Instacart makes YouTube ads shoppable for CPG brands
Instacart is extending its first-party retail media data to YouTube, in an effort to drive even more shoppable reach for its advertisers. Select brand partners will be able to influence consumers watching YouTube directly to purchase items for same-day delivery, the companies said. The new capability builds on Instacart's successful Instacart-powered Google Shopping Ads collaboration announced earlier this year.
Instacart-powered shoppable YouTube ads will help select brands turn their YouTube ads into instantly shoppable experiences powered by Instacart's retail media technology and fulfillment network. Clorox and Publicis Media are among Instacart's first partners to pilot the capability. Pilot partners' shoppable video campaigns on YouTube will leverage Instacart's first-party data to identify and reach high-intent consumers, and receive closed-loop measurement.
"We're proud to continue bringing our world-class advertising capabilities to more platforms and unlocking innovative new touchpoints to connect brands and consumers. By expanding into shoppable YouTube ad formats, we're merging the power of video creative with our valuable first-party data and seamless shopping experience," said Fidji Simo, CEO and chair of Instacart. "Today's announcement marks an important next step to make grocery shopping effortless by helping consumers more easily go from discovery to purchase."
[Read more: Hy-Vee expands partnership with Instacart]
"Clorox has been a longstanding Instacart Ads partner. We've been quick to test new pilot offerings, including Instacart's shoppable video ads on their platform, because we see the value of retail media to reach our target consumers," said Tiffany Tan, senior director of eCommerce Growth Accelerator. "We are excited to pilot these new Instacart-powered shoppable YouTube ads off of Instacart to test and learn alongside the Instacart team. Instacart's first-party retail media data layered on top of our video creative will help us create engaging, shoppable ads to better reach, inspire, and drive purchases from YouTube."
"Retail media networks are a meaningful channel for our CPG clients because of their high-intent audiences at the point of purchase," said Joel Lunenfeld, CEO at Publicis Media Exchange. "We look forward to piloting these new shoppable ads to help our clients power greater connected commerce experiences for their customers and reduce the path to purchase. This is another powerful retail media capability we can provide clients that delivers rich, first party data and fulfillment capabilities that can be scaled, ultimately helping them grow their business."
This YouTube pilot extends Instacart's broader retail media collaboration with Google Shopping. This January, Instacart announced a new partnership to deliver Google Shopping Ads for its CPG partners, leveraging Instacart's rich, first-party retail media data. Brands including Danone and Nestle USA were among the first to pilot the new offering and are seeing promising results that validate the power of using retail media to make campaigns more performant beyond Instacart's own platform, Instacart said. Instacart's AI-powered merchandising combines nutritional preferences, past purchases and real-time trend data to engage high-intent consumers across Google's properties and facilitate purchases on Instacart.
[Read more: Instacart updates omnichannel, AI solutions for grocers]
According to Nielsen's Gauge, YouTube dominates total share of streaming and TV watch time. A recent Google/TalkShoppe study found YouTube is the #1 platform consumers use to research products and make purchase decisions, with viewers watching over 30 billion hours of shopping-related content in 2023.