Offsite retail media: how retail media networks can go beyond owned channels

Retail media is booming, but the next wave of growth won’t come from onsite ads alone. As retailers face inventory saturation and advertisers push for more scale, relying solely on owned digital properties is no longer enough. The future of retail media is shifting toward off-site retail media, where a retailer’s first-party data is used to deliver ads beyond its own website or app, across the open web, social platforms, connected TV, and programmatic display.

In this article, we’ll explore why off-site is becoming the next big growth trend for Retail Media Networks (RMNs), the benefits it offers retailers and advertisers, and how data clean rooms enable this shift securely.

Before we begin, here is a quick overview of on-site vs off-site retail media:

• On-site retail media refers to ads that appear on a retailer’s own digital properties, such as its website or app.
• Off-site retail media utilizes first-party data to deliver ads across external platforms, including the open web, social media platforms, and connected TV.

Why RMNs need to extend beyond owned & operated

RMNs are projected to capture a growing share of global ad spend, but the growth engine that powered the early boom — onsite retail media — is beginning to slow. 

According to eMarketer, off-site retail media ad spend is expected to grow at twice the rate of on-site ad spend through 2026. This widening gap underscores the limits of owned and operated inventory.

Advertisers are consolidating their budgets with a handful of giants, such as Amazon and Walmart, leaving smaller retailers struggling to scale their advertising offers and attract new brands. While on-site placements remain profitable, they cannot deliver the scale, flexibility, or full-funnel impact advertisers now expect.

The opportunity lies in off-site retail media, where retailer data can be activated across the customer journey to unlock new revenue, reach potential customers where they’re already browsing, and strengthen competitiveness in a fast-changing advertising landscape.

The benefits of off-site retail media for RMNs

Once retailers recognize the limits of owned and operated channels, the next question is clear: what does off-site retail media actually deliver? For RMNs, the answer lies in growth, differentiation, and new ways to monetize their most valuable asset: first-party data.

Scale new audiences 

O&O datasets only go so far. Smaller retailers in particular struggle to match the audience reach of giants like Amazon or Walmart. By extending campaigns to the open web, social platforms, and connected TV, RMNs can dramatically expand the pool of potential customers. 

As the old saying goes, marketing is a numbers game — and off-site allows retailers to play at scale. Off-site also enables advanced tactics, such as exclusion targeting, where existing customers can be removed from campaigns so that new audiences are prioritized. This makes off-site not only about bigger numbers, but also more intelligent targeting.

Meet shoppers where they are

Consumers spend far more time on external platforms than on any single retailer’s website. In a world where screens dominate consumer consciousness, off-site activation makes it possible to follow the timeless principle: go where your audience is. 

Whether it’s reaching shoppers while they scroll their social feeds, watch streaming content, or browse unrelated sites, off-site ensures retailers stay present throughout the customer journey.

Differentiate in a crowded market

With the rapid rise of retail media, many networks risk looking interchangeable if they only offer on-site media placements. Off-site strategies give retailers a way to stand out, demonstrate broader targeting capabilities, and secure a larger slice of advertiser budgets.

Unlock top-funnel budgets

On-site retail media excels at driving bottom-funnel sales, but it often misses the chance to build awareness or influence shoppers earlier. Off-site expands the funnel, giving advertisers opportunities to invest in upper-funnel campaigns while still benefiting from closed-loop attribution powered by retailer data. The result is stronger engagement and improved conversion rates.

Tap into non-endemic advertisers

One of the most potent advantages of off-site is that it opens up new categories of spend. Brands that don’t sell in-store can still use retailer data to target audiences programmatically, creating entirely new revenue streams for RMNs.

Balance profitability with growth

According to RetailDive, on-site placements may deliver higher margins (generally 80–90%), while off-site campaigns typically range from 20–40%. Yet the trade-off is scale and long-term growth. For RMNs, expanding into off-site is less about replacing on-site and more about complementing it to capture the full opportunity.

For retailers, the message is clear: off-site retail media is not just an add-on, it’s the growth engine that keeps networks competitive in a maturing market.

We delve deeper into retail data monetization here.

Data clean rooms enable off-site media capabilities

The benefits of off-site retail media are clear; the next challenge is execution. Taking campaigns beyond a retailer’s owned and operated properties requires collaborating on first-party data across multiple parties — typically the retailer, the brand, and a publisher or platform. While the opportunity is vast, the risks are just as real.

