Retail Media in 2025: Predictions From Industry Leaders

Retail media has become a central force in digital advertising, and its evolution shows no signs of slowing down. As we enter 2025, retail media is being reshaped by innovative strategies, emerging technologies, and the growing demand for seamless omnichannel experiences. From in-store innovations to advanced measurement techniques, retail media is on the brink of a significant leap forward, promising new opportunities for brands and retailers alike.

To help marketers stay ahead of these changes, we turned to some of the brightest minds in the industry to share their boldest predictions. Their insights paint a vivid picture of transformation, opportunity, and the key trends driving growth in the coming year. Whether harnessing first-party data, navigating fragmentation, or redefining physical retail spaces as interactive media hubs, the future of retail media promises to be nothing short of game-changing.

Zach Weinberg, SVP Commerce, Zenith 

My No. 1 prediction for RMNs in 2025 is that partnerships to drive in-store media will proliferate. The physical store still dominates sales across nearly all categories at more than 85% share. Most physical retailers see huge foot traffic numbers. For example, Walmart in the US sees an average of ~194MM unique in-store visitors a month, and in general, in-store audiences over-index for ages 18-49. As more and more screens continue to be installed in physical locations, there is a massive monetization opportunity to expand first-party data that retailers will start to capitalize on – and brands will lean-in because of the potential scale. As a result, retailers will find the right partners to ensure the ecosystem is sustainable for long-term media investment.

Matt Lane, Partner, Total Commerce, dentsu

My top prediction for 2025 is the rise of in-store digital retail media. We have already seen this come to life in fits and spurts in 2024, with the likes of Tesco ads being surfaced on scan-as-you-shop scanners, as well as digital screens in-aisle and at the end of aisles. This, combined with in-app notifications, is helping brands get closer to consumers with accurate targeting and punchy creative. The change that I expect is that this proposition is going to be increasingly bought on a self-serve and/or programmatic basis, and the measurement will (hopefully) extend beyond the usual impressions& viewability.

Given the member’s club card itself acts as a receptacle of data, this should be something that can be measured more holistically than traditional in-store retail media like gondola endcaps. I don’t think this is going to just be a Tesco thing, though, while they have a head start, I would expect Sainsbury’s and Asda to follow suit, as well as any retailer that has brick-and-mortar stores and the tech to manage such advertising – as well as that crucial loyalty card/app to act as the focal point for aggregated targeting and measurement.

Kelly Gerrard, Director of eCommerce Marketing, Marshall Associates 

Expect a greater emphasis on multi-touch ad strategies. Across the retail media landscape, advertisers are getting more access than before into the journey a customer takes from first click to last. I think 2025 will be increasingly important for advertisers and brands to connect those different tactics into one sales-driving machine. For example, we can see more than ever how an online ad affects an in-store purchase decision or how a video seen when reading the news online impacts the end search behavior down the funnel. The most important part to this is the increased accessibility to data to make informed decisions to drive sales.

Jacob Snelson, Chief Media Officer, The Bluebird Group 

The draw of retail media has always been the first-party shopper-targeting data and direct-sales attribution at a single retailer. As retail media continues to push into the upper funnel, before the consumer is ever in the purchase-decision-making mode, brands and retailers have to make an intentional push into measurement beyond the click-to-buy we have been used to over the last seven years. Just because a consumer saw an advertisement on Thursday Night Football through Amazon doesn’t mean they bought that advertised product on Amazon.

The true unlock of brand dollars and upper funnel is measuring where the consumer bought, online or in-store (whatever store that is), while using the ever-powerful first-party shopper data for targeting. In 2025, we will see a big push into omnichannel retail measurement, not just online and in-store, but over multiple retailers. This is how retail media networks will unlock more dollars, and more brands will move brand budgets into these networks.

Lee Dunbar, Senior Vice President, Head of Retail Media, Starcom

Advertisers and their agencies will wrestle with growing automation offerings for sponsored ad campaigns that are native to the retailer’s platform. From Instacart’s optimized bidding to Amazon’s new product campaigns, there is a growing wave of automated capabilities. Some of these new offerings may just be managed service in new packaging, while others will still offer the customization and transparency that success requires. The challenge will be to know the difference.

Outside of Amazon, retail data will continue to be set free from inventory and expand to multiple DSPs and platforms. Leading brands, endemic and non-endemic, will be the ones that navigate this wider variety of data sources and establish holistic, full-funnel audience strategies.

