How Dollar General Charted Its Path in Data

Data scientist Stephanie Jensen loves data."The thing that has really always driven me is using data or knowledge or information and seeing the true actionable insights from them," she told attendees at Progressive Grocer's GroceryTech event in North Carolina on May 13.Jensen joined the Dollar General Corp. team three years ago, and today she serves as the retailer's director of data science."I really jumped at the chance," she said.It was Dollar General's fleet of more than 21,000 stores in the United States and the reach that came with them that really drew her in, she said — in addition to the fact that Dollar General's team is very focused on data.On top of that, Jensen said she grew up in a 1,600-person town in South Dakota, which is a real representation of the market Dollar General serves."I connect with that," she said.In a conversation with PG Managing Editor Bridget Goldschmidt, Jensen walked GroceryTech attendees through what it takes to have a successful retail media operation in today's grocery environment.Accept That Data Will Be Fragmented – at First. And Have a Plan to Break Down Data Silos.Jensen said that first-party data has to be the foundation for any retail media effort."First-party data is of course integral to the media network's success," she said. "Because without that first-party data, you don't have a media network."She said that retailers who are just starting out on the retail media path have to understand that their data is going to be fragmented — at least, at first. The key is to accept that fact but also have a plan to remove data silos in the long term."When you're setting up your data, you're going to have to accept the fact that it's going to be fragmented first, and I think that's really hard," Jensen said. "The end goal for us is always, how can I measure across all of the channels — off-site, on-site, in-store activations — when you're activating on all different platforms and you're looking at results, and how do you de-dupe those impressions to get one wholistic view of measurement."Also read: Dollar General Links On-Site, Off-Site Retail Media With New ActivationAt Dollar General, Jensen said her data science team operates separately from the Dollar General Media Network team — not in such a way that causes the retailer's data to be siloed, but, rather, to achieve the opposite effect."It's so [the DGMN team is] not grading their own homework," she said. "We're doing that grading."Jensen said that, while some retailers operate their media networks in a silo, Dollar General works to avoid that."I think it works much better when you work with your enterprising and merchandising partners to all have one view and you're working with the brands in that capacity to help them meet their goals," she said. "I think for brands, of course it comes back to that data, being able to provide them incremental reach."At the end of the day, Jensen said that retail media is an integral part of a retailer's growth not just because of the revenue opportunity it brings, but also because it provides opportunities to partner with brands and build relationships with them.Know Your Customer – and What Differentiates You From the Competition.Jensen told GroceryTech attendees that the first question retailers should ask themselves when it comes to setting themselves up for success in retail media is what they bring to the table."What differentiates you from all the other options that are currently out there?" she asked.Retailers also have to know their customers, Jensen pointed out."Really understand who your customer is because brands aren't going to want to just optimize what they're already reaching; they're going to want that incremental reach," she said.For Dollar General, that sprawling, rural customer base that made Jensen feel connected with the brand in the first place is what differentiates the retailer in the marketplace, she said.She pointed to Dollar General's partnership with DoorDash as an example of what that looks like. While Dollar General had historically been a brick-and-mortar retailer, in 2021, the company started partnering with DoorDash to bridge the gap between in-store transactions and digital engagement. The partnership has grown to include more than 18,000 Dollar General stores across the United States, many of which are in underserved communities whose customers hadn't previously had the opportunity for delivery services."That's something we have to think about when we're trying to partner with brands to increase their incremental reach and they want to do this through delivery," Jensen noted. "How do we make sure they're targeting the right customers?"Jensen said that through its partnership with DoorDash, Dollar General looked to modeling to work the data into its retail media. Specifically, because Dollar General had first-party data on customers who had access to delivery in the past, the retailer was able to implement a look-alike model to use for customers who did have the opportunity to experience delivery before. The result, Jensen said, was increasing that incremental reach for the brands Dollar General partners with.Overall, DGMN has had a significant connection to a lot of rural America, which is an audience that has been overlooked for a long time, Jensen said. This is a major differentiator for Dollar General in the retail media market."Don't miss out on that just because you haven't been able to measure it in the past," Jensen said. "Come to DGMN, look at those customers and see if we can increase your incremental reach."Build Up Trust With Brands.Jensen said her team's main focus is to provide the measurement and methodology that build a solid foundation for Dollar General's retail media efforts."We really focus on implementing gold-standard measurement so that, when we're working with our brand partners, they really trust what's coming out of their campaigns," she said. "Because without that trust, it's really hard [for brands] to take it at face value without a lot of questions."In Jensen's eyes, incrementality is the most important data point for retailers to focus on right now, because it truly shows whether campaigns are successful."That's the most important data point you can have," she said.To truly build trust with brands in the retail media space, Jensen said standardizing measurement is key — and she knows she's not alone in that."There's definitely an industry push for this," she noted.But in an age where technology is changing so rapidly, it makes standardizing retail measurement more important than ever."Every media network owns their own measurement and it can be completely different from one to the other," Jensen said. "I think to build that trust with brands we have to start opening up and being a little bit more transparent and try to standardize that."This article was originally published on P2PI sibling brand Progressive Grocer.

How Dollar General Charted Its Path in Data

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