Asda to trial shoppable online adverts

Asda is among the retailers trialling ‘shoppable’ ads online, using technology that launches this week.

Constant Commerce has unveiled technology that enables consumers to click onto retail and brand ads as they play online, adding products directly to their shopping basket. The system identifies shoppable elements in six types of content. In trials, says the developer, shoppable ads have outperformed conventional online ads by a factor of 10.

Asda’s deployment of the technology includes a series of ads that ask consumers to vote for their favourite from a range of featured products. Once chosen, shoppers have the choice to add the item directly to their shopping basket.

Nick Bamber, strategy, sales and innovation at Asda, said: “Our teams are always looking for new ways to engage with our customers to help make shopping easier, quicker and more convenient – extending our digital advertising formats to include shoppable technology is just one of the ways we are doing this.

“Constant Commerce’s technology has provided us with a new way for shoppers to interact with our digital ad and helps us make it easy for consumers to add to their basket and for brands to realise some direct ROI from their digital ads across our estate.”

Johnathan Agnes, co-founder of Constant Commerce said: “This product represents a huge opportunity for retailers and brands, which can be integrated with any kind of digital advertising.”

“Previously, brands had to rely on shoppers remembering products when they saw an advert and purchasing them when they next shopped. With our new technology it’s possible to instantly capture impulse sales. Wherever a shopper encounters shoppable products in Constant Commerce powered content, the path to purchase is now very very short: see it, click it, buy it.”

Other brands testing the online shoppable ads include Unilever and Proctor & Gamble.

London-based technology provider Constant Commerce launched its shoppable content platform in 2012, with the aim of making content, apps and advertising shoppable on the web, on mobile, in print and TV.

Source : Chloe Rigby - Internet Retailing
http://internetretailing.net/2014/09/see-it-click-it-buy-it-asda-trials-shoppable-ads/