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Welcome to the Axonet “Off-The-Shelf” newsletter where we share information about C-store retail media, loyalty programs, and Axonet updates. We appreciate you taking time to read our content and will do our part to ensure it’s worth your while.
My name is Patrick Raycroft and I’d like to explain what we’re doing here at Axonet. I’ve been around technology and convenience stores my entire life (through my family originally and later through my career). I’m passionate about the importance and power of our local convenience stores to help fuel and feed communities everywhere. And unfortunately, our local convenience store operators are under more business pressures today than ever before. Many are struggling to take on diminishing fuel volumes, competition from other verticals (notably, grocery and mass), and rising costs. This challenge is what led to the creation of Axonet. Axonet’s purpose is to help regional and local c-store operators tap into a new capability that (a) keeps them on par with their bigger competitors, (b) delivers great experiences to their guests, and (c) helps their bottom lines: Retail Media.
For those that are less familiar with Retail Media, I find it easier to describe through example: When you search for a product on Amazon and see two search entries for “Sponsored Product,” that is Amazon powering Retail Media to enable advertising from product manufacturers directly to consumers in a more personalized, relevant, and impactful manner. Retail Media is built upon retailers first-party consumer/audience data and their consumer-facing touch points (think digital screens, mobile apps, etc.) to advertisers that allow for more efficient reach and engagement with consumers. This simple concept has gained a lot of steam in recent years and has evolved into a complex ecosystem to navigate for retailers and advertisers alike.
We believe in the power of Retail Media for advertisers while being aware of the challenges emerging in this rapidly growing ecosystem: fragmentation in buying channels, inconsistent attribution and measurement, and lack of transparency. We at Axonet feel it’s critical that we (and all Retail Media Networks), solve these challenges and create transparency for all participants in the ecosystem. Without transparency, trust and collaboration cannot be established between RMNs and advertisers, and without these key ingredients all participants will have unmet goals.
Which brings me to the purpose of this Off-The-Shelf newsletter: Provide our readers with trends from the Retail Media industry, insights into what we see working well and not working so well, some viewpoints on how we think the Retail Media industry can do things better, and updates from Axonet’s C-Store Retail Media Network. We’re firm believers in sharing what we know because we think that’s how the industry can collectively move forward.
I hope this newsletter proves helpful to you, and don’t forget to stop into the store next time you fill up or charge at your local convenience store!
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