Dive Brief:

• Amazon launched its newest analytic tool, Store Analytics, which provides anonymous and aggregated data about which products shoppers are discovering, considering and purchasing to brands to help improve in-store performance and marketing, according to a press release.
• Store Analytics shares shopping behavior in U.S. Amazon Go and Amazon Fresh locations that utilize Just Walk Out technology, which tracks items that customers walk out with so they can skip checkout lines, and Amazon Dash Cart, a smart-cart that tracks what goes in and out of shoppers’ carts and charges them accordingly from the cart itself.
• The data shared is stored securely in the cloud and doesn’t include personal information, but instead includes details like offer totals, averages and percentages about product and promotion performance. Shoppers can opt out at any time.

Dive Insight:

Amazon’s launch of its newest tool, Store Analytics, gives marketers specific insights, including how often shoppers put products back onto shelves, and arrives as brands are scrambling for ways to learn more about consumer behavior. The information from in-store shoppers could help marketers optimize their in-store marketing, including digital signage, by enabling them to experiment with more carefully curated selling tactics based on the success of promotions, availability and placement.

Tapping into in-store data could seem like a pre-pandemic move, but in-person shopping may be making a comeback. While COVID-19 forced many brands to ramp up digital efforts, a report released by Mastercard in May showed people may be tired of shopping via the web, with online sales growing just 2.2% compared to the same period last year, compared with in-person sales, which grew 13.4%. 

Amazon, in its announcement for Store Analytics, addressed privacy concerns, which have grown monumentally in recent years. The e-commerce behemoth said that shopper data is stored securely in the cloud and all personal information is withheld from brands, upholding that the only accessible data will be how well products and promotions are performing in select time periods in the sum of averages and percentages. Notice of the ability for consumers to opt out is given via email receipts and in-store signage.

The newly introduced Store Analytics capitalizes on other technological advances by the company including Amazon Dash Cart and Just Walk Out, two features that track in-person consumer behavior and exist only at participating Amazon Go and Amazon Fresh locations in the U.S., which total less than 100. Store Analytics will take the data gathered from those services, monitoring the consumer shopping experience from start to finish, and aggregate it before allowing brands to access it. 

Introducing Store Analytics is one of many efforts Amazon has made recently to meet the needs of marketers. In November 2021 at its annual Unboxed showcase, Amazon revealed its new measurement solution Brand Metrics, which quantifies various engagement tactics, and an Amazon Brand Lift tool, which helps brands track marketing objectives using the Amazon Shopper Panel. 

The recent push to further support brands follows Amazon’s recent Q1 report, which revealed the company fell short of analyst expectations in its advertising segment, despite meeting overall revenue targets. Still, it experienced faster expansion in the ad realm than its peers, Google and Facebook.