Alexia Nakad, Group Managing Director – APAC, LATAM and MENA, LiveRamp – explains how retail and commerce media isn’t just for the big players, smaller retailers can also play int eh space… they just need a subtle shift in thinking
Over the past decade, rapid digital innovation has transformed retail advertising and ecommerce, but one trend stands above the rest: the meteoric rise of retail media and retail media networks (RMNs).
Retailers sit on a wealth of first-party data gathered from the long-standing relationships they have with their customers. Harnessing this data, RMNs empower brands to deliver personalised ads across a variety of properties, such as across a retailer’s digital footprint, physical properties and even beyond to offsite media inventory such as Meta, TikTok, Pinterest, and more. This approach reaches shoppers at crucial moments in their buying journey, increasing the likelihood of conversion.
RMNs also offer closed-loop measurement that can track performance against sales across channels, alongside real-time insights for optimised marketing experiences and strengthened customer relationships.
The retail – and commerce – media boom
Commerce media and, in particular, retail media has created an opportunity for many retailers to drive incremental revenue at higher margins through the monetisation of their data and media assets. In fact, the global market is expected to reach $179 billion in 2025, and retail media ad spend in the UK is projected to be over £4 billion this year.
Beyond marketplace giants like Amazon, Tesco, and Boots, specialty retailers—particularly in luxury and beauty—are now leveraging their loyalty-based data to drive ad revenue. Even non-traditional players in finance, hospitality, automotive, and travel are joining in as new commerce media networks enter the market at a steady rate.
Alongside the search for new revenue streams and technological advances, the explosion of retail media is partly a result of the erosion of traditional digital identifiers like third-party cookies, as well as the need for greater transparency and measurability around media spend.
As first-party data becomes increasingly valuable for delivering relevant marketing experiences, retail media giants like Amazon and Tesco stand out to advertisers due to their vast and high-quality data assets. Indeed, the latter’s first-party data proposition has been built through its long-standing loyalty scheme, the Tesco Clubcard, which recently celebrated its 30th birthday.
Of course, not all retailers have the same amount of first-party data or operational capabilities. Smaller retailers considering their own RMN may hesitate, unsure where to start or whether they’ve already missed the party. However, this is far from the case. With the right combination of stakeholder buy-in, a simplified go-to-market strategy (powered by scalable technology), and collaboration with high-value, trusted partners, retailers of all sizes can unlock value in their own media networks and tap into this booming phenomenon.
How smaller players can join the retail media party
The first step is to ensure strategic alignment across their teams. Establishing a media network requires a shift in thinking and approaching the new reality of being a media owner, i.e., having the mindset of a media owner (e.g. publisher) as well as a retailer. This means being clear on the outcomes they aim to deliver for advertisers. Key stakeholders from across the C-suite, including CIOs, CTOs, CMOs, and CEOs, must be actively involved in shaping this strategy and structuring internal and agency teams accordingly.
By focusing on insight-rich audience activation, full customer journey attribution and measurement, this approach sets a solid foundation for retail media networks to build. This means considering all the assets they can bring to the market, including their data, customer insights, unique audiences, and on- and off-site media capabilities. Retailers must ensure these assets are adequately integrated and ready for brands to use in a privacy-centric way for seamless execution.
High-value technology and collaboration
Although modern retailers with e-commerce and app offerings are likely to have digital expertise, they should assess whether they need to develop additional skills in-house—especially in data science and analytics—to maximise their assets’ retail media potential.
Fortunately, new technology and expanding knowledge across the industry have lowered the barriers to monetisation. In particular, enterprise identity technology, data clean rooms, and third-party data analysis firms have significantly lowered costs and reduced the time needed to audit permissioned data, test, and deploy it. This has helped retailers regain control of their data and realise its value for insight, activation, and validation.
This technology is also propelling advanced measurement use cases, offering brands added value through cross-channel activation, including in Connected TV environments, and holistic reporting of return on spend across both physical and digital environments. More and more brands are seeking RMNs that can provide this in-store and online transparency, such as Boots’ recently launched omnichannel capabilities. Retailers should strike agreements with high-value, trusted partners and platforms with these technical capabilities, especially those that can support them through the next stage of retail media’s development and customise strategies to their objectives.
Indeed, effective retail media strategies rely on strong partnerships and omnichannel engagement, reaching consumers where they are. Part of the journey is experimenting with what works and what doesn’t. However, with the right infrastructure that incorporates capabilities that simplify go-to-market through scalable technology and operational alignment, smaller retailers can break into the retail media space once considered purely the realm of the major players, strengthening their first-party data and unlocking monetisation opportunities.
Retail media is still developing, meaning the opportunity to join the party is far from over. By tapping into proven infrastructure and embracing data-driven insights, retailers and brands can navigate the complexities of retail media and drive sustained growth.
Author
Alexia Nakad is Group Managing Director – APAC, LATAM and MENA – at LiveRamp
