The future of retail media, according to the execs figuring it out

The advertising world right now may be abuzz with AI’s potential to disrupt companies Google’s search ads business, or the shifting dynamics of social media — from a potential TikTok sale in the U.S. to the ascent of Reddit into the mainstream — and the regulatory environment around Big Tech.

Beyond those headlines, one company has been steadily building its presence in the ballooning retail media ad business: Walmart.

The superstore’s rise isn’t just a reflection of retail media’s growing share of advertiser budgets, it also suggests that media buyers are increasingly looking beyond the confines of Amazon, the “everything store,” to new players. Investment bank Solomon Partners has called this new frontier “the new TV for mass reach advertising.”

Retail media spend has already surged from $50 billion in 2019 to a projected $165 billion globally by 2025, according to eMarketer. WARC predicts it will overtake global linear TV spend this year.

Still, marketers have questions about how to tap the opportunity.

With more than 200 retail media networks and counting globally, retail media is now everywhere — from phones to TVs to the billboards on public transit. Meanwhile, non-retail players, collectively known as “commerce media,” are busy setting up their own media networks. So how can media buyers decide where to invest?

Loyalty programs, used by retailers to entice shoppers to log in and gather authenticated data, are now fixtures of our shopping experience. But how will they evolve and stay competitive, without embarking on a discounts-fuelled race to the bottom?

As retail media matures, robust tracking and measurement frameworks are necessary. How can marketers measure performance across such a fragmented retail media landscape?

To answer these questions, understand how we got here and where we’re going next, The Current spoke with the executives spearheading retail media operations at Best Buy, CNET, DOUGLAS, Expedia Group, The Home Depot, Intuit, media agency Kinesso, Kroger, PayPal, Uber, and Woolworths.

“What excites me about this business is that it's an entrepreneur's dream,” says Melanie Babcock, vice president, Orange Apron Media and monetization at The Home Depot. “It is truly a growing business within a business. For the majority of people sitting in my seat, it's never been done before.”