At the end of 2023, everybody involved in the marketing and advertising industry needed to take some time to summarize the previous 12 months and strategize for the year to come. 

In Zeropark, we have always been loud advocates of shifting the industry standards to match consumer needs and expectations.

This strategy allowed us to develop compliant, effective, and safe solutions for all parties involved in our advertising ecosystem. 

Therefore, as we are curious observers of the latest consumer trends in marketing, it is always on our agenda to give structure to our findings and share it with Zeropark Commerce Media partners.

Some insights will be unveiled in this article, but you can access many more in our free 2024 consumer trends ebook that is ready for download. 

Consumer Journey in Commerce Media 

Commerce Media is an important term for our product and philosophy, as it defines not only the scope of our publisher partner reach, but also our take on how to treat consumer engagement. 

It has become an ill-fitting industry standard to speak of the consumer perspective without really presenting it. Commerce media as an ecosystem prioritizes the security and commodity of consumers, advertisers, and publishers, enriching every phase of the product discovery process and supporting future-proof advertising strategies. 

This means that advertising should be, unquestionably, present during the online shopping process, from the spark of inspiration towards buying, up until the purchase itself. With a new, unilinear, shopping journey, users expect a lot more than just aimless buying of traffic and brand presence without much consideration.  

The modern advertising of 2024 should focus on finding the ICP (Ideal Consumer Profile) opportunities without compromising data security, and in the meantime, offering consumers exactly what they need and expect.

In the Zeropark 2024 Consumer Trends & Commerce Media Shopping Journey insights, you can find a step-by-step overview of the shopping process behind the Commerce Media conversion driven to a luxury clothing brand. We follow Anna, a competent buyer, who encountered multiple advertising touchpoints on her journey, and ultimately interacted with a placement on the price comparison site she visited. 

Transparency and Privacy in Advertising 

In recent years, the evolution of how online consumers understand digital privacy and security has been remarkable. While the demand for hyper-personalized advertising is anticipated to surge in 2024, it must never compromise online safety, which is the best news possible for advertisers and publishers in Zeropark. 

With the establishment of new online privacy standards, users now consider them a fundamental requirement for brand advertising. The preferred approach for modern consumers involves transparency and a tangible benefit for the user. 

Whether it’s commerce content, predefined tiles, intelligent search query suggestions, product comparisons, coupon sites, or BNPLs, all these advertising placements must furnish transparent and genuine information. Users are inclined towards targeted content that is open about how the data is handled and processed. If consumers’ privacy remains intact, savvy shoppers in 2024 will willingly share more information about themselves. 

Nevertheless, providing privacy reassurance is imperative. In the new advertising world, consumer data is no longer a forbidden currency – the biggest brands and their consumers understand that it’s part of an honest exchange where relevant ads are served to consumers. 

Consumer Trends for Efficient Advertising in 2024 

Below, we’ll present some of the Key Takeaways that all marketers (and people active within content monetization, website traffic monetization, etc.) should be aware of to maximize performance in 2024. No matter if you are looking for ways to sell audiences from coupon site, embed contextual advertising inside your product comparison content, or you are looking for efficient and safe audiences for your campaigns – these insights should be drivers to futureproofing your endeavors: 

• 2024 shoppers will put more trust into safe, AI-powered solutions in advertising and customer service. 
• Baby boomers will increase their presence on social media and will intensify purchases based on online recommendations. 
• Consumers will choose to spend more on products and services of proven quality and engage more with brands considered “premium”.  
• Consumer reviews will lose credibility and influencer recommendations will gain trust. 
• Consumers will expect to receive hyper-personalized shopping experiences for maximum efficiency and relevance. 
• Social media platforms will invest more into creating a better experience for shoppers to boost engagement and time spent on platforms.
• B2B marketing strategies will need to align with B2C strategies, as decision-makers will follow similar purchase journeys. 
• Sponsored or branded content will strengthen its position as a tool used for product recommendation. 
• Consumers will become omnipresent and expect brands to convey omnichannel strategies. 
• Consumers will expect to see safe and transparent advertising that follows all data protection standards exceeding legal requirements.

Always make sure to match your consumer profile and needs with the advertising you offer. With a fully customizable publisher portfolio within Zeropark Commerce Media, you can deliver better performance by targeting users ready to shop and looking for opportunities to do so.  

Make sure to download our early insights in the ebook titled 2024 Consumer Trends & Commerce Media Shopping Journey for even more context, and more conclusions about what will drive the commerce industry advertising this year. 

Łukasz Pośpiech