Shopify Audiences, Shopify’s ad tech integration offering revealed a new ad targeting capability. Additionally, it increased the number of its partners. Initially, Shopify Audiences debuted with just Google and Meta. Later on, Pinterest was included in the mix. Recently, Shopify Audiences announced new connections with three significant ad platforms, Snap, TikTok, and Criteo. The collaborations increase the effectiveness and reach of Shopify Plus merchants, enabling them to more precisely target customers. The platforms will be able to connect to Shopify utilizing their preferred ad network for modeling data.
Shopify Audiences was introduced last year with the goal of streamlining client acquisition and assisting retailers in raising their return on ad spend (ROAS). It now offers greater analytics and links to new ad channel partners, including Snap, Criteo, and TikTok, thanks to an updated version. It also has the best algorithms yet, which can cut customer acquisition costs by as much as 50%. The strong ad platform alliances enable Shopify Plus retailers to contact their target clients more extensively and affordably.
With the help of Shopify Audiences’ benchmarking feature, retailers can assess how well their advertising campaigns are performing against those of other companies in a similar industry. The function also offers additional insights and makes it easier to make data-driven decisions. It enables businesses to improve the effectiveness of their advertising. The updated features add to a tool that is always being improved to increase consumer acquisition and return on advertising spend. For instance,
T-shirts created to order are available from a vendor. Despite the fact that they sell clothing, they are not high-end outfit designers. With Shopify Audiences’ new benchmarking feature, they can assess the success of their campaigns against those of other, comparable businesses, not only clothing stores. With a more apples-to-apples comparison, this offers more insightful information.
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Shopify Audiences does not collect or offer user-level data. It can create unique audiences who could be interested in a certain product. This is thanks to Shopify’s data modeling hub, which is based on Shopify’s analysis of its merchant base. In comparison to other payment-based advertising products, Shopify Audiences offers less privacy exposure. Shopify is now at ease adding third-party programmatic thanks to Criteo.
The algorithm becomes more effective as more companies use Shopify Audiences and sign up for the platform, using particular insights from customers across participating shops. This in turn boosts output, creating a positive feedback loop. The success of Shopify Audiences is heavily dependent on this loop. Additionally, it’s stated that Shopify Audiences is a major factor in why merchants decide to upgrade to Plus, with many implementing it an average of one week after their upgrade.
The Shopify Plus package, a more expensive membership level for their e-commerce platform, includes Shopify Audiences. Shopify doesn’t receive any CPM revenue. Furthermore, unlike retail media networks, it doesn’t receive a cut of revenues or a high CPM associated with such purchases. This implies that Audiences aren’t always a significant revenue generator. Instead, as it includes new merchants in the Plus category, it gains value. Increased sales from all merchants benefit Shopify, which receives a fee for processing payments. Shopify could easily enter the media category and tie its data to CPM if it wanted to increase its audience revenue. It is the only platform that Meta would consider using to replicate its sales attribution network for e-commerce sellers.
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The products from Shopify work together to develop better services for retailers and give them a unified offering. Shopify Plus retailers can use their Shopify Credit cards to pay for their advertising costs while receiving cash back. The audience is a special advantage that only Shopify offers. It uses the combined strength of Shopify merchants to make it easier for them to efficiently attract new clients. Shopify makes investments in this area to help companies reach clients worldwide. Retailers could be reluctant to provide information that will be gathered and then used by other merchants, including potential rivals. They may view their involvement with Shopify Audiences as a means to connect with fresh potential clients.
Shopify’s VP of Advertising, David Wurtz said,
Shopify is at the forefront of commerce. Wherever there’s an opportunity to connect merchants and buyers, Shopify is there first. Since launching Shopify Audiences last year, our algorithms have only gotten smarter and more effective thanks to the collective power of our merchants. We’ve long said that commerce is not a zero-sum game. Together, the independent merchants on Shopify help each other win. A lot of the inventory on the open web is underappreciated and underpriced. With the addition of Criteo, Shopify can drive “a lot of volume” of ads to the web and improve customer acquisition costs for its merchants, just like the big social platforms have for particular brands or categories.
Rory Mitchell, Criteo’s GM of global growth added,
Aside from access to Shopify custom audiences, Criteo “can then show the power of our platform, which allows a Shopify merchant to think about things like onboarding their first-party data to our platform for retention or retargeting campaigns. It’s a “natural progression,” he added, from the modeled approach to Criteo’s shopper graph products, which do use onboarded first-party data. And we know how to get performance for these customers in a way that is really scalable across the open internet.
Ali Rana, Global Head of Revenue Partnerships for Snap commented,
We’re thrilled to team up with a commerce leader like Shopify to enable merchants to reach more high-intent shoppers on Snap.
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