BR Interview | Auchan Retail Media leads third wave of advertising in Romania

Retail media is gaining momentum in Romania and is rapidly expanding. The concept encompasses all forms of advertising designed to promote commercial messages to customers and visitors of a retailer or digital platform during their shopping journey. Since 2017, Auchan Romania has led the way in retail media initiatives, introducing an advanced advertising platform that integrates with commerce to provide brands with targeted, measurable, and data-driven 360° communication and activation solutions. Business Review sat down with Tiberiu Danetiu, Board Member & Director of Corporate Affairs & Retail Media at Auchan Romania, to discuss how Auchan Retail Media is driving brand growth through an innovative and highly effective 360° ecosystem.

By Anda Sebesi

When did Auchan start retail media operations in Romania, what impact are they having, and why is it a growing category?

We were pioneers in the Romanian market, as Auchan was the first retailer to introduce coordinated retail media initiatives. This began in 2017, when we equipåped a store with connected digital screens—a revolutionary innovation for local retail. At the time, we sold almost no advertising, making it clear that the idea was ahead of its time. In the years that followed, we focused on building, developing, testing, innovating, and streamlining our approach. In 2021, we officially launched Romania’s first retail media directory, in collaboration with Retail Media Hub. Today, I’m proud to say we have a fully developed Retail Media & Data Insights ecosystem, enabling brands to communicate more effectively and build stronger relationships with our customers. We have essentially integrated a powerful media platform into retail, providing brands with targeted, measurable, and highly effective advertising solutions.

Globally, the retail media industry is projected to reach EUR 180 billion by 2025, a growth rate far exceeding earlier forecasts. It is now recognized as the third major wave in advertising, proving to be a highly effective marketing tool. This surge is explained by the greater impact retail media has on results, as it significantly outperforms traditional promotional methods.

Retail media is a game-changer for brand communication. It allows brands to have omnichannel engagement with shoppers, in a buying context, and to directly measure its impact on both consumer behavior and sales—making it a major competitive advantage. Industry leaders across various markets and categories have been early adopters, making serious investments and experiencing exponential growth.

Looking ahead, I believe the next steps in Romania will be the standardization and integration of these communication and activation ecosystems by advertisers, brands, and media agencies. As the industry matures, retail media will solidify its place as a key and highly efficient vertical within the advertising industry.

What are the components of the Auchan Retail Media ecosystem?

At Auchan, we provide brands with a 360° ecosystem of media, physical and digital channels, in an omnichannel approach that enables more effective coåmmunication with their target audience. This applies both in the short term, to activate sales, and in the long term, to build brand image. We also offer a range of data insights services related to shoppers, sales, and consumer behavior. We have revolutionized the way we communicate and interact with consumers, and today, over 200 companies use our services, spanning food, non-food, and non-retail industries, including automotive, pharma, and telecommunications, all seeking greater visibility through Auchan Retail Media channels.

The Auchan Retail Media & Data Insights advantage lies in providing marketers, advertising and media agencies, and trade marketing specialists with a comprehensive system to understand the profile, behavior, preferences, habits, and intentions of their buyers. This is paired with the most effective media system for targeted communication and activation, driven by data insights. We offer integrated campaigns that include total or selective in-store retail media through connected TV screens—with over 1,000 TV screens across 30 stores—as well as in-store radio, digital displays, robots, digital promoters, and conventional POSMs (gates, carts, shelf displays, etc.). Our on-site digital advertising include search, sponsored products, banners, and CRM tools (newsletters, SMS, push notifications), while off-site campaigns extend beyond the Auchan ecosystem, to social networks. Additionally, Auchan Retail Media and our partner agency provide full support and training for data analysis, campaign creation and implementation, and results measurement—ensuring superior ROAS and ROI compared to other communication channels.

Auchan Retail Media fully harnesses the power of data, with over 50% of daily sales made through the loyalty card. This allows us to better understand customer preferences while helping brands reach their shoppers more effectively through tailored communication and activation strategies. We process large volumes of anonymized, individual-level purchase data, aggregated and analyzed to track buying behavior, shopper preferences, brand loyalty trends, activation effectiveness, and predict future consumption patterns using Data Intelligence and AI.

What advantages does retail media at Auchan offer to brands? And how does it benefit consumers?

Auchan Retail Media benefits brands, consumers, and us as a retailer. Brands gain a more effective and direct way to communicate with consumers along their shopper journey. Consumers receive relevant, tailored information that aligns with their needs, while Auchan strengthens customer retention.

With the help of data insights, brands can better understand their buyers’ profiles, consumption behavior, and loyalty patterns. This allows them to refine their communication strategies, increase sales, and optimize advertising investments. One of the main concerns for advertisers today is wasted ad spend—how much of their communication efforts and budgets are used inefficiently. Retail media offers a high-performance alternative, significantly improving communication efficiency. Even reallocating a small portion of inefficiently spent budgets to retail media can deliver remarkable results.

The Auchan Retail Media Network & Data Insights continues to expand, with a focus on maintaining leadership in innovation and driving higher efficiency and performance for brand communications in the Romanian market.