor demos showcasing the true power of first-party data — the ability to perform live shopper segment analysis using real-time retail data. This is where the analytics mature into genuine competitive advantage, allowing for prescriptive and propensity modelling on the fly.

Imagine a marketer being able to instantly model a shopper segment and ask: what is the 90% propensity segment likely to buy if we adjust the price of Brand X by 10%? New insights tools can answer that question and delivering the optimal action. 

Layering over an AI ‘co-pilot’ or conversational chat interface can only accelerate adoption, making these complex capabilities accessible to brand and agency teams who previously lacked the specialised data science expertise. 

The paradox of the ‘Big Kahuna’: Amazon Marketing Cloud

The “Big Kahuna” of the retail media world remains Amazon. The Amazon Marketing Cloud (AMC) is often considered the operating system for best-in-class Amazon Ads performance.

Yet, there is a paradox: AMC adoption has arguably stalled or at least failed to grow at the rate expected over the last year. The primary culprit appears to be the same power that makes it so valuable: complexity. For many brands and agencies, the sheer sophistication and technical barriers of Amazon’s platform have proven too high, leading to a bottleneck in leveraging its full capabilities. This complexity gap provides a clear opportunity for other retailers and third-party vendors to offer streamlined, user-friendly insights from their own first-party data.

Bridging the adoption gap

The technology is ready, the data is rich, and the capabilities are there. So, what’s the problem?

One issue is one of awareness, where the brands and agencies — still accustomed to relying on traditional measurement — simply don’t know that these live, prescriptive data capabilities exist from their retail partners

The motive for each retailer to tap into more insights and analytics is the monetisation of assets and traffic as opposed to pure marketplace data accuracy. The retailer’s singular focus is on capturing their slice of the insights pie, not necessarily accurately a market leading analytics and measurement proposition.

The retailer first party data may be the foundation for insights, but insights have to be actionable. What are insights worth if you can’t execute them? In reality, the real barriers are fragmented retailer platforms and a cultural gap; many brands and retailers still lack the mindset and teams to act on insights.

So, yes, there will always be a place for a ‘Kantar’ or someone else willing to be objective in a world full of undiscerning investment and outcomes.