#retail-media

#retail-media

Kantar's head of shopper and category insights says people still love stores, carts and the joy of finding something new, but discovery, conversion and delivery can now happen in a blink. "Someone can become acquainted with a brand, convert it and have it delivered to their house. That's... a subterfuge for classic path to purchase." In her view, the job for retailers and brands is to meet that reality, not pine for the old map.

Retail media has rapidly evolved into a key marketing channel. It is reshaping how brands connect with customers using data and insight, and in doing so, it has built a market now worth over £1bn in the UK alone. This growth hasn't happened by accident as, put simply, retail media can do what other channels can't - notably closing the loop on in-store sales.

Walking through the halls of DMEXCO this year, one thing was striking: DOOH was not just present, it was everywhere. Panels, research sessions, and discussions with agencies all pointed in the same direction, out-of-home has firmly entered the digital mainstream. Even major players such as Ströer and WallDecaux dedicated an entire DOOH Summit to share insights and underline the medium's growing importance.

"I think the biggest change is the lack of rigidity, which I think is a good thing in that sort of classic funnel marketers always like to talk about. What we're seeing, or have seen over the last few years, is that channels can play any role. And that's brilliant from a planning point of view, because it gives us creativity. It gives us flexibility to kind of do more interesting things, rather than the sort of classic broadcast-to-narrowcast targeting that we used to do."

You search for toothpaste online. While browsing a retailer's app or checking your email, you see an ad for toothpaste. After that, you return to the site and make the purchase. The retailer now knows what you browsed, what you bought, and which ad you saw before checking out. It connects your initial search, your ad exposure, and your final purchase. This insight is then packaged and sold to toothpaste suppliers. That is retail media in action.

IAB Europe, the leading European-level industry association for the digital advertising ecosystem, is delighted to announce that Albert Heijn has become the first retail media network (RMN) to be certified under the IAB Europe Retail Media Certification Programme. The certification follows the successful completion of a pilot audit conducted by ABC, one of the independent auditors participating in the programme.

A2Z Cust2Mate () Solutions announced a new milestone in its retail media journey through a advertising agreement with Toys "R" Us Israel and The Red Pirate, two leading toy retail chains. For the first time, these household names will connect directly with shoppers through Cust2Mate's smart carts-turning everyday grocery trips into interactive retail media experiences. The campaigns will run across up to 5,000 smart carts currently rolling out in Yochananof, delivering dynamic image, animation, and video ads designed to spark shopper engagement.

On this week's Modern Retail Podcast, senior reporter Melissa Daniels is joined by executive editor Anna Hensel. First, they discuss Affirm's new rollout with Apple Pay to provide its buy-now, pay-later services in-store. Then they unpack the trend of paper coupons making a comeback in some retail environments, with Kroger announcing it has been bringing back paper coupons to help appeal to value-minded shoppers or those who aren't comfortable with more digital savings programs.

Loredo is in an interesting position - by which I mean the "senior director of media" title. Loredo is a marketer. He spends Shipt's own budgets to attract new paying customers and larger order volumes. But there's also the revenue-generating retail media side of the business, called Shipt Media, which is the platform for retailers and products to promote themselves within the Shipt marketplace.

Retail media promises billions in new revenue, but for grocers, the real test is whether their data can deliver. By 2025, RMN revenue is projected to hit $176.9 billion globally, overtaking combined TV and streaming revenues and accounting for 15.9% of total ad spend ( GroupM, This Year Next Year 2024 ). For grocery retailers running on razor-thin margins, this feels like salvation.

We do believe that there's a lot of runway for opportunity here; we're going to continue to invest in the channels where we see the most growth - this is not going away,

The offering, Front Row Connection, is powered by Epsilon Retail Media and comes as the retail media network space continues to evolve and mature. Front Row Connection looks to put brands on the digital shelf of DSW's website to help them connect with consumers and grow loyalty. The network offers high-impact placements like sponsored product ads and banners - table stakes for retail media networks - and is designed for both consumer discoverability and marketing performance.

Now, artificial intelligence (AI) is emerging as both a tailwind and a potential risk for The Trade Desk. On the one hand, the company has invested heavily in AI to enhance its platform. On the other hand, AI-powered search and content shifts could shrink the very pool of ad inventory that The Trade Desk depends on. For investors, the key question is whether AI ultimately tilts toward being an opportunity or a threat.

There's rarely a dull moment in platform land but even by those standards, this year has been unusually turbulent. A new administration in Washington, rising competition, regulatory pressure and economic uncertainty have all collided to reshape the platform landscape. The Result is a new, more fragile equilibrium for the companies that once seemed untouchable.

We don't see retail media as just a shakedown of our suppliers to pad our margins so we can fund our attempts to compete with Amazon, Monahan said. All those dynamics are real, but the offer that we have is about driving collective growth, [including] category growth [and] real, incremental sales growth.

While retailers rush to launch new ad formats and in-store screens, brands have a simpler request: prove that their advertising works. With Circana's acquisition of Nielsen's Marketing Mix Modeling business in August and NCSolutions in June, the company is positioning itself as the independent arbiter retail media desperately needs. Leading this charge is Cara Pratt, just 90 days into her role as President of Global Retail and Media, who brings the unique perspective of having built Kroger's retail media network from the inside.

For full-year 2025, revenue is projected to rise +17.4% YoY, while EPS is expected to grow just +5.1% YoY, indicating limited operating leverage.

Brian Monahan has been appointed as the new head of Albertsons' retail media business, succeeding Kristi Argyilan. He previously led retail media strategy at Dentsu for nearly eight years.

The goal is to match Ocado's shopper data with the publishers' audience behavioral and contextual data to unlock more granular ad targeting for advertisers.

A multiphase holiday campaign recognizes that peak shopping periods aren't monolithic events. They are complex, multiphase journeys requiring distinct creative approaches.

CTV ad spending is projected to reach $33.35 billion this year, while retail media's 19.7% growth will be more than double the growth in overall digital ad spending.

Advertising executives say this new spin on retail media is the next logical step for companies building out ad businesses, such as Instacart and CVS.