Horizon Media’s Night Market eCommFronts 2021 to Help Brands and Agencies Incorporate Online Retail & Social Commerce Platforms into Their Media Planning

Two-day Forum, June 22-23, Recognizes Major Retailers, Marketplaces, and Social Commerce Platforms as Emerging Media Powerhouses; Only Upfronts Dedicated to Retail Media

The delineation between online media and e-commerce is quickly fading due to the pandemic — giving rise to online retailers and social commerce platforms as increasingly powerful media outlets. In turn, Night Market, a Horizon Media company, last year launched the only advertising upfronts dedicated to online shopping behavior.

Night Market will host eCommFronts 2021: Winning the Digital Aisle June 22-23 for brands, agencies and media platforms seeking to integrate next-gen tech-driven shoppable media into their media and marketing plans. Night Market created eCommFronts last year to fill the void in the advertising marketplace for a forum dedicated to where, when, and how to incorporate modern tech solutions like social, mobile, and live commerce into retail media strategies.

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Akin to network TV upfronts, when the biggest brands and advertisers meet to get a look at programming options for the fall line-up, Night Market’s eCommFronts invites major retailer, social media, e-commerce, and marketplace platforms to provide a glimpse into the future of advertising from a technology lens – specifically the digital solutions offered by these emerging media powerhouses and how they can be effectively integrated into media planning and buying strategies.

Night Market launched eCommFronts in 2020 alongside Amazon, Google, Facebook, Instacart, Walmart (WMG) and Kroger/Promote IQ to explore how the pandemic has permanently changed the consumer path to purchase. This year’s eCommFronts will be the industry event to attend given there has been a 40%+ annual growth in eCommerce with a 20%+ growth in the number of new merchant platforms — forever changing the media and merchandizing landscape.

eCommFronts 2021 will offer a robust overview of the new landscape, focusing on the growth of eCommerce media spend and shifts in consumer demographics and retailer platforms — providing guidance on everything from media investment and shoppable technologies to merchandising and software.

The virtual two-day event – open for the first time to Horizon clients and non-clients alike — will feature a series of panels on how the traditional sales funnel has collapsed and how to navigate new growth channels in retail media. Where the awareness-consideration-conversion cycle evolves to a new retail funnel consisting of merchandising and shopper marketing traits like basket building and loyalty.

According to Night Market, 86% of U.S. retailers said they plan to increase spending on Amazon’s and Walmart’s digital ad platforms this year. In 2020, after a decade of one-percentage-point upticks as a percentage of total U.S. retail sales, eCommerce surged four percentage points, now accounting for 14.3% of all U.S. retail sales.

“As anticipated, the pandemic accelerated seismic shifts in shopping and consumption patterns,” said Randy Browning, president of Night Market. “People learned and have grown accustomed to starting their shopping journey online where retailers have made the shopping experience infinitely easier. At the same time, DTC companies have brought their stores to where their audiences are – creating serendipitous and contextual shopping discoveries. There’s never been a more opportune time to explore strategies to adjust to these shifts; eCommFronts 2021 will do just that.”

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eCommFronts 2021 will be presented in nine virtual modules spread over two days of familiar faces from last year like Walmart Connect along with some newcomers in data and measurement like Kenshoo.

“For the second year, Walmart Connect is thrilled to participate in Horizon Media’s Night Market E-Commerce Upfronts. This platform provides us with an opportunity to discuss the impact customer behavior shifts have had on the industry and how Walmart Connect is evolving to become more solution-oriented for our partners,” said Lex Josephs, VP, Sales & Ad Tech Partnerships. “As a trusted partner, we are focused on delivering omni-retail media solutions that connect our suppliers, sellers, and marketers more meaningfully in customers everyday lives to accelerate shared growth.”

“Kenshoo is thrilled to participate this year in eCommFronts 2021: Winning This Digital Aisle,” voiced Nich Weinheimer, General Manager, eCommerce. “Our growing market intelligence and commerce solutions allow for advanced optimization and cross-channel analytics to drive massive omnichannel growth. As more retailers create media offerings and advancements are made in shoppable media, the eCommerce Upfront provides a platform for brands and agencies alike to come together as they rethink organizational structures, measurement, data and much more to drive retail media success.”

Topics will include:

• The Future of eCommerce: A look at the next 12 months, including how the customer journey has migrated online (and continues to evolve) and implications for marketers.
• The Power of Social Commerce: How an inspiration-driven platform is driving optimal conversion and innovation in eCommerce, including the latest trend of Live Shopping.
• Retailers Become Media Powerhouses: Retailers and marketplaces are changing the way that performance and digital media are being activated — offering new innovative placement opportunities that uniquely bring brand and performance media together.
• Concept to Commerce: Winning in retail media with full circle market intelligence

Horizon Media launched Night Market in January 2020 to provide data-driven insights on consumer-purchase behavior on Amazon, Google, Walmart, Facebook, and other online platforms. The onset of the pandemic has only accelerated demand for such AI-driven approaches, with retailers and marketers clamoring for hard data that provide windows on how to optimize shopping outcomes and exert greater influence on the consumer e-purchase cycle.

At its core, Night Market was conceived to give brands greater visibility on consumer data, helping them build campaigns that efficiently integrate the major online platforms and influence the “last mile” of the online consumer journey.