VML, CommerceIQ Partner to Enhance Digital Shelf Performance

WPP creative agency VML (formerly VMLY&R Commerce) is enhancing its proprietary digital commerce technology and retailer intelligence suite through a new partnership with CommerceIQ, a retail e-commerce management (REM) platform. 

Combining CommerceIQ’s data, analytics and generative and predictive AI capabilities with VML’s planning, creative and execution suite, the partnership builds on the agency’s creative commerce capabilities and helps optimize clients’ digital shelf performance, according to a media release.

CommerceIQ helps CPG brands plan, monitor and execute their businesses across 650-some online retailers. Its platform unifies brands’ data and analytics, including commercial planning, product content, assortment and availability, ratings and reviews, pricing and promotions, search and retail media. The partnership with VML combines brand data with advanced digital shelf analytics as a way to give clients an edge in a competitive digital landscape.

VML says this agreement marks a significant advancement for the agency in digital shelf optimization. It bolsters VML’s 7,000+ commerce and technology experts globally with CommerceIQ’s REM platform to offer a consolidated view of sales, marketing and supply chain data. It will raise VML’s product presentation and performance standards by harnessing crucial insights and a rigorous evaluation of content quality.

VML and CommerceIQ say their alliance is a “strategic reaction to the increasing complexity brands and retailers face in the era of connected commerce,” per the release.

Clients benefit across three growth pillars:

1. Digital Shelf Analytics: CommerceIQ’s AI-driven intelligence enhances e-commerce strategies with WPP Open’s proprietary digital commerce data sets and Amazon IP. Aggregated data from over 800 online retailers across the globe captures a brand’s market positioning. Real-time insights are then leveraged across teams from supply chain through to brand and media to improve visibility, customer engagement and conversion.
2. Retail Media Optimization: Ad viewership, engagement and conversion rates pinpoint retail media opportunities, enabling keyword refinement and selection aligned to a shopper’s journey. Combined with VML’s Commerce Intelligence platform, brands can leverage targeting capabilities, budget allocation and streamlined content strategies.
3. Content and Creative Strategy: VML enhances alignment with retail ecosystems, ensuring that content adaptation and strategies are precise. By analyzing CommerceIQ’s search visibility, customer feedback and ad performance, VML fine-tunes a brand’s creative strategy.

"CommerceIQ's global reach, product leadership and favorable customer feedback made it an ideal candidate for this type of partnership,” Gemma Spence, chief digital commerce officer, global at VML, said in the release. “Augmented by our existing Amazon and digital commerce IP, this allows us to be transparent, interoperable and ultimately unbiased, enabling faster decisioning in the moments that matter. By combining our strategic and creative expertise with in-depth analytics and ownable IP, we’re empowering clients with data-driven strategies to drive profitable growth across today’s omnichannel ecosystem."