Retail Media Networks have been set-up all over the world. It’s not just the US or Europe – there is lots of innovation in Retail Media Networks in Latin America, Asia, Australia, New Zealand – and we are going to profile some of them here on Internet Retailing. This week’s profile is one of Latin America’s biggest drugstore retailers, RD Saúde (or Raia Drogasil) and their Retail Media Network, Impulso.
RD Saúde is the largest drugstore company in Latin America by revenue and market capitalisation. Saúde operates two widely recognised brands, Raia and Drogasil, and has over 3,000 pharmacies across all 27 states in Brazil, 14 distribution centres and has a 15% market share. The retailer’s core segments are:
● Beauty, cosmetics and fragrance
● Prescription
● Personal care and over-the-counter (OTC)
The business has aimed to broaden its healthcare offerings to be an integrated health provider.
Raia and Drogasil mobile apps and websites account for around 15% of the company’s gross revenues in 2023, highlighting the increasing importance of online channels in its overall business strategy. The company has 46 million registered customers through its apps and online platforms. The RD Saúde’s marketplace platform offers an extensive selection of more than 80,000 products.
RD Saúde can trace its origins back to 1905 when Raia was founded, while Drogasil was established in 1935, and both with listings on the São Paulo Stock Exchange. The two brands consolidated under the RD Saúde banner in 2011 and are quoted on the Ibovespa, Brazil’s main stock index since 2015.
RD Saúde’s net revenues in 2024 reached R$38 billion (US$6.33bn).
Retail media in LATAM
Retail Media is emerging as one of the top three advertising channels regionally. With the rise of more robust retail media advertising options, spending on Retail Media in Latin America is expected to reach USD $2 billion in 2024, according to eMarketer, accounting for 8.3% of digital ad spending.
The sector is anticipated to triple its investment by 2028, reaching 15.6% of the region’s digital advertising market.
Impulso: RD Saúde’s retail media solution
Impulso was started in 2017, initially under the name RD Ads. Retail Media started as a division within RD Saúde and later became an independent legal entity after acquiring eLoopz, a startup focused on Digital Out of Home (DOOH) solutions.
In August 2024, the solution was rebranded as Impulso — RD Saúde Media Solutions – to establish the business as the leading retail media player in the Brazilian health, beauty, and wellness market, by connecting marketing, eCommerce, trade marketing teams and agencies.
Impulso stated aim is to “offer media solutions that aim to contribute positively and meaningfully to people’s healthcare journey”.
The Impulso retail media proposition
Impulso offers five different retail media formats across online, offsite and instore:
- Onsite: Search and display ad solutions in the Raia and Drogasil apps, as well as on its websites, featuring premium-targeted banners and search formats that boost conversions.
- Offsite: Strategic partnerships to scale inventory via paid media platforms such as DV360, TikTok and Meta.
- In-store digital screen: Impulso operates more than 8,400 screens in more than 1,800 Raia and Drogasil drug stores. These screens are placed behind counters and in store windows. They also offer interactivity, both through direct and programmatic delivery.
- CRM strategies: Campaigns via email marketing, push notifications, and SMS.
- Discount coupons.
The company’s revenue is distributed across all formats and operates across both physical stores and digital channels of Raia and Drogasil drug stores. A quarter of Impulso’s DOOH revenue is already generated programmatically.
Impulso is led by Fabiana Manfredi, the CEO since 2024. Manfredi has extensive experience in advertising and marketing, and previously led operations at Mercado Ads — the advertising platform of Mercado Livre — and at X (formerly Twitter), managing business units. Impulso has 90 people in the team – which has grown by 30% in the last year.
Impulso unique differentiators
Impulso claim to have activated almost 2000 campaigns for 176 advertisers in the last three years and has grown ts client base by 40% in 2024.
The proposition is to have offer “a complete solution for every stage of the purchase journey, featuring a closed-loop measurement model to prove campaign efficiency and performance.”
Impulso say they have different advertising formats to match typical brand objectives such as education, acquiring new customers, short-term impact, win-back for abandoned customers and building customer loyalty.
Impulso measure each campaign’s impact, including both in-store and online incremental sales. Their proprietary measurement solution integrates omnichannel insights, market needs, and the total potential of the RD Saúde ecosystem.
As soon as a client campaign goes live, advertisers can monitor results in real time via our dashboard.
Impulso value proposition
Impulso core customers are health, beauty, and wellness brands. They have developed two value propositions – one for shoppers and one for advertisers:
- For advertisers: Impulso offers full-funnel solutions, combining online and offline strategies with high performance and measurable results. Campaigns are data-driven, leveraging anonymised data to deliver relevant and contextual communication to the target audience. Real-time measurement enables dynamic campaign adjustments to maximize impact and return on investment.
- For shoppers: Impulso delivers relevant and contextual omnichannel experiences throughout the shopper journey, at the same time as respecting privacy and protecting personal data.
What’s next for Impulso: RD Saúde’s Retail Media Solution
The next phase of growth for Impulso means leveraging their ‘flywheel’ that captures the full potential of the RD Saúde ecosystem.
The RD Saúde ecosystem brings together omnichannel capabilities, retail media advertising formats, loyalty, measurement and impact.
Impulso is well-positioned to capitalise on the growing Retail Media market in Brazil as has the omnichannel shopper and the distribution in an attractive consumer segment of health and wellness.