It’s 2025, and retail media isn’t just growing – it’s exploding. With double-digit growth projected this year, brands are doubling down on retail media investments, and retailers are scrambling to claim their piece of the pie. More than 200 retail media networks (RMNs) exist today, and 80% of the top 100 U.S. retailers have built their own. The result? A flooded space where brands have more choices than ever — and retailers must fight harder to prove their value.
Retail media’s first wave was all about onsite sponsored ads: search results, banner placements and homepage takeovers. But that space is saturated, competitive and expensive, and brands are demanding more. Retailers are responding by expanding offsite and in-store media, aiming to offer a full–funnel omnichannel approach.
This shift represents retail media 2.0, where success isn’t about selling ad space — it’s about becoming a true media business. For smaller and mid-sized RMNs, this moment is critical: Fail to evolve, and they risk consolidation. Adapt, and they can carve out a niche in an increasingly competitive space.
Retailers Must Think Like Publishers to Win
The biggest mistake retailers can make is treating their RMN as just another revenue stream rather than a core part of their business strategy.
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The most successful players, such as Amazon and Walmart, don’t just offer ads. They operate like media companies, providing premium content, audience insights and advanced measurement tools. This approach is why brands continue to invest in them year after year.
For smaller RMNs, the key to survival is adopting a publisher mindset and creating a compelling media offering that brands can’t ignore by:
- Developing unique, high-quality ad products beyond standard display and search and partnering with brands to test them.
- Investing in real measurement — brands need transparency and proof of impact, not vanity metrics.
- Providing integrated media solutions that connect the full customer journey, from awareness to purchase.
Brands don’t want to feel forced to spend with an RMN just because they sell their products there. They want to see value. If retailers can’t prove it, brands will take their dollars elsewhere.
How Brands Can Win in Retail Media’s 2.0 Era
Retail media isn’t optional anymore, but that doesn’t mean brands should blindly invest across 50 RMNs. The smartest brands are focusing their budgets, demanding better measurement, and leaning into offsite and in-store media to drive real results, and here’s how to join them:
1. Be selective — don’t chase every RMN.
Not every RMN is worth the spend. Some are well-built media powerhouses, while others are still finding their footing. The key is selecting RMNs that deliver real business impact rather than spreading spend too thin.
Look for RMNs with these capabilities:
- Data transparency: Can they prove incrementality, or are they just reporting inflated ROAS?
- Omnichannel reach: Do they offer offsite, in-store and social media extensions?
- Audience quality: Are they delivering engaged shoppers, or just serving impressions?
Brands should actively deselect underperforming RMNs and double down on the ones that move the needle.
2. Measure what matters, beyond ROAS.
For too long, RMNs have sold brands on ROAS as the gold standard. But ROAS alone doesn’t tell you if you’re growing your business.
Brands should push RMNs for these other revealing KPIs:
- Incrementality: Did this ad drive a sale that wouldn’t have happened otherwise?
- New-to-brand insights: Are brands acquiring new customers, or just retargeting the same ones?
- Category share growth: Are brands gaining market share, or just shifting dollars around?
Retailers that fail to provide deeper insights to brands will lose to those that do.
3. Lean into each retailer’s road map.
Understanding and aligning with each retailer’s unique strategy is crucial for maximizing your retail media investment.
- Opt into betas to gain early access to new ad formats and placements. Retailers regularly test innovative capabilities with select brand partners, giving you a competitive edge and the opportunity to influence future developments.
- Tap into in-store media like digital displays, shelf-edge screens and audio advertising to capture attention at the moment of purchase. These touch points are proving increasingly effective as retailers enhance their in-store digital infrastructure.
- Leverage each retailer’s data-rich offsite media to extend your reach while maintaining the precision targeting of retail data. Many networks now offer robust extensions into social, CTV and programmatic channels with closed-loop measurement tied back to sales.
- Think full funnel by balancing lower-funnel conversion tactics with upper-funnel brand building. The most successful retail media strategies combine high-intent keyword targeting with awareness-driving formats that introduce new customers to your products.
The brands seeing the strongest results aren’t limiting themselves to standard playbooks – they’re embracing each retailer’s unique capabilities and vision for the future of their media platforms.
Where Retail Media is Headed
As retail media matures, the industry’s next phase will separate the winners from the rest. Retailers that embrace a media-company mindset with strong measurement, omnichannel reach and high-value inventory will attract the most ad dollars. Brands that refine their RMN strategy, prioritizing the best-performing networks and diversifying into offsite and in-store, will drive the strongest results. Smaller RMNs that fail to evolve – those that rely on forced spend rather than proving value – will struggle to compete or face consolidation.
Retail media is at a turning point. The industry may soon evolve into two distinct paths: media businesses and traditional shopper marketing platforms. Retailers and brands that foresee industry shifts and bring adaptability and agility to navigate rapid evolution will be positioned to ride retail media’s next wave of growth.
Angela Myers serves as SVP of Retail Media for G-Comm, a division of Goodway Group. She brings over 20 years of experience across retail and ad tech, with former leadership roles at Oracle, Datalogix and A&P. With a strong background in insights, analytics, data monetization and retail media coupled with a customer-first approach, Myers now leads G-Comm, Goodway Group’s retail media accelerator, expertly navigating brand marketers and retailers through the evolving retail media landscape.