Mudit Jaju, Global Commerce Media Lead, Publicis Groupe

As the size and shape of retail media keeps evolving, we will need to move away from a broadcast mentality to really knowing who the consumers are before we put the right message in front of them. Having a really robust plan for how brands will use identity across first- and second-party data sets will be absolutely critical.

Samantha Bukowski, Global Head of Commerce, GroupM

Fragmentation has long been a thorn in the retail marketer’s side. The proliferation of walled gardens, the inconsistency of capabilities and standards across networks, and the intensely local nature of retail create a uniquely challenging environment. Globally, there is a very short list of retail media network standouts that feel like something new entirely – either leading the sector globally or acting as the pacesetter in a specific market.

These RMNs offer or have a roadmap towards full-funnel media opportunities at scale, are investing heavily in owned technology, and are doubling down on their unique data and supply. These “head” networks are important trailblazers, who are followed by a very crowded “torso” of networks – who, even amongst themselves, have vastly different capabilities – each seeking to carve out their unique proposition in the ongoing boom. 

The “tail” becomes even more complicated and generally consists of hyper-local retail channels that may not have technologically sophisticated networks but offer valuable data nonetheless. We expect to see a sharper polarization of these networks, which will, in turn, shape how brands are crafting their investment strategies. This will come with more disciplined testing guardrails of emerging networks, a focus on technology capable of managing the tail effectively, and a sharper focus on how the head networks intersect with the balance of a brand’s digital marketing investment.

The travel, finance, telco, and auto industries all recognize the media opportunity within their businesses, having learned from the retail blueprint. While these are occasionally referred to as “retail media networks,” we would classify them as retail-adjacent and believe they are an indication of a broader trend: how marketers address consumers in a consented and privacy-safe capacity continues to shift towards wall gardens. These retail-adjacent challengers will gain traction and will force a compelling battleground for retail media networks, particularly when it comes to retail non-endemic brands that do not have a sales relationship consideration as they assess which data is most relevant to their marketing strategies.

Jason Wescott, Head of Global Commerce Solutions, GroupM Nexus Media Solutions

Offsite retail media, which constitutes approximately 10% of the global retail media mix, is poised for a substantial expansion to around 30% in the forthcoming years — catalyzed by the saturation of retailer onsite inventory, the imperative for robust alternatives to third-party cookies, and the tightening of global privacy regulations. Enhanced targeting and measurement capabilities, such as shopper behavioral targeting and closed-loop measurement, are empowering brands to leverage retailers’ first-party data to effectively engage consumers on third-party websites, social media platforms, and connected TV.

This offsite evolution of retail media through strategic partnerships and integrations with media agencies and ad-tech companies, coupled with the development of unified platforms, will further bolster this expansion. Plus, the increased adoption by brands, driven by the demonstrable efficacy of offsite retail media for brand awareness and customer acquisition, along with incremental budget allocations, will underscore this trend. By harnessing these factors, the market is poised for substantial growth in offsite retail media, accelerating through 2025.

IAB Europe’s Attitudes to Retail Media Report in 2024 revealed that 58% of buy-side stakeholders identified “fragmentation and the lack of standardization” as the primary obstacle to increasing investment in retail media. The proliferation of retailers offering ads introduces greater complexity for advertisers and exacerbates inconsistencies in performance measurement across various providers. In my role as Retail Media Committee Chair, I have collaborated with IAB Europe to establish our Retail Media Measurement Standards as a definitive guideline for retailers and networks. For sustained growth in this category, advertisers must have confidence they are making accurate comparisons when evaluating campaign performance. Standardization, driven by industry associations, will facilitate this, and I anticipate a rise in retail media network adoption through 2025.

Sandy Welsch, Executive Director, Global Commerce Partnerships & Enablement, GroupM

An early-stage market, like the one we’ve been living in the last few years with retail media, often sees creation (emergence of new technologies and marketplaces) followed by consolidation (assimilation via economies of scale and efficiencies) as the market matures. Contrary to this, the creation of new RMNs will not only continue but accelerate moving through 2025.

Empowered by the appeal of control and margin, retailers will chase upside and independence as they move away from larger network partnerships despite the inherent challenges of driving demand that come with such a move. Rather than build exclusively in-house, retailers will increase their dependency on the growing number of third-party solutions that will help them co-build and power the back end of their marketplaces. This acceleration will continue to build momentum on one side of the proverbial pendulum swing, which over time will invariably slow and begin to be pulled back in the opposite direction by the gravity of scalability (or lack thereof).

