The Key Players in the Retail Media Ecosystem

The retail media ecosystem is built around three essential pillars: retailers/marketplaces that give ad space, advertisers (endemic/non-endemic brands) looking for tailored reach, and technology partners (adtech/data providers) who enable infrastructure. Key stakeholders include major retailers such as Amazon, Walmart, and Target, as well as specialist technology firms for measurement, analytics, and in-store solutions.

As more customers shop, watch, and listen online, brands have more options when it comes to digital advertising channels. Campaign plans that rely on traditional ad channels can benefit from taking use of the opportunities provided by retail media networks. On-platform placements such as sponsored adverts and recommended items provide you immediate access to motivated customers, while the first-party data offered by marketplace activity enables precise campaign targeting.

Maximizing return on ad spend (ROAS) requires understanding how retail media networks are evolving and what characteristics to look for. In this post, we will look at some of the major networks and what they have to offer.

What Are Retail Media Networks?

Traditionally, the term “retail media” refers to in-store advertising placements within brick & mortar retail locations. Today, a retail media advertising network is a collection of channels that a digital retail entity has on its website, app, or other platforms within its organization. A network might span a single site or several digital properties and typically includes ad inventory on key locations along the buyer’s journey, such as the home, category, search, and product detail pages. Because their ecosystems include both shopping and purchasing activities, they’re an excellent source of rich data about customer buying patterns.

Retail media networks can include channels such as ecommerce sites, OTT platforms like Roku, connected TV and more, making them beneficial for any size business in any industry. 

Examples of retail media networks: 

• Amazon Ads: The pioneer in retail media, letting brands bid on sponsored products, display ads, and video placements across Amazon’s e-commerce ecosystem.
• Walmart Connect: Walmart’s ad network that blends in-store, online, and offsite placements powered by its shopper data.
• Target Roundel: Target’s network focusing on integrated campaigns across Target.com, in-store, and partner channels.
• Kroger Precision Marketing: Grocery-focused network leveraging loyalty card and in-store purchase data for precision targeting.
• Instacart Ads: Provides brands with sponsored product listings and display ads on the leading grocery delivery app.
• 7-Eleven Gulp Media: Even convenience stores offer digital and in-store ad inventory tied to frequent shopper data.
• Home Depot Retail Media+: Enables brands to reach DIY and home improvement audiences through site, app, and offsite ads.
• Sephora Media Collective: Beauty-focused network using customer profiles and loyalty program insights for hyper-personalized ads.

Retail media spans several channels and formats, which we can categorize into on-site, off-site, and in-store.

As the table above shows, RMNs aren’t limited to website banner ads. 

Retailers are offering omnichannel ad opportunities: a brand can buy sponsored product placement on the retailer’s site and run ads on external sites retargeting those same shoppers, and even show an ad on a smart fridge or in-store display when the shopper visits a physical store. 

Read Also: How Retail Media Networks Differ from Traditional Advertising

This omnipresence is what makes retail media so powerful: it blends online and offline, and retailers act as both publisher and ad network.

Crucially, all these channels feed back into the retailer’s closed-loop measurement. For example, if a shopper clicks a Pampers ad on Walmart’s website and later purchases that product in-store or online, Walmart can attribute that sale to the ad. This closed-loop attribution is a major draw for advertisers.

The Key Players in the Retail Media Network Landscape

Retail media is a quickly growing and complex ecosystem. There are various key players in retail media that brands need to be aware of when developing their shopper marketing strategy. Here, we’ll look at some of the most important players in the retail media landscape.

Amazon

Gone are the humble online bookstore days – Amazon is now the dominant player in retail media. They offer a variety of ad products that reach shoppers across different stages of the purchase journey. Amazon’s ad products are divided into three main categories: product display ads, search ads and video ads. 

Product display ads appear on product detail pages and show relevant products to shoppers who are browsing. Search Ads appear on search results pages and help shoppers find your products more easily. Video Ads appear on Amazon Video and reach shoppers who are engaged in video content.

Walmart 

Walmart isn’t feeling the effects of other brick and mortar stores and remains one of the biggest retailers globally thanks to a media presence that is growing larger every day. In addition to traditional advertising, Walmart has now ventured into digital marketing and influencer partnerships and welcomes 150 million customers to their stores and website every week.

Digital ad impressions increased 50% year over year as 40% more advertisers joined their network, making them a great choice for retailers looking to influence buying decisions. 

They’re also working on developing their streaming service, which could be a game-changer for how consumers shop. It’s clear that Walmart is a force to be reckoned with when it comes to retail media. And as they continue to innovate, we can expect even big things from them in the future.

Target

As one of the leading retail companies in the United States, Target has made a big splash in the retail media landscape in the last 8 years. By partnering with some of the biggest names in digital media, Target has reached a wide audience of 147 million customers in-store and online and boasts 40 million unique visits to their website each week.

With Target’s digital sales growing by nearly $10 billion over the previous year, more and more CPG brands are utilizing their e-commerce channel advertising options.

Summary

External retail media specialists usually advertise technology companies that have built the required software and tools to help retailers operate their networks. They also have relationships with the brands that want to advertise on these retail media properties.

Some of the more well-known ones include Amazon Advertising, Walmart Media Group, and Target’s Roundel. Several smaller players are starting to gain traction, such as Criteo and ShareAsale. As the retail media landscape evolves, we can certainly expect to see more consolidation and new entrants into the space.

These specialists will typically charge the retailer a portion of the advertising revenue. It can be a win-win for everyone involved since it allows retailers to focus on what they do best (running their stores) while still monetizing their digital properties through advertising. It’s also a good way for brands to get access to new audiences they wouldn’t be able to reach otherwise.