What is retail media? A guide for retailers and brands

Retail media refers to advertising that uses a retailer’s first-party data to reach consumers across both owned and third-party channels — including websites, mobile apps, loyalty programs, in-store displays, and external platforms like social media and connected TV.

It allows brands to connect with high-intent audiences throughout the purchase journey, whether at the point of sale or beyond — using retailer-sourced insights to improve relevance, precision, and performance.

As third-party identifiers become less reliable and digital ad spend shifts closer to commerce, retail media has emerged as one of the most important developments in the advertising ecosystem. Retailers are building new revenue streams by acting as media owners, while brands gain access to closed-loop measurement and more precise targeting across digital and physical retail environments.

However, unlocking this value depends on more than just ad inventory. It requires trusted data collaboration between retailers and their brand partners — collaboration that respects privacy, security, and compliance from the ground up.

In this article, we explore what retail media is, how it’s evolving, and how privacy-enhancing technologies (PETs) like data clean rooms can help retailers and brands activate first-party data safely and effectively.

Why retail media is booming

Retail media is fast becoming one of the most important shifts in digital advertising since the rise of search and social media. As traditional identifiers like third-party cookies decay and ecommerce continues to grow, brands are looking for new ways to reach consumers in more meaningful, measurable ways without reliance on cookies. Retail media delivers on both.

According to recent forecasts by WARC, global retail media ad spend is expected to surpass $170 billion in 2025, accounting for 15% of all global ad spend. This surge is being driven by several converging trends:

• The decay in third-party cookie quality has made it harder for brands to track and target users across the open web. Retailers, by contrast, have access to rich, opted-in first-party data based on real shopping behavior and purchase intent.

• The growth of ecommerce sales and omnichannel shopping has turned retailer platforms into high-traffic digital destinations, ideal environments for delivering timely, relevant ads.

• TV ad spend and broader marketing budgets are shifting toward more accountable, closed-loop platforms. Retail media offers performance marketers a direct correlation between ad exposure and sales.

For retailers, it creates a new revenue stream with higher margins than traditional product sales, turning them into media owners with serious commercial influence.

As a result, the retail media industry is expanding beyond its early adopters like Amazon and Walmart. Grocery chains, electronics retailers, pharmacies, and even travel platforms are now offering advertising capabilities to brand partners through retail media networks and technology platforms.

As more platforms open up to brands, advertisers are looking for smarter ways to optimize campaign performance using shopper behavior while maintaining privacy. Explore strategies for smarter, privacy-first optimization.

Retail media’s rise reflects a broader transformation of the retail environment, one where commerce, data, and media converge to deliver more personalized, measurable, and privacy-conscious experiences.

The retail media ecosystem

Retail media sits at the intersection of retailers, brands, consumers, and a growing array of data and media partners. Understanding the retail media ecosystem is key to unlocking its full value.

At the centre are retailers, who now act as both publishers and data owners. Through retail media networks, they offer brands access to their digital channels, including websites, apps, loyalty programs, and even in-store displays, while supplying rich first-party data tied to real-world purchase behaviour.

Brands, in turn, use these insights to run targeted advertising campaigns across the retailer’s owned and operated properties — and increasingly, across third-party channels. 

In some cases, the collaboration focuses not on media placements, but on unlocking new customer insights the brand can’t access on its own. These insights can then power off-site campaigns across social, video, and programmatic platforms — all informed by real purchase behaviour.

By tapping into the retailer’s audience, they can deliver more relevant messaging to shoppers who are already in a buying mindset, whether online or in-store.

Surrounding this relationship are media owners, advertising platforms, and technology providers that enable campaign activation, measurement, and compliance. These include:

• Demand-side platforms (DSPs)
• Data clean rooms
• Privacy-enhancing technologies (PETs)

Finally, consumers are the ultimate beneficiaries of well-executed retail media programs. When done right, these campaigns enhance the shopping experience with relevant, timely content — not intrusive ads — and help create a more transparent, value-driven exchange of data.

