Retail media: The next evolution in programmatic advertising

Authored by: Luke Gigante

Retail media is fundamentally reshaping programmatic advertising by enabling brands to leverage high-intent targeting within retail ecosystems. As the third wave of digital advertising—following search and social—retail media has become an integral strategy for performance-driven marketing. Offsite retail media, powered by first-party data, is redefining how brands engage consumers across the open web, digital TV, and in-store environments.

The growth of offsite retail media

Offsite programmatic advertising within retail media is one of the fastest-growing sectors in digital advertising. Coresight projects the global retail media market will reach $179.5 billion in 2025, fueled by the expansion of retail media networks (RMNs), evolving ad formats, and advancements in ad tech. As offsite retail media scales, programmatic ad buying will play an increasingly vital role, enabling brands to reach shoppers at key decision-making moments. 

Why offsite programmatic is gaining traction

Several key factors are driving the shift toward offsite programmatic retail media:

• First-party data: Retailers possess extensive first-party data—ranging from purchase history to real-time product availability—which enables precise audience segmentation and campaign execution.
• Omnichannel reach: RMNs extend advertisers’ reach beyond retailer websites to programmatic, CTV, and social platforms, ensuring a consistent brand presence across multiple touchpoints.
• High-intent audiences: Retail media connects brands with consumers actively engaged in shopping, creating opportunities for more conversion-driven campaigns. 
• Closed-loop attribution: RMNs provide direct sales attribution, allowing advertisers to measure their return on ad spend (ROAS) with greater accuracy.

These advantages highlight how offsite retail media has the potential to transform the programmatic advertising landscape, making it more data-driven, precise, and ROI-focused.

The challenges of offsite retail media

Despite its growth, offsite retail media presents several challenges for programmatic advertisers:

• Measurement standardisation: The lack of uniform metrics across RMNs complicates performance evaluation. Standardisation remains a key concern for 52% of U.S. brand advertisers, underscoring the need for clearer reporting frameworks.
• Ad quality and brand safety: Ensuring contextual relevance and brand safety in programmatic ad placements is critical to maintaining consumer trust and campaign effectiveness.
• Navigating multiple platforms: With the expansion of offsite retail media to platforms like CTV and social, advertisers must deploy sophisticated tools to manage campaigns across diverse environments.

For programmatic advertisers, understanding these challenges is key to driving maximum value from retail media investments.

Strategic imperatives for programmatic advertisers

To capitalise on retail media’s growth, programmatic advertisers should focus on the following priorities:

1. Integrate retail media into omnichannel campaigns: Retail media should complement broader digital strategies, aligning with search, social, and traditional programmatic efforts to reach consumers at every stage of the buying journey.
2. Invest in AI and automation: AI-driven targeting and automation enhance retail media performance by refining audience segmentation, optimising bidding, and personalising creatives. Machine learning enables large-scale personalisation, dynamically adapting ads to search trends and user behaviour.
3. Adapt to new formats and platforms: The rise of connected TV (CTV) and in-store digital advertising creates new opportunities for programmatic buyers. CTV allows advertisers to reach high-intent audiences in a premium, brand-safe environment, while in-store digital screens provide a direct path to purchase, reinforcing messaging at the point of sale.

The future of retail media

As RMNs continue to mature, the future of retail media will involve deeper integrations with programmatic advertising platforms, AI-driven personalisation, and a more interconnected ecosystem across digital, TV, and in-store channels. Advertisers can expect:

• Full-funnel impact: Stronger CTV and programmatic integrations will support seamless full-funnel campaigns, from awareness to conversion.
• Personalisation at scale: AI-powered models will allow for increasingly sophisticated and individualised audience targeting, optimising ad relevance and engagement.
• Expanding inventory sources: More collaboration between retailers, publishers, and tech platforms will unlock new sources of inventory, broadening the scope of retail media campaigns.

Key takeaways for programmatic professionals

1. Focus on omnichannel integration: Integrate retail media into broader digital strategies to maintain consumer engagement across all touchpoints.
2. Invest in AI and real-time analytics: Use AI to drive smarter bidding and audience segmentation, and rely on real-time data to continuously optimise campaigns.
3. Adopt visit measurement solutions: Measuring online-to-offline impact is critical for RMN success. By linking digital ad exposure to in-store visits, retail advertisers can quantify the real-world impact of their campaigns.
4. Leverage footfall attribution: Retailers and brands investing in RMNs should utilise solutions like Adsquare Attribution and Measurement to understand the incremental uplift in store visits generated by their digital ads.
5. Stay informed on emerging platforms: Keep a close eye on CTV, in-store digital, and other emerging retail media formats to maintain a competitive edge in programmatic advertising.

Conclusion

Retail media, particularly offsite programmatic advertising, is no longer a niche opportunity—it’s quickly becoming a cornerstone of the programmatic advertising ecosystem. As this space expands, advertisers must navigate new challenges while leveraging first-party data, AI and automation, and omnichannel strategies to drive performance.

A key differentiator for retailers and brands investing in RMNs is the ability to measure whether digital campaigns are driving real-world store visits. Footfall attribution solutions, like Adsquare Attribution and Measurement, offer critical insights into incremental uplift in store visits and cross-store visitation trends. These insights help advertisers refine their campaign strategies and maximise ROI across digital and physical environments.

Staying informed, investing in measurement and attribution solutions, and embracing omnichannel innovation will be essential to unlocking the full potential of retail media in the years ahead. To optimise your retail media strategy and leverage location intelligence for greater precision, contact our team today.