Retail media

Retail media is advertising sold through a retailer’s media offering, using its shopping environments, customer relationships or data to reach audiences.

How it works in retail

It includes sponsored placements on retailer websites and apps, in-store media and off-site advertising informed by retail data. A brand pays for advertising exposure; buying a product for resale is a separate commercial activity.

A retail example

A beauty brand pays to promote its moisturiser in a retailer’s search results. The placement is labelled as sponsored, while shoppers can still compare other products.

What to keep in mind

Reported attributed sales depend on the measurement method and attribution window. They do not, by themselves, demonstrate incremental sales or profit generated by the advertising.

Where retail media appears

On-site retail media appears on a retailer’s own digital properties, for example in search results, category pages or product listings. Off-site retail media reaches audiences beyond those properties, using an offering connected to retail data or customer relationships. In-store media can include digital screens, audio and other advertising opportunities within the shopping environment.

Retail media versus a retail media network

Retail media names the advertising category. A retail media network is the operation that makes placements and associated services available to advertisers. A retailer can sell products and advertising at the same time, but the merchandise purchase order and the advertising campaign have different costs, objectives and reporting.

Questions to ask about the results

Before comparing campaigns, identify the spend included, the sales attributed, the attribution window and whether returns are deducted. Also distinguish new-to-brand customers from existing buyers. A campaign can report strong attributed revenue without proving that it caused the same amount of additional revenue; an incrementality study addresses that separate question.

Sources & further reading

IAB/MRC: Retail Media Measurement Guidelines

Examples are illustrative. Terminology and measurement conventions can vary by business and market.