In short, the retail and commerce media landscape is becoming more complex but also more collaborative. Retailers and brands that invest in the right tools and partnerships are better positioned to thrive in this evolving environment.

Retail media networks (RMNs): What are they?

A retail media network is a platform created by a retailer that allows brands to advertise across the retailer’s own digital and physical properties using the retailer’s first-party data to target high-intent audiences.

In simple terms, it transforms a retailer into a media company, monetizing their digital shelf space, apps, loyalty programs, and even in-store digital screens. RMNs are central to the retail media landscape because they offer both scale and closed-loop attribution in a post-cookie world.

What does an RMN typically offer?

A mature retail media network usually includes:

• Advertising inventory across the retailer’s site, app, and physical stores
• First-party retailer data for targeted campaigns
• Self-serve or managed service ad buying tools
• Reporting and analytics with sales attribution

Some RMNs even extend to off-site retail media, allowing brands to reach consumers across social media networks, connected TV platforms, or third-party sites using retailer data.

Notable examples of RMNs:

• Amazon Ads – the category leader, with on-site search ads, display, video, and DSP access
• Walmart Connect – combining in-store, online, and off-site placements
• Target Roundel, Tesco Media, Carrefour Links, and Albertsons Media Collective are also expanding their offerings rapidly

What makes these platforms powerful is their direct connection to purchase data. Brands can see exactly how their retail media ads impact sales data and shopper behaviour — a level of accountability still rare in many media channels.

As the retail media industry matures, more retailers are launching RMNs, from grocery and electronics to travel and pharmacy, all seeking to create incremental revenue through ad monetisation.

Many of these retailers are still building the infrastructure, alignment, and maturity required to monetize data at scale. This article breaks down those challenges and how to overcome them.

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Planning or scaling a retail media network?

Download your guide to building a Retail Media Network to learn:

• The pros and cons of building vs. buying your RMN tech stack
  
  
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• What clean data collaboration looks like (and why it matters)
  
  
• How to bake in privacy-safe measurement from day one

This free guide is ideal for retailers ready to launch or level up their RMN strategy.

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Types of retail media

Retail media spans far beyond banner ads on a homepage. Today’s programs reach consumers across multiple environments, from product pages and loyalty apps to social networks and in-store displays. These touchpoints fall into three main categories: on-site, off-site, and in-store retail media.

1. On-site retail media

This is the most recognisable format. It includes ads that appear directly on a retailer’s owned digital properties, such as their website or mobile app.

Common placements include:

• Sponsored products in search results
• Banner or carousel ads on category pages
• Dynamic ads on product detail pages (PDPs)
• Targeted offers within loyalty dashboards or checkout flows

Because the retailer controls both the inventory and the first-party data, on-site campaigns can be finely targeted and measured, driving a direct correlation between exposure and conversion.

2. Off-site retail media

Off-site campaigns use retailer data to target consumers outside the retailer’s ecosystem across third-party channels like:

• Social media networks (e.g., Meta, TikTok, Snapchat)
• Connected TV platforms (e.g. Hulu, Roku)
• Open web display/video inventory (via programmatic platforms)

Here, the retailer acts as a data provider, allowing brands to reach relevant audiences beyond their store, while still benefiting from the precision of retailer-owned first-party data.

This extension into off-site environments is what blurs the lines between retail media and commerce media, as retailers begin to play a more active role in shaping the broader digital advertising landscape.

3. In-store retail media

With digital transformation extending into physical locations, in-store retail media is now a fast-evolving opportunity, especially in grocery and big-box retail.

Examples include:

• Digital screens at the entrance, end caps, or shelf edges
• Audio ads over in-store radio systems
• Interactive displays or smart cart integrations
• QR codes or NFC-triggered experiences

In-store campaigns help brands maintain continuity between digital and physical experiences. And with the right data infrastructure in place, retailers can deliver targeted ads even in brick-and-mortar settings, informed by shopper marketing insights and purchase data.

Common retail media ad formats

Retail media encompasses a diverse range of ad formats tailored to where shoppers are in their journey, and the environment in which the ad appears.

