In the first part of this article, I wrote about how SPAR Slovenia placed the SPAR Plus loyalty program and first-party customer data at the heart of its media strategy, enabling the expansion of personalized offers to more than one million user profiles. In this instalment, I will explain why SPAR Slovenia decided to build its own advertising infrastructure and which technological solutions enable real-time micro-segmentation and personalization.
Tailormade: The advertising architecture of the future
SPAR Slovenia’s breakthrough was not just about implementing a new technology or launching a new platform, it was about adopting a different mindset. In most advertising platforms, the audience-targeting process remains hidden within the system, leaving advertisers with little direct control over who is selected as the target group and why. In our case, that decision-making power has shifted to the advertiser: SPAR Slovenia independently defines which users (i.e., user IDs) it wants to address, thereby maintaining full control over its advertising.
Instead of following the traditional approach, where each advertising campaign operates in isolation, SPAR Slovenia has developed a comprehensive, data-driven architecture that allows for flexible and personalized advertising. At its core lies a smart data hub that collects and integrates data from all SPAR touchpoints – physical stores, the online shop, websites, and email communication. This hub goes beyond the limitations of conventional CRM systems by continuously updating user profiles based on real behaviour and using artificial intelligence to classify data, recognize patterns, and predict future purchase paths.
The platform, initially designed to strengthen loyalty, has evolved into a growth engine, actively creating opportunities to build new customer relationships. A key element here is the use of first-party data, collected and protected through the iPROM Private DMP platform, which ensures the security of SPAR Slovenia’s proprietary data while reinforcing both data independence and competitive advantage.
Artificial intelligence for expanding personalized reach to over one million user profiles
In cooperation with iPROM, SPAR Slovenia is enhancing its personalized offering with an independent advertising ecosystem, built on iPROM’s advertising infrastructure.
Based on SPAR Plus card data, the system generates a customized Tailormade offer for each user. These offers are then extended to similar users (look-alike segments), divided into two groups: the first includes users who have already visited SPAR Slovenia’s websites (approximately 50% behavioural similarity), while the second includes users who have not yet visited the websites (approximately 85% behavioural similarity). This approach allows SPAR Slovenia to expand the reach of personalized communication across the Slovenian online population independently of external platforms and without relying on third-party data.
The use of artificial intelligence for micro-segmentation, personalization, and reach expansion
Artificial intelligence plays a key role in the targeting and personalization process, addressing three interconnected areas within the ecosystem:
- Micro-segmentation – Users are grouped not only by gender, age, or location but by real behavioural patterns: what they search for, when they shop, and which content they engage with.
- Automated real-time ad creation – Based on each user’s current behaviour, the system automatically generates personalized ad messages – including text, visuals, and calls to action – and delivers them through the right channel at the right moment.
- Look-alike modelling – AI extends reach to new users whose behaviour resembles that of existing loyal customers. In this way, SPAR Slovenia strategically addresses new audiences based on its own expertise, verified behavioural patterns, and data models, without relying on external providers.
The results: more relevant content, more efficient media buying, and happier users
The benefits of this system go beyond brand perception and improved user experience – they translate into better business performance. After just three months of continuous advertising, alignment between content and user interests improved by more than 85%. The click-through rate (CTR) rose by 45%, while the number of unresponsive impressions dropped by a third, as detailed in the case study.
With the Tailormade project, SPAR Slovenia is building a new advertising paradigm based on customer insight, personalization, and respect for consumer attention.