Greensboro, North Carolina-based The Fresh Market is using Firework’s video commerce platform to launch the first shoppable video-live commerce retail media network.
The announcement comes during a period of growth for retail media networks. Due to the various features they confer on advertisers — such as ad targeting, increased brand safety and heightened visibility where and when shoppers are most likely to transact — brands are redirecting their ad dollars toward retail media networks.
“Overall, the combined viewership of our first four Firework-powered livestreams exceeded 2 million views and we saw conversion rates of the special occasion meals featured in the shoppable videos to be over 300 percent greater than our traditional digital advertising results,” said Kevin Miller, CMO at The Fresh Market.
“Having proven the power of Firework’s video commerce content in 2022, we’re excited to offer our partners an innovative and differentiated means of storytelling in an entertaining new way. We call it Shoppertainment.”
According to recent market research, retail media represented the fastest-growing digital ad channel in the world in the third quarter 2022, with total retail media spend increasing by 45 percent compared to the year prior. And many forecasters see this as only the beginning, with retail media expected to continue to grow by double-digits through 2024, when it is expected to top $55 billion annually.
The Fresh Market will offer brands the opportunity to run video ads as sponsors across its ongoing livestream series, which features holiday meal prep tutorials and chef-developed recipes that are experiencing high conversion and engagement rates with Fresh Market customers.
“This newly expanded partnership is a game-changer, not only for The Fresh Market, but also for the entire retail media network landscape,” said Renee Caceres, VP of U.S. retail media at Firework.
“With Firework’s video commerce platform, The Fresh Market is able to truly differentiate itself in the market by offering brands the opportunity to engage, inspire and convert shoppers in a way that is far more compelling than the traditional search and static display RMN offerings. Together, we’re enabling a fully integrated customer experience — bringing the immersive in-store experience online.”
The Fresh Market and Firework established their partnership in the fourth quarter 2021, when the grocer tapped the video commerce innovator to enable its digital transformation initiative. Since then, The Fresh Market has seen double-digit growth across a variety of performance indicators, including increased conversion rates and click-through rates.
