Saks announced the launch of Saks Media Network to connect customers with digital advertisers. The ecommerce retailer said it will be one of the first retail media networks in the luxury retail space.

Retail media networks have seen growing investment over the past year. Retailers are increasingly leveraging them to monetize their customer base and create advertising opportunities for brands that they sell. Saks said it will use the company’s “iconic brand, rich first-party customer data and robust traffic of over 435 million annual site visits,” to increase the revenue of brands that sell on its website through sponsored product ads and display banners.

SaksFifthAvenue.com and SaksOff5th.com are owned by Hudson’s Bay Co. The parent company is No. 26 in the Top 1000, Digital Commerce 360’s ranking of the largest North American online retailers.

Why Saks launched a retail media network

Creating a retail media network is another way to serve the luxury customer base that shops with Saks, the retailer said.

“With the launch of our Saks Media Network, we are expanding our offerings for brand partners by helping their products reach the right luxury customers when and where they are actively looking to purchase,” said Kristin Maa, senior vice president of growth at Saks, in a written statement. “Our view of the full shopping journey across the Saks Fifth Avenue digital and physical ecosystem enables meaningful, personalized customer engagement and product discovery, and the Saks Media Network is the next step in leveraging our data-driven insights and industry expertise to enhance the customer experience.”

Several prominent brands that sell through Saks are already using the Saks Media Network, it said.

They include:

• David Yurman (No. 1027 in the North America database)
• Chanel Beauty (No. 101 in the Europe database)
• Dolce & Gabbana Beauty and Fragrance (No. 487 in Europe)
• Ramy Brook
• Stuart Weitzman (part of Tapestry, No. 43 in North America)
• Rag & Bone (No. 638 in North America)

Saks’ retail media network also strengthens its relationship with the brands it sells, the retailer said. Its in-house media team creates custom strategies for retailers to drive business to their brands.

“Saks’ Media Network presented an exciting new avenue to achieve our business goals by increasing our brand’s visibility and driving improvements in both traffic and revenue for Ramy Brook on Saks’ ecommerce platform,” Ramy Brook Sharpe, founder and creative director of Ramy Brook, said in a statement.

Other ways Saks is experimenting with luxury ecommerce

In February, Saks announced a partnership with luxury electric vehicle company Lucid. 

The relationship extended across the Saks Fifth Avenue ecosystem. Lucid’s vehicles are available for test drives at certain locations. Lucid marketing materials are also on display in stores and on the retailer’s ecommerce website, the companies said. 

Saks customers got exclusive access to test drives of the Lucid Air, it said. Consumers could book a test drive of the $77,400 vehicle through Saks’ website or at the retailer’s West Coast flagship store in Beverly Hills.

In conjunction with the test drives, Lucid launched a digital campaign through Saks’ online channels. The electric vehicle company created a landing page on the Saks website, along with an email campaign and social media content, Saks said.

How other retailers are using retail media networks

Saks isn’t the only business experimenting with retail media networks in recent months. In March, Google announced a retail media solution in partnership with Lowe’s.

The beta uses Google’s Search Ads 360 product to facilitate retail media campaigns. The program extends advertisers’ reach to new third-party channels beyond the retail media network’s owner. 

“With self-service, retailers will be able to selectively share first-party audiences with their brand partners in a privacy-centric way, without exposing user-level data,” Google project manager Ewan Fisher said at the time. “This lets brands reach high-intent shoppers with relevant ads, increasing performance while respecting consumer privacy.”

Google is also looking for future retail partners, he added.

Walmart similarly shared plans to grow Walmart Connect, its retail media network.

“The role of our advertising business is earning increased attention — especially after the announcement of our agreement to acquire VIZIO, our rollout of new in-store experiences, and pilots with major media partners,” Walmart Connect senior vice president and general manager Rich Lehrfield said in a press release.

Walmart Connect generated $3 billion in sales in 2023, and Walmart marketplace sellers are the fastest-growing segment, it said.

Walmart ranks No. 2 in the Top 1000, and Lowe’s ranks No. 11.

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