The Evolving Landscape of Retail Media: What Senior Marketers Need to Know
Amazon didn’t just change how we shop—it redefined the expectations of convenience, personalization, and immediacy. In a world where virtually anything can be delivered with a few taps, retailers and marketers are racing to adapt.
We now sit at a complex crossroads: how do we drive measurable e-commerce growth while still drawing consumers into brick-and-mortar locations where the majority of purchases still happen?
The stakes are high. The media landscape is shifting beneath our feet—and for senior marketers, knowing where to place your next bet is more critical than ever.
What is Retail Media?
Retail media encompasses advertising that runs on, or is informed by, a retailer’s owned properties and first-party data. That includes everything from on-site placements like sponsored products on Amazon, Walmart, and Instacart, to off-site display ads, connected TV (CTV), and social media campaigns powered by shopping behaviour data.
Think of it as performance marketing 2.0—only this time, the platforms are owned by the retailers themselves, and the targeting is built on real purchase behaviour, not just browsing habits.
The Expanding Toolbox: Retail Media Formats
Today’s retail media mix is anything but one-dimensional. Brands have access to an increasingly sophisticated set of tools:
- Onsite Placements: Sponsored listings, product carousels, homepage banners, and dynamically personalized content powered by search and purchase behaviour.
- Offsite Extensions: CTV, programmatic display, social ads, and even audio—targeted using rich shopper insights drawn from retailer data.
- In-Store Audio & Visual: Dynamic, location-specific messaging through platforms like Stingray—turning stores into addressable media environments.
- Interactive Digital Aisles: Real-time promotions delivered via touchscreen displays and smart shelving.
- Programmatic Retail DSPs: The Trade Desk and others now offer broad category-level targeting that bridges online and offline journeys.
- Dynamic Creative Optimization (DCO): Real-time message tailoring that adapts to shopper profiles, context, and behaviour.
- Livestream Shopping: Platforms like TikTok and Instagram blur the line between media and storefront, offering influencers and brands a stage to entertain, educate, and convert.
- POS and Spend Data: With data from providers like Moneris (via Connected Interactive), marketers can map real purchase behaviour to geography, tailoring campaigns to where their best customers actually live and buy.
One Size Doesn’t Fit All—And Never Has
Retail media doesn’t operate in a vacuum. It intersects with macroeconomic forces, evolving shopper mindsets, generational values, and even cultural fatigue.
Trends shift fast: automation and self-checkout promised efficiency, but many retailers learned the hard way that frictionless doesn’t always mean satisfying.
Some products don’t naturally lend themselves to impulse or digital-first strategies—whether due to complexity, price sensitivity, or emotional investment.
Layer on:
- Generational preferences and media consumption habits
- Value-based shopping, ethics, and sustainability concerns
- Changing definitions of convenience and trust
And it becomes clear: there’s no one-size-fits-all playbook. What drives results is a calibrated, context-aware strategy rooted in understanding your product, your customer, and the moments that matter most.
Retail Media Is Booming—But Is It Right for Every Product?
Retail media spending is surging—but success is not guaranteed. Some brands see incredible returns, while others burn through budget with little to show for it. The reason? Not all products are retail media–ready, and not all brands are built for the bottom of the funnel.
What drives success? A combination of:
- Category dynamics (e.g. price sensitivity, brand loyalty)
- Brand maturity and awareness
- Shopper behaviour in that category
- Trial barriers (cost, format, perceived risk)
The Channel Gap: Ad Spend vs. Sales Reality
Here’s a statistic worth pausing on: 83% of total retail sales still happen in physical stores—and that number climbs even higher (to 86%) for consumer packaged goods (CPG)【eMarketer】.
Yet in 2025, U.S. CPG brands are forecasted to spend over $62 billion on retail media tied to e-commerce… while just $50 billion is allocated across traditional digital, most of which still leans toward online outcomes. That means only about 45% of ad dollars are targeting the in-store shopper—despite representing the lion’s share of revenue.
The disconnect is clear. And while some of it stems from the pay-to-play nature of shelf space (i.e. required spend on retailer platforms), senior marketers must push beyond check-the-box tactics. This is about strategic allocation—not just meeting retailer obligations.
A Tale of Two Brands
Let’s explore two real-world cases that highlight how strategy—and context—can make or break a retail media investment.
Case 1: Freeze-Dried Dog Food Launch
A new premium-priced dog food brand attempted to build its footprint via bottom-funnel retail media. With no brand awareness, they relied heavily on onsite tactics—sponsored placements and banners on key platforms.
Result: Sub-1.0 Return on Ad Spend (RoAS). The campaign failed to recoup costs.
Why it missed the mark:
- No awareness layer: Shoppers had no familiarity or trust in the brand.
- Price shock: Double the price of traditional dog food, with no education to justify the delta.
- Product risk: Switching dog food can affect pet health. With no prior knowledge or value proposition, dog owners were unlikely to take a chance.
The Learning: New brands can’t skip the top of the funnel. Education and trust-building are essential, especially for high-consideration products. Retail media is not a magic bullet—it’s a performance amplifier, not a brand substitute.
Case 2: Heritage Tea Brand Flavour Launch
An established tea company launched new SKUs with a brief national awareness campaign, followed by a retail media burst across sponsored placements and promotions.
Result: Over 8x RoAS on retail media.
Why it worked:
- Brand equity was already in place.
- Low trial risk: Tea is affordable, and flavour variety encourages experimentation.
- Simple story: No need to over-educate or convince—just promote.
The Learning: In high-turn, low-barrier categories, retail media shines brightest when layered atop existing trust and interest.
Takeaways for Senior Marketers
- To win in the evolving retail media space, strategy must be as nuanced as the customer journey itself.
- Tailor your media mix to your product lifecycle and category norms.
- Balance onsite, offsite, and in-store tactics—don’t let one dominate without reason.
- Build brand trust before expecting conversion—especially for newer or premium products.