For several years now the term “retail media” has been buzzing around both retail and media circles. Whether you’re looking for a deeper understanding of the implications and applications of retail media or need a down-and-dirty explainer on what retail media actually is, you’ve landed in the right place.
This special Retail TouchPoints resource hub will be regularly updated with the latest news, stats, trends and developments in retail media. Read on to learn:
What is retail media?
What is a retail media network?
Retail media vs. Commerce media
Why is there so much excitement about retail media?
Why is retail media growing so fast?
Why are so many retailers launching retail media networks?
Top Retail Media Networks
Top Retail Media Service Providers
Types of Retail Media
Onsite vs Off-site Retail Media
The New Arena: In-Store Retail Media
This page was last updated on April 8, 2025
What is retail media?
Retail media is when a retailer offers advertising capabilities and services, similar to what media outlets such as publishers and television networks have done for years.
Image courtesy Albertsons Media CollectiveRetail media ads can offer run the gamut from “on-site” advertising opportunities — such as ads and videos on its own website, app or even in its physical stores (an Amazon Sponsored Product ad is the most basic example of this) — to what is typically referred to as “off-site advertising.” Off site advertising is when a retailer lets advertisers leverage its first party data to reach customers on third-party channels like social media or other websites it doesn’t own (“retargeting” is a common example of this).
Off-site retail media is typically more complex than on-site and is therefore something that only the more mature retail media networks offer at this stage. For more on off-site retail media advertising, skip ahead to this section.
In addition to advertising opportunities, many of the more sophisticated retail media networks also offer services for the brands that advertise with them, which can include data analytics, self-serve advertising platforms, campaign management assistance and more.
- Related reading: Best Buy Launches Automated Solution for Social Advertising Partners
- Related reading: Instacart Enables Off-Site Shopping Ads in New Partnership with Google
What is a retail media network?
The terms “retail media” and “retail media network” are often used interchangeably, and for all intents and purposes they are essentially the same thing.
Retail media is the broader term used to describe the concept of retailers using their systems, infrastructure (like a retailer’s ecommerce site and/or its stores), data and access to shoppers to help advertisers reach consumers. A retail media network is the actual platform that retailers put in place to do this. Examples of retail media networks include Amazon Advertising, Walmart Connect, Target’s Roundel, Kroger Precision Marketing and Best Buy’s Retail Media+.
Retail Media vs. Commerce Media
Another term often used interchangeably with “retail media” is “commerce media.” While they are essentially the same thing, many industry experts believe the term “commerce media” offers a more accurate definition of what these new advertising platforms are able to do.
Especially as offerings like social commerce (where consumers can buy products directly on social media) and in-game purchasing (as consumers increasingly do in gaming and metaverse environments) take off, some feel the term “commerce” more accurately describes the full scope of retail media capabilities. This is because, in these and other instances, while a campaign may be based on retailer’s data and functionalities, the actual consumer connection, and even the transaction, takes place in a non-traditional commerce environment. Therefore, “commerce” is a more encompassing term to describe this new set of advertising capabilities.
Non-Retailers Launching Retail Media Advertising
The term commerce also is broad enough to encompass new media offerings from consumer-focused companies that are not traditional retailers.
Image courtesy ChaseOne vocal advocate of the shift from “retail” to “commerce” is Forrester analyst Sucharita Kodali, who said on LinkedIn: “It’s time to stop calling it ‘retail media’ and start saying ‘commerce media.’” The story that prompted this statement from Kodali was a news item about Uber and Lyft (two non-retailers) making big gains with their media efforts. Other non-retailers that have recently joined the retail media ecosystem include Chase Bank and Expedia.
While both terms are currently being used, “retail media” remains the prevailing descriptor for these media channels, much to the chagrin of some: “I don’t like the term ‘retail media networks,’” Michael Schuh, VP of Media Strategy and Product at Kroger’s retail media network, Kroger Precision Marketing. “It makes it seem like we’re this separate thing, when in reality we’re just a media company within a retailer. I think there should be and there will be this movement toward thinking of retailers as just another media company and another investment lever for brands.”
- Related Reading: Grubhub Joins the Commerce Media Club
- Related Reading: How United Airlines’ Media Network Helped Univision Engage with Spanish-Speaking Travelers
- Related News: Best Buy Partners with Content-rich CNET to Share Ads and Expertise
Why is there so much excitement about retail media?
The explosion of retail media has been so seismic that Insider Intelligence has crowned it the “third big wave of digital advertising” (search advertising and social media advertising were the first two). And The Mars Agency recently declared: “Retail media is now almost universally recognized as one of the most effective methods of commerce marketing.”
Not only does retail media allow retailers to access untapped revenue from their existing channels and first party data, but it has arrived at a moment of great disruption in the world of marketing. Traditional TV viewership continues to decline at the same time that the third party cookies marketers have become reliant on to effectively target their digital campaigns are going by the wayside.
The Benefit of Retail Media Advertising Campaigns
Enter retail media, an entirely new advertising channel that offers the benefit of rich first-party consumer data from retailers, a viewership with high purchase intent (a.k.a. shoppers) and a direct connection to the actual end transaction.
In 2022, global retail media revenue reached $101 billion, according to GroupM. That figure represents 18% of all global digital advertising and 11% of all advertising. In the U.S. alone in 2023, Insider Intelligence projects that retail media spending will reach $45 billion.
And those numbers will only grow, with Group M predicting that retail media advertising will increase 60% by 2027, exceeding the expected growth for all digital advertising. Emarketer estimates that retail media ads will bring in $106 billion in U.S. ad spending by 2027.