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John Lewis debuts self-serve retail media platform

Retailer John Lewis has introduced a suite of retail media capabilities aimed at better connecting brands with customers shopping on johnlewis.com.

The new tools enable brands to create and manage their own campaigns, which can be run via banner ads and sponsored product listings. This is all done through a dashboard, which also shows advertisers how their campaigns are performing, how customers are engaging, and how many sales are being driven.

“While retailers have long been advertising on their own websites, we want to improve the experience, and make it even easier for customers to connect with the brands and products that meet their needs,” said Jemma Haley, Retail Media Business & Proposition Strategy at John Lewis.

“As part of this, we’re providing brands with more targeted and relevant ways to connect with customers. Our shoppers are unique in terms of the ways they research, browse and buy, and we need to be ready to meet them in the moments they are ready to purchase or engage with a brand.”

Powered by a partnership with Epsilon, Publicis Groupe’s advertising and marketing tech business, brands can measure the impact of their campaigns down to an individual product level and/or search term.

All ads created are reviewed by John Lewis’ in-house team before going live to ensure they are suitable for customers.

“John Lewis offers a unique and scaled audience across its online and in-store environments. People visit John Lewis in search of inspiration, to validate their research and to make purchases that often initiate a longer-term brand relationship. It’s a real opportunity for brands to evolve their strategies beyond performance goals to think about how they engage customers in ways that build awareness and loyalty,” said Alban Villani, Regional CEO Europe at Epsilon.

“We look forward to supporting John Lewis further as they continue to test and learn across categories and build an even more impactful omni-channel media proposition for brands.”

Epsilon – via its retail media tech arm, CitrusAd – partnered with John Lewis-owned Waitrose toward the backend of 2023 on a similar offering, bringing targeted ads to the supermarket chain’s website.