Italiaonline, the main Italian digital company, and Selex Gruppo Commerciale, the leading Italian distribution group, announce the launch of a strategic partnership in the Retail Media sector. By virtue of the agreement, iOL Advertising becomes the exclusive concessionaire of the entire ecosystem of physical and digital touchpoints of the Selex Media network for the national market of brands external to large-scale distribution – automotive, finance, insurance, telco and energy – interested in investing in large-scale retail trade.
A multi-channel ecosystem on a national scale
Through this synergy, brands that do not sell directly in supermarkets and media planners will have exclusive and multi-channel access to a highly profiled audience throughout the territory. The agreement covers the entire Selex network touchpoint network:
- Digital Signage In-store: over 360 points of sale (Famila, A&O, C+C Cash & Carry) with more than 5,300 active screens
- In-store Radio: a widespread audio network in over 800 stores
- Digital Properties: websites, mobile apps (such as CosiComodo) and digital flyers of the network
- Profiled CRM: a database based on 7 million active loyalty cards
The agreement represents a new model for the Italian advertising landscape, which combines the marketing capacity of a digital agency structured like iOL Advertising with the massive inventory of a national-scale grocery retailer.
National coverage, hyper-local targeting
The new offer guarantees coverage across 82 provinces – with the possibility of geo-targeting by region or Nielsen area – allowing advertisers to activate in-store and online campaigns throughout the customer journey, close to the purchasing decision-making moment. The numbers of the partnership speak clearly: 15 million Italian families reached every year by the Selex network (equal to 58% of the total), 565 million annual visits to physical stores with active digital signage, 100 million annual visits to digital properties and 7 million active loyalty cards for targeted CRM communications.
A path destined to grow: by 2027 the in-store network plans to expand to 1,200 points of sale and over 19,000 screens, more than tripling the current digital inventory.
A rapidly expanding market
Retail Media in Italy is experiencing a phase of sustained growth, with an increase of +22% on an annual basis and a trend four times higher than the total advertising market. The partnership is positioned as a scale solution capable of creating a system in a still fragmented scenario, addressing national media centres, Italiaonline’s historic advertisers and new customers intending to exploit the potential of this phase of Retail Media through an extensive, data-driven and fully traceable network.
«With this partnership we are taking a decisive step in the evolution of Retail Media in Italy», declared Domenico Pascuzzi, Publishing Marketing & GoToSales Director of Italiaonline. «We combine our leadership in digital advertising and in the valorisation of data with one of the most important retail networks in the country, with the aim of building a solid and measurable national ecosystem, capable of competing in scale and quality with the large international platforms».
«Retail Media is radically transforming the advertising proposal, combining the precision of the data with the capillarity of the territory», declared Massimo Baggi, Marketing Director of Selex Gruppo Commerciale. «Thanks to the collaboration with Italiaonline, we enhance the audience assets of our member companies by opening the doors to the non-endemic market, to which we offer new effective, measurable and highly profiled communication opportunities».
