The ability to buy a product or service directly from an advertisement is expected to explode in 2023 according to a global survey of advertisers. So-called shoppable media is said to still be in the “trial” phase for large marketers but is about to gain steam according to the study released Tuesday by the World Federation of Advertisers (WFA) and ad agency giant Dentsu International.
“Shoppable media remains a tactic in pilot for most respondents, with significant room for growth into 2022,” the report says. “All respondents have trialed shoppable media and we expect more brands to adopt this mechanic in 2022/3.”
The goal is to make online ad formats that are pushed to consumers more “shoppable” to increase immediate conversion within the ad format or the media owner’s own app itself, a trend that has been growing in popularity in the past 1-2 years.
The findings are from a survey of 42 WFA members conducted in the second half of 2021 and included in the report, "Developing a Successful Strategy for Global eCommerce and Marketing.” The number of marketers surveyed that use shoppable media “always” is expected to double to 24% in 2023 compared to 12% in 2022. Those using it “most of the time” is predicted to jump from 15% to 21% over the same time span while those “rarely” using it is on track to plummet from 33% this year to 9% in 2023.
The trend is part of a larger push to accelerate e-commerce strategies and campaigns. Seventy-one percent of major companies say eCommerce is either “critical” (51%) or “very important” (20%) now, but the figure rises to 93% over the next two years.
Brands that attach greater importance to eCommerce are spending 59% of their media budgets on driving short-term sales, the WFA study says. This compares with those who regard eCommerce as important (or growing in importance) at just 37% on driving immediate sales.