In October 2017, Vistar Media, the New York City-based digital out-of-home (DOOH) ad platform, had launched a private marketplace for the US and Canadian outdoor signage such as bus shelter displays, billboards, and screens in taxis.
Now, it has ventured one step further and launched the world’s first global dedicated storefront for private marketplace deals thereby covering the whole process online.
The ‘Deals Discovery’ online storefront allows ad buyers to find inventory and complete the entire transaction online. Its CEO, Michael Provenzano says that the procedure is an improvement on the existing process that involves sellers contacting the potential buyers over the phone and communicating the inventory opportunity. The buyer can then proceed online to the Vistar marketplace to locate the correct signage, set the price, and complete the deal online.
The new process does away with the sellers’ part of the transaction. The buyer can decide when to look for the inventory and find it in Deals Discovery through a demand-side platform. The buyer can then proceed to conclude the deal online.
In the DOOH world, it is typical of the buyer to access only those online buying opportunities that they have discussed previously with the seller offline. The buyer can set the price and wrap the deal online. It is because the online buyers still need some education and guidance before proceeding online.
The self-service DOOH buyer now can initiate the deal without referring to the sellers and enter into an offline contract over the phone. According to Provenzano, the intention is not to eliminate the contribution of the sellers’ sales teams in any way. The new process aims to make the inventory more readily available to the self-service buyers. It also brings in the element of transparency to the entire proceedings.