Study: Mobile rich media drives expansion, engagement
New York - Mobile rich media advertising drives high expansion rates and secondary engagement for retail brands. According to internal retail industry mobile ad performance analyses conducted by predictive mobile advertising provider AdTheorent Inc. across its network during the second quarter of 2014, rich media drove a strong expansion rate across the retail category, delivering at a rate 125% higher than the industry average.
Secondary ad engagement within rich media units for the second quarter was 76% higher than industry average. Social actions consisted of approximately 33% of all in-banner actions, while “shop” or “buy now” focused calls-to-action drove the second largest share of actions within rich media, delivering 29% of all in-banner actions across the category. Clicks to a brand’s landing page consisted of 17% of all in-banner actions
When household income was $75-$100,000, engagement was 96% higher than industry average. At $100-150,000, engagement was 87% higher than industry average. At $150-250,000, engagement was 106% higher than industry average.
In addition, data from the retail category shows that engagement is directly correlated to weather conditions. When temperatures were 88 degrees or higher, engagement rates were 137% higher than industry category average. Temperature ranges between 70 and 87 degrees delivered the second highest engagement rates. Compared to when temperatures were 88 degrees or higher, when temperatures were 51-69 degrees, engagement was 41% lower. At 33-50 degrees, engagement was 48% lower.
In analyzing multiple factors across certain groups, AdTheorent’s engagement data revealed certain subsets of “power users” (considering myriad user traits) who drove higher engagement, compared to average mobile users. Highlights include:
• Hispanic males in the 46-50 age group, with a household income (HHI) of $50-74,000 were the most engaged with retail media.
• Females in the 51-65 age group, with a household income (HHI) of $150-174,999,000 were the second most engaged demographic segment.
• The grocer will test the plan in its store in Princeton, New Jersey, this month and expand the trial to Philadelphia later this year, Michael Silverman, a Whole Foods spokesman, said in an e-mail. The company expects to introduce a national rewards program by late 2015, he said.
• While other grocery chains have had rewards and loyalty programs in place for years, the largest natural-goods retailer in the U.S. is just getting started. Austin, Texas-based Whole Foods recently lowered prices, especially on produce, to better compete with large competitors, such as Kroger Co. (KR) and Wal-Mart Stores Inc., that are selling more natural and healthy fare.
• With a rewards card or mobile-phone application downloaded from Apple Inc. (AAPL), Whole Foods customers will be able to earn points that can be redeemed for discounts and store experiences, such as cooking classes, Silverman said. The trial period will last about six to eight months.
• In July, Whole Foods cut its sales forecast, saying revenue in the current fiscal year will rise as much as 9.9%, down from a previous projection for a gain of as much as 11%. The grocer also will try to boost sales with a new marketing campaign this fall.