Microsoft says it has a revamped strategy to tackle retail media

Microsoft, which shuttered its retail media platform, PromoteIQ, last year, maintains it is still committed to the retail media game.

“We are 100% in the retail media and e-commerce business; we are committed to commerce media,” Paul Longo, GM of AI in Ads at Microsoft, told Retail Brew, on the sidelines of CES. “It’s not an exit out of the retail media business, but a shift in focus to driving commerce media solutions at scale.”

Microsoft’s partnership with third-party ad platform Criteo is a key part of this shift in strategy, Longo added: “We’re really excited about that. We’re hoping to have more to announce on that progress this year. I can’t share a ton of details on that right now, but that partnership is all about scale.”

Criteo entered into a partnership with Microsoft in July last year to grow its inventory of curated deals offered to advertisers to reach more shoppers. “Plugging our demand into Criteo’s supply—that’s a way to unlock more scale for the retail media ecosystem,” Longo added.

At CES, Microsoft Advertising also expanded its retail media capabilities with two other offerings: Curate for Commerce and Sponsored Promotions by Brands. The former is a platform that uses first-party retail data to give brands access to retailer advertising inventory offsite, with Kohl’s as an initial partner. The latter is a tool meant for brands to target shoppers in Microsoft's retail ecosystems like Bing.

With the launch of Curate, Longo said, Microsoft is “following the puck” to align itself with where retail media growth is going: “And even when we talk to brands, they are already spending significantly on site with retailers, but they’re looking to do more offsite.”

“This is an opportunity for us to capture that brand demand and utilize first-party retail data for brands to reach those consumers offsite when they’re at maybe a higher funnel or a more consideration [stage in the shopping cycle],” Longo added.