The challenge of going offsite

Data sharing and/or collaboration introduce privacy and compliance concerns. Advertisers and retailers alike should be highly cautious of exposing personally identifiable information (PII), especially in a world where consumer expectations around privacy are rising and regulatory scrutiny is tightening.

At the same time, attribution becomes more complex when it occurs off-site. On-site campaigns benefit from closed-loop measurement, as retailers can easily connect impressions to purchases made in their own stores or on their websites. Off-site introduces signal loss. Connecting an ad shown on CTV or the open web to a sale, either in-store or online, requires reconciling disparate datasets. Advertisers want proof of ROI, but without secure collaboration, it’s challenging to connect the dots between exposure and outcome.

Data clean rooms as the solution

A secure data clean room (DCR), such as Decentriq, should enable multiple parties to collaborate securely by encrypting and matching their first-party datasets without exposing raw information. Each participant retains full control of their data, yet can still unlock shared insights that make off-site retail media possible. 

Key advantages of using Decentriq’s data clean rooms include:

• Secure collaboration: Retailers, brands, and publishers can combine data without ever revealing sensitive information.
  
  
• Data control: Decentriq’s architecture ensures data cannot be shared or exposed. All information remains encrypted throughout collaboration, removing the need for trust-based controls and eliminating the risks associated with traditional data handoffs.
  
  
• Unified measurement: By linking impressions across CTV, programmatic display, and social platforms to outcomes like online sales or in-store visits, Decentriq’s DCRs can help restore the attribution that advertisers demand.

How it works in practice

Consider a sporting goods retailer launching a maternity activewear line. With a small on-site dataset, its reach is limited. By working in a DCR with a brand and a publisher, it can use exclusion targeting to focus on new audiences. Ads are then activated through CTV, reaching shoppers already engaged with relevant content.

We delve deeper into how DCRs maximize ROI in retail media and CTV here. 

Or take a remarketing scenario: after an off-site campaign drives web traffic, the retailer, brand, and publisher re-enter their datasets into a DCR. Matching data securely, they identify audiences who interacted with the ad or visited the site. Those segments can then be activated across search results, social platforms, or display to drive purchases, boosting conversion rates and incremental sales.

Proof points and accessibility

Major retailers, such as Amazon, pioneered in-house DCRs long before the decline of third-party cookies. But today, on-demand solutions make this capability accessible to smaller RMNs as well, leveling the playing field and providing them with the same (or in some cases even better, due to their independent nature) secure collaboration tools as the industry’s biggest players. 

Data clean room providers such as Decentriq go even further, offering DCRs where neither the clean room provider nor the underlying cloud platform has access to the data. This ensures maximum privacy and security while still unlocking the benefits of collaboration.

The path forward for retail media networks

Not every RMN is ready to go all-in on off-site from day one. The good news is they don’t have to. 

For those just beginning, the path can start simply: extend existing campaigns off-site using familiar workflows, then scale up with a data clean room to maximize impact. This makes the transition manageable while still laying the foundation for future growth.

To stay ahead in a maturing market, RMNs should prioritize three practical steps:

1. Double down on first-party data collection: The stronger and more complete your dataset, the more precise your targeting and the more reliable your measurement will be. As advertisers demand transparency and performance, robust first-party data becomes the cornerstone of competitive advantage.
   
   
2. Partner with trusted DCR providers: Not all data clean rooms are created equal. Choosing the right provider ensures that sensitive customer data remains protected, that all parties retain control of their datasets, and that campaign attribution extends seamlessly across off-site channels. We compare today’s top data clean room providers here.
   
   
3. Position off-site as a full-funnel play: Off-site retail media doesn’t just extend reach, it enables advertisers to engage shoppers at every stage of the customer journey, from awareness to conversion. By framing off-site as a holistic strategy, RMNs can unlock budgets that O&O placements alone would never access.
   

Power your off-site retail media with Decentriq

Looking to unlock the full potential of your retail media network? Decentriq’s retail data clean room solution is the only solution that enables retailers to activate first-party data on both walled gardens and the premium web — including CTV — in a single, easy-to-use platform. Request a demo to see how we can help power your off-site retail media strategy.