As retail media networks (RMNs) continue to expand, marketers are facing an increasingly complex landscape. With more than 200 RMNs now out there, each operating differently with unique requirements, the options for advertisers are endless — and overwhelming.
Earlier this year, Amazon announced its Retail Ad Service, which could reshape the retail advertising landscape, offering retailers the ability to place and sell ads directly on their own ecommerce sites. Amazon’s strategy is just one way the industry is consolidating.
RMNs rose significantly in 2024, accounting for roughly 14% of total media advertising spend in the U.S. Retail marketers often rely on digital channels, like social media and mobile apps, for engagement and connection with consumers. RMNs create another step in the customer journey, allowing marketers to utilize first-party data to target shoppers directly with tailored ads based on purchasing behavior. By placing the ads where consumers are already shopping, brands can reach customers and gain shopping insights to enhance their marketing strategy.
Why Amazon, Why Now?
Amazon’s Retail Ad Service is aimed at streamlining online campaign management in order to provide more opportunities for advertisers to reach customers on various retail sites across digital channels outside of Amazon. This pits Amazon against major retailers like Walmart and other big ad sellers like Google. The new service offers the retailer valuable insights into consumer behavior and purchase patterns, allowing it to further improve ad targeting and recommendations.
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However, the impact of this ad service goes well beyond Amazon itself. By extending its proven solution to retailers that sell outside of Amazon, the company could standardize how advertising is served across multiple retail sites while addressing the longstanding challenge of fragmentation in the RMN space. As retail ad products become more consistent across sites, customers are likely to become more comfortable relying on paid product listings and ads to inform their purchase decisions, fueling a flywheel that could drive increased revenue.
For RMNs, Consolidation is Key
Fragmentation is not a new concept to advertisers — they’ve dealt with it before across display, search, social and CTV. The challenge within RMNs is that each retailer has its own inventory, technology and requirements. This causes inefficiencies and makes it difficult for advertisers to track performance. As retail marketers recognize the value of reaching consumers directly at the point of purchase, unified RMN strategies are essential. By consolidating the technology they use to manage sales into a single, unified platform, brands can simplify their campaign management and maximize ad spend on retail sites.
However, there may still be hurdles to adoption, particularly among smaller sites. Many of these retailers don’t have access to the proper resources, infrastructure or technical expertise to operate a retail media strategy effectively. Ad pricing, ad operations, implementation, customer support and sales will be critical factors in ensuring smaller retailers can successfully adopt Amazon’s platform.
Risks and Challenges to RMN Adoption
With the collection of consumer data, privacy concerns are among the most pressing. Consumers are becoming increasingly cautious about how their data is being used. Retailers that rely heavily on data-driven models could face backlash from consumers concerned about privacy. Additionally, as the complexity of data usage increases, compliance with evolving state and federal laws may require additional resources, posing both operational and financial challenges.
There also is the potential for increased competition. Smaller retailers often turn to larger platforms like Amazon to tap into their broad customer base and increase their visibility. However, they also are competing for ad dollars on the same platform. These smaller vendors, often with overlapping inventory and similar product offerings, may struggle to compete for the same consumers as bigger retail competitors benefit from advanced technologies and better targeting and consumer insights.
Smaller retailers also face the additional challenge of adoption and implementation, particularly the need to ensure they have the right web infrastructure and technology to make their sites ready to serve ads in real time.
The Future of Retail Media Networks and Consolidation
Amazon’s Retail Ad Service is just one piece of the puzzle that is reshaping the broader RMN landscape. The potential for consolidation across RMNs offers a more unified, consistent approach to online advertising, simplifying processes for brands and providing better measurement tools to maximize ad spend. In 2025, we can expect to see consolidation among RMNs continue, leading to streamlined ad strategies and stronger performance insights for advertisers.
Retail media networks offer many benefits, such as helping to innovate data-driven strategies, leveraging advanced targeting to create personalized ad experiences for consumers and a seamless integration into the retail environment. Success in this evolving market will depend on how effectively brands utilize RMNs to engage consumers within their shopping journey and deliver measurable results.
With more than 16 years of experience in digital media, Amy Rumpler leads Basis Technologies’ efforts in digital media planning and services for clients. She was recently elevated to EVP, Integrated Client Solutions after years of success at Basis in which her team delivered search, social and retail media campaign services for national brands across CPG, real estate, finance and many more industries. This encompassed yearly planning and activating of more than $100MM in paid search, paid social and retail media. In this role, she was overseeing Basis’ social strategy, execution and operations, Rumpler builds relationships with and has an integral role in Basis platform’s integrations with Google, Microsoft, Meta, LinkedIn, TikTok, Pinterest, Snap and other partners.