Here are some of the most common formats used across retail media networks:

1. Sponsored products

• Appear within search results and product listing pages
• Typically look like organic listings but are paid placements
• Ideal for driving visibility and conversions at the point of decision

2. Display and banner ads

• Visual placements on homepages, category pages, and PDPs
• Can be static or dynamic ads personalized using shopper data
• Useful for driving upper-funnel awareness and engagement

3. Video ads

• Shown on retailer sites, apps, or off-site channels (e.g., connected TV)
• Help introduce new products or build brand storytelling
• Often paired with sales data to measure impact

4. In-store formats

• Digital shelf screens, entrance displays, and audio ads
• Connect digital strategy with the physical store environment

These formats can appear across on-site, off-site, and in-store retail media programs, often powered by the same first-party data sets for targeting and campaign performance tracking.

The key advantage of retail media formats is their proximity to purchase, making them highly effective for advertising purposes with measurable ROI.

How retail media campaigns are bought and sold

One of the defining features of the retail media landscape is the variety of ways in which brands can plan, activate, and optimize their campaigns. Unlike traditional digital advertising, retail media combines commerce, data, and media access — and the mechanics of buying reflect that complexity.

Buying paths in retail media

Brands typically have three main options for activating campaigns:

Direct-sold placements

Retailers work with brand partners to book premium inventory, such as homepage takeovers or custom in-store activations, via dedicated account teams.

Self-service platforms

Many retail media networks now offer portals where advertisers can independently launch and manage campaigns, access retailer data, and monitor campaign performance.

Programmatic channels

Some RMNs integrate with DSPs and SSPs, enabling real-time bidding on ad inventory using retailers' customer data for targeting. This is especially relevant for off-site retail media and commerce media strategies.

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As the number of RMNs grows, so does the variety in tools, formats, and reporting. For brands, this fragmented buying journey creates challenges, such as:

• Inconsistent campaign setup across retailers
• Limited standardisation in measurement and attribution
• Difficulty comparing performance across media channels

At the same time, retailer data is often siloed, which limits how brands can link exposure to outcomes, especially when trying to unify online shopping and in-store strategies.

This is where retail media solutions like data clean rooms and privacy-enhancing technologies can play a critical role. They allow brands to collaborate with multiple retail partners without compromising data privacy, security, or competitive boundaries.

As the retail media industry evolves, the push toward interoperability and clean, privacy-first collaboration is becoming just as important as inventory and scale.

Measuring campaign performance

One of retail media’s biggest advantages, and growing expectations, is its ability to deliver closed-loop measurement. Unlike many upper-funnel media channels, retail media can enable brands to directly link ad exposure to sales data, offering a more precise view of campaign performance.

What makes retail media measurement unique?

For onsite campaigns, retailers often have visibility into the entire shopping journey, from impression to conversion, across both online shopping environments and physical stores. This gives advertisers access to granular performance metrics grounded in real purchase data, such as:

• Return on ad spend (ROAS)
• Basket size and frequency
• Product-level lift
• Incremental revenue from exposed vs. unexposed shoppers

However, offsite campaigns don’t always offer the same end-to-end transparency. Because retailers lack control over third-party platforms, closed-loop attribution becomes more challenging — especially without direct data sharing.

This is where data clean rooms become critical: they allow brands and retailers to securely collaborate on performance measurement without data sharing, even when data is activated outside the retailer’s ecosystem.

Measurement challenges and how data clean rooms can help

Despite these advantages, measurement remains a sticking point across the retail media ecosystem because:

• Each RMN has its own attribution methodology
• Retailers may not share raw data directly with brand partners
• Retail data owners often want to protect competitive information

Data clean rooms allow retailers and brands to collaborate on performance reporting without exposing individual-level data. This enables advertising campaigns to be evaluated securely and consistently — even across different platforms and retailers.

For both sides, this creates a more trusted, transparent foundation for scaling retail media programs and justifying continued marketing spend.

What’s holding retail media back?

Despite its rapid growth, retail media is still maturing, and several structural challenges are limiting its ability to scale in a consistent, sustainable way.