Really, it’s not too dissimilar to the cyclical nature we see of brands in-housing media management only to move back to external agency partners a few years later. The fallout in the case of RMN disintegration, however will be increased strain on media management, added tech disparity, and limited back-office consistency as the number of marketplace touch points and tech connections continues to grow in 2025.

April Carlisle, Executive Vice President, Commerce, Spark Foundry

I believe 2025 will be the tipping point for retail media to be self-service vs. a managed service, which will finally enable retail media to be tagged, traceable, and optimized in real-time. We’ve seen the demand for the change over the last year, and it’s exactly what the industry needs in order to demonstrate performance and justify another year of significant asks for increased investment in retail media.

Christa Klausner, Executive Vice President, Media Commerce Lead, Publicis Groupe

I assume we will start to see consolidation across the RMN landscape. I am not sure what that looks like just yet, but the RMN offering is complex and challenging to navigate, and all retailers are competing for the same budgets. Not all of them will last, so my prediction is RMNs will start to simplify and partners and platforms will consolidate across their data, inventory and measurement.

I also think there is going to be a greater native integration with social platforms to enable even more seamless social commerce from Pinterest, TikTok, Meta with retailers.

Gemma Spence, Chief Digital Commerce Officer, VML

Retail media is moving beyond digital platforms and entering physical spaces, creating a powerful new channel: in-store retail media. Imagine stores as interactive media hubs, with digital screens, dynamic shelving, and personalized checkout displays transforming the shopper experience. This isn’t just about flashy tech; it’s about connection. Brands can engage customers in the critical “last mile” of decision-making, using tools like real-time promotions or hyper-localized messaging to make every moment count. In-store retail media turns brick-and-mortar spaces into responsive, data-driven environments, providing an edge in the race for consumer attention.

Artificial intelligence is revolutionizing retail media, not by replacing human creativity but by enhancing it. AI-powered insights allow brands to tailor content to individual preferences, delivering campaigns that feel personal and authentic. Gone are the days of cookie-cutter ads. Today, success lies in bespoke strategies—blending the precision of AI with the artistry of human creativity to craft meaningful experiences. This creative renaissance demonstrates that technology and originality can thrive together, making retail media not just functional but memorable.

With the decline of third-party cookies, the focus has shifted to first-party (1P) and zero-party (0P) data. 1P data, derived from consumer interactions, is essential, but 0P data—shared voluntarily by consumers—adds a layer of trust and depth to insights. Retailers have a unique advantage in this space. Loyalty programs, purchase histories, and engagement metrics give them a wealth of actionable data. For advertisers, the challenge is clear: use this data ethically and strategically to anticipate consumer needs, build loyalty, and deliver real value.

Retail media has evolved far beyond ad placements. It’s now a key player in Joint Business Planning (JBP), influencing everything from co-marketing agreements to supply chain decisions. By integrating retail media investments into broader business goals, brands are creating partnerships that extend well beyond campaign ROI. This holistic approach drives both immediate sales and long-term growth, making retail media a central component of strategic collaboration.

One of the most transformative aspects of retail media is its ability to unify previously siloed functions. Marketing, sales, and digital teams are collaborating like never before, driven by the need for cohesive, omnichannel strategies. For consumers, this means consistency across all touchpoints—whether they’re browsing online, exploring a physical store, or engaging through social media. For brands, it’s an opportunity to streamline efforts and deliver a unified, impactful message.

Looking ahead, the principles of MACH (Microservices, API-first, Cloud-native, and Headless) architecture could redefine retail as we know it. Traditionally the domain of e-commerce, MACH offers a vision of physical spaces that are dynamic, flexible, and driven by real-time data. Imagine a store that adapts overnight—reconfiguring shelves, updating displays, and reshaping layouts based on local events or cultural moments. This level of responsiveness could transform the in-store experience, blending the best of physical and digital commerce.

The evolution of retail media isn’t just a story of growth; it’s a story of transformation. By embracing in-store innovation, harnessing AI, leveraging data ethically, and fostering cross-functional collaboration, we’re entering a new era of retail. Retail media has the power to redefine commerce, creativity, and connection. For brands and retailers, the challenge is clear: think big, act strategically, and stay ahead of the curve. The future isn’t just about following trends—it’s about shaping them.