Behavioural Targeting Takes Off for Retailers
Personalised advertising might present privacy groups with palpitations, but retailers are relishing the opportunities afforded by new developments.

May 26, 2011 /24-7PressRelease/ -- Personalised advertising might present privacy groups with palpitations, but retailers are relishing the opportunities afforded by new developments.

Shoppers on Amazon have long been used to getting recommendations on further purchases based on items they've already bought. But now such targeted messages could become the norm as marketers look to capitalise on individual tastes based on specific web browsing behaviour.

Think back to the scene in Minority Report when Tom Cruise is bombarded by personalised marketing messages in the mall and you've a good idea of where the sector is headed with this: ads that, based on previous preferences, browsing habits, store visits and the like, speak directly to your lifestyle choices. Research firm eMarketer has estimated that 97 percent of advertisers and agencies will use some form of audience targeting in 2011.

For some, this is a privacy nightmare. But for others, particularly so-called Millennials brought up on a diet of digital technology, such developments are already part of their experience of using sites such as Twitter and Facebook, alongside more obvious retail sites such as Amazon.

The immediacy of social networks and technologies has certainly helped speed up the consumer product consumption cycle. Facebook is already in beta tests to trial their version of behavioural ad targeting that allows advertisers unique advertising opportunities through users' real-time status updates. Real-time ads would provide immediate advertising opportunities for retailers to increase brand awareness, community engagement and e-commerce sales.

"Behavioural targeting is set to take off as companies look to the technology to help them drive better return on investment from their online marketing spend," says Elliott Lee, Director of the Next Generation RetailSummit Europe 2011 that is being held in Portugal in September. "Increasingly sophisticated technology is turning behavioural targeting into an attractive and powerful tool. The technology has now matured to a point where it easy to use and offers excellent results for marketers that use it in an intelligent manner."

According to estimates from eMarketer, behavioural-targeting based online ad spending in the US increased from about US$350 million in 2006 to US$1.1 billion in 2009, and by 2012 is expected to quadruple to US$4.4 billion. Indeed, real-time behavioural advertising represents a gold mine for retailers and brands, with a recent study by Deloitte and Harrison revealing that 66 percent of US internet users would click on additional internet ads if they were more targeted.

Lee believes that the real power of behavioural targeting kicks in when companies integrate customer relationship management, web analytics, merchandising, ad-serving, email marketing and other tools to really understand how their customers and prospects are engaging with them online. "The retailers and solution providers we work with are really excited by the possibilities," he says.

Indeed, behavioural targeting is at the vanguard of the movement to make shopping as pain-free as possible for the customer. "Those retailers that are seen to be continuously innovating to improve their customer proposition and levels of service in spite of economic constraints will reap the benefits of loyal customers willing to act as advocates," says Lee.

Behavioural targeting is sure to be a key topic of conversation at the Next Generation Retail Summit Europe Summit 2011, which takes place from 13-15 September at The Oitavos, Cascais in Portugal. This closed-door summit, hosted by GDS International, features some of the leading voices in the retail sector including Theodosios Staikopolous, Group Supply Chain Director for Carrefour; Vishal Bansal, Head of Replenishment Development at Tesco; Venn Luscombe-Mahoney, Group Head of IT at The Dune Group; and Clare Otte, Director of Visual Merchandising at Foot Locker.

The implementation of next generation retail technologies will take centre stage, but the summit will also turn the spotlight on how to build a customer-centric multi-channel business, capitalise on retail demand intelligence, and develop strategies for supply chain excellence.

The Next Generation Retail Summit Europe 2011 is an exclusive C-level event reserved for 100 participants that includes expert workshops, facilitated roundtables, peer-to-peer networks and co-ordinated meetings.

For more information, visit www ngretailapac com.

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