1. A fragmented ecosystem

With hundreds of retail media networks operating independently, there’s no unified standard for campaign setup, reporting, or platform access. This fragmentation creates friction for brands trying to execute omnichannel or multi-retailer campaigns at scale.

2. Limited interoperability

While retailers are rich in first-party data, that data is often siloed — and many lack the infrastructure to collaborate safely with multiple partners. Without trusted interoperability, retail media becomes harder to integrate into broader media strategies.

3. Uneven retailer maturity

Some retailers have advanced offerings across online and in-store channels. Others are early in their journey, still defining their advertising capabilities. This uneven landscape makes it difficult for brands to plan consistently or evaluate performance across the board.

4. Organisational complexity

Retail media often sits at the intersection of retail, digital, data, and media teams, each with different KPIs. Without aligned incentives or operational models, even great platforms struggle to deliver on their potential.

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Solving these challenges requires building the connective tissue for collaboration. As the retail media industry matures, privacy-first data activation will become the standard, not the exception.

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Strategic recommendations for retailers and brands

As the retail media landscape evolves, both retailers and brands have an opportunity to shape how this channel grows — and how value is delivered on both sides of the partnership. Here are a few principles to guide that strategy.

For retailers:

• Think like a media owner: Building a retail media business means more than offering inventory — it requires strategy, sales operations, analytics, and brand support.

• Prioritize interoperability: Brands increasingly work across multiple RMNs. Making it easier for them to activate and measure campaigns across your ecosystem will be a competitive differentiator.

• Invest in privacy infrastructure: Enabling secure collaboration on retailer first-party data is no longer optional — it’s a core requirement for scalable, compliant monetisation.

Retailers that empower their brand partners with privacy-safe access to audience insights and performance data are in a stronger position to grow long-term value. Here’s how leading retailers are already doing this.

For brands:

• Align retail media with broader media strategy: Treat retail media as an extension of your performance and brand marketing, not a siloed shopper tactic.

• Collaborate on measurement: Work with retail partners to define KPIs, attribution logic, and shared success metrics early.

• Choose partners that enable data collaboration: The most valuable campaigns come from combining insight across retail and brand data without compromising privacy.

Retail media is moving fast. The players who build a reliable infrastructure and collaborative processes today will be the ones defining the future of commerce media.

How Decentriq enables privacy-first retail media collaboration

Scaling retail media requires more than ad inventory and first-party data. It demands secure, flexible collaboration between retailers and brands, and the infrastructure to make that collaboration both compliant and actionable.

Decentriq provides that infrastructure with data clean rooms.

Our platform allows retailers and brand partners to work together on data activation, measurement, and audience planning — all without ever sharing or exposing raw data. Built on leading privacy-enhancing technologies (PETs) like confidential computing and secure multi-party computation, Decentriq creates a shared, neutral space where both sides can unlock value from their data without compromising trust.

Here’s what that makes possible:

• Privacy-safe measurement

Retailers and brands can evaluate campaign performance jointly, including conversions, uplift, and incremental revenue, without exchanging sensitive data.

• Audience collaboration without risk

Brands can build campaigns using a combination of their own CRM insights and retailer purchase data — all while respecting consumer privacy and regulatory requirements (see our article on GDPR here).

• Multi-retailer consistency

With Decentriq, brands working across multiple retail media networks can adopt a single framework for planning, activation, and attribution.

These capabilities are already being used to support privacy-first performance measurement in retail settings. For example, Swiss wholesaler TopCC collaborated with agency partner Converto to securely link in-store sales to digital campaign exposure using Decentriq’s clean room. 

The result: a tenfold increase in attributed conversions, achieved without any exchange of raw data.

Read the full case study to see how Decentriq enabled clean, privacy-first attribution — even without online shopping data.

By eliminating the need for data movement or duplication, Decentriq helps unlock the full promise of retail media solutions, whether that’s in-store, off-site, or across the retailer’s digital ecosystem.

‍Ready to monetize your retail data through secure brand collaboration? Learn more about Decentriq’s retail data collaboration platform.