The Rise of Retail Media Networks: A New Frontier for Advertisers

In 2025, one of the most powerful shifts in the advertising landscape is taking place not in social media or streaming video, but in the digital storefronts of the world’s biggest retailers. The emergence of Retail Media Networks, often shortened to RMNs, has created an entirely new frontier for advertisers. These networks blend the precision of e-commerce data with the persuasive power of media, allowing brands to reach shoppers at the very moment they are ready to buy.

What are Retail Media Networks

Retail Media Networks are digital advertising platforms owned by retailers that allow brands to place targeted ads within their retail ecosystems. This includes websites, mobile apps, email campaigns, loyalty programmes and in-store digital screens. The ads are fuelled by retailers’ first party data, which captures real purchasing behaviour rather than mere browsing activity.

By connecting advertising directly to retail data, these networks bridge the gap between awareness and conversion. An advert seen on a supermarket’s website or within a retailer’s app is placed in front of someone who is already in a buying mindset. For advertisers, this turns media exposure into measurable sales performance.

The evolution of retail media

The concept of retail media is not new. For decades, brands have paid for in-store placements, end caps, and featured listings on printed catalogues. What has changed is the digital transformation of this model. As e-commerce has grown and data collection has become more sophisticated, retailers now own rich databases of customer information that can power highly targeted digital campaigns.

Amazon pioneered this approach, transforming its platform into one of the largest advertising businesses in the world. Inspired by its success, other major retailers such as Tesco, Walmart, Target, Carrefour and Boots have launched their own retail media offerings. Today, nearly every major retailer sees advertising as both a revenue stream and a strategic advantage.

Why retail media is growing so fast

Several key factors explain why Retail Media Networks have exploded in popularity and investment.

The decline of third-party cookies
With increased data privacy regulations and the phase-out of third-party cookies, advertisers are losing access to traditional tracking tools. Retailers, however, own large volumes of authenticated first-party data from loyalty cards, online transactions and account logins. This gives them a privacy-safe advantage for audience targeting.

Performance accountability
Retail media provides measurable results. Brands can directly track how an advert influenced a sale, often in real time. This closed-loop measurement is more reliable than the impression-based metrics of other digital channels.

Proximity to purchase
The retail environment places the advert close to the point of sale. When a shopper sees an ad while browsing or checking out, the path from awareness to action is short. The intention to buy is already there, and the ad becomes the final nudge.

New revenue for retailers
Retailers are capitalising on the advertising opportunity within their digital platforms. Selling media space, powered by their own data, provides a high-margin income stream at a time when retail margins on goods are under pressure.

The power of first-party data

First-party data is at the heart of the retail media revolution. Retailers know what customers actually buy, how frequently they purchase, and what complementary products they tend to choose. This insight allows for extremely relevant and efficient targeting.

A coffee brand, for instance, can target people who have purchased biscuits but not coffee recently, or a skincare brand can reach frequent buyers of beauty items who have not yet purchased premium moisturisers. Because this data is drawn from verified sales, it is more accurate and actionable than the inferred interests used in many social or programmatic campaigns.

Retailers can also offer advertisers closed-loop reporting, showing exactly how campaigns drive online and offline sales. This transparency gives marketers the confidence to invest more heavily in retail media.

Creative and contextual possibilities

Retail media placements offer diverse creative opportunities. Brands can appear in sponsored listings, display banners, homepage features, product recommendation carousels, video units or in-store digital displays. The key to success lies in contextual relevance.

When an ad is shown next to related products or within a category that aligns with the shopper’s intent, it feels natural and useful. A cereal brand promoted alongside milk, for example, benefits from contextual reinforcement. Video ads within retailer sites and apps are also growing in popularity, allowing brands to tell richer stories within shoppable environments.

Retailers are increasingly investing in technology that allows dynamic creative optimisation. This means the message, design or call to action can adapt automatically based on factors such as user behaviour, time of day or basket contents. The result is advertising that feels timely and personalised without being invasive.

The measurement advantage

Retail media’s greatest strength is its ability to link ad exposure directly to purchase behaviour. Advertisers can track sales uplift, return on ad spend, and incremental conversions, providing a level of accountability that few other channels can match.

This precise measurement encourages test-and-learn campaigns where creative, targeting and placements are continuously refined based on performance. Because the entire journey from impression to purchase can be traced within one ecosystem, marketers can make data-driven decisions with confidence.

Challenges and growing complexity

Despite its promise, retail media is not without its challenges.

Fragmentation
Each retailer operates its own network, with unique formats, reporting systems and data standards. For brands that sell through multiple retailers, managing several RMNs can be complex and time-consuming.

Transparency and integration
Although retail media offers closed-loop measurement, connecting those insights to broader omnichannel performance remains difficult. Marketers want to understand how retail media complements social, search and television, but integration tools are still developing.

Creative constraints
Because retail media platforms often prioritise usability and product discovery, creative space can be limited. Balancing brand storytelling with performance-driven formats requires careful design and collaboration.

Competition and pricing
As retail media becomes more popular, ad inventory is becoming crowded and prices are rising. Brands must focus on efficiency, ensuring each placement delivers measurable return.

The broader role of retail media in marketing strategy

Retail media is becoming a core component of the modern marketing funnel. It sits at the intersection of branding and sales, bridging awareness, consideration and conversion.

For best results, marketers are integrating retail media with upper-funnel channels such as connected TV, digital video and social media. For example, a brand might use streaming ads to build awareness, then use retail media placements to reinforce the message when consumers shop online. This combined approach builds familiarity and drives measurable sales.

Retail media also enhances collaboration between sales and marketing teams. Historically, trade marketing and brand advertising were separate disciplines. With RMNs, these functions converge around shared performance goals.

The future of retail media

The next phase of retail media will see even deeper integration between retailers, agencies and technology providers. Standards for measurement and attribution are being developed to help advertisers compare performance across different networks.

Artificial intelligence will play a growing role in predicting purchase intent, optimising creative content, and automating campaign management. Retailers are also beginning to extend their data beyond their own platforms, partnering with publishers and streaming services to create off-site retail media opportunities powered by retail data.

As sustainability becomes a key focus across industries, retail media’s efficiency offers an advantage. By targeting consumers closer to conversion, it reduces wasted impressions and lowers the carbon footprint of digital campaigns.

Why it matters

Retail Media Networks represent more than just another advertising channel. They signal a shift in the balance of power within digital marketing. Retailers, once intermediaries between brands and consumers, are now becoming media owners in their own right. For advertisers, this means new opportunities but also new responsibilities: to design campaigns that are relevant, respectful and performance-driven.

For consumers, retail media promises more useful and timely advertising experiences. Instead of irrelevant messages interrupting their day, shoppers encounter information that helps them make better purchasing decisions.

For the industry, it marks the beginning of a more connected and transparent marketing ecosystem, where data, creativity and commerce work together seamlessly.

Conclusion

The rise of Retail Media Networks is reshaping the future of advertising. What began as an experimental opportunity within e-commerce platforms has become a mainstream strategy driving billions in revenue.

By combining trusted first-party data, contextual relevance and measurable outcomes, retail media offers a compelling proposition for both brands and retailers. As 2025 unfolds, retail media is no longer a trend to watch but a strategic priority to master.

The frontier of advertising has shifted to the digital aisles of the world’s retailers, and those who embrace it will lead the next era of marketing innovation.