蘑菇AV

Retailers that aimed to be media giants are hitting headwinds as ad growth slows. To stay competitive, retail media networks must rethink org structure, sharpen media skills, and plan smartly to thrive in a more challenging landscape.

As retail media networks expand, one of the biggest challenges facing marketers is measurement. In fact, 42% of US retail media buyers believe that more effective and accurate campaign measurement is the most important issue in retail media advertising today, according to March 2025 data from Koddi. To help advertisers better assess the effectiveness of their campaigns, Sam鈥檚 Club Member Access Platform (MAP) has introduced Omni-Impact鈥攁 new AI-powered measurement solution.

There are now more than 80 retail media networks (RMNs) in the US. The volume of RMNs, combined with the dominance of Amazon and other established competitors, makes it challenging for new and niche RMNs to capture share.

Incrementality has always been the holy grail of retail media. But lately, it鈥檚 taken on greater importance as ad budgets are squeezed and retail media networks (RMNs) fight for their share of ad dollars.

With Amazon accounting for 76.7% of the US retail media industry鈥檚 $60.81 billion in ad spend, smaller retail media networks (RMNs) have to innovate to differentiate themselves in the longtail of the marketplace.

Retail media networks (RMNs) are eyeing the open web as an opportunity for scaled growth, but successfully integrating retailer data off-platform won鈥檛 happen overnight.

Shoppable ads will be a focus for brands in 2025 as they test new formats offered by retail media networks and their media partners.

鈥淪hopper journeys are very complex, and retail media networks (RMNs) need scale to reach those shoppers, wherever they may be,鈥� said Shawn McGahee, head of retail media at Google, during last week鈥檚 蘑菇AV Summit on commerce media.

Nearly three-quarters (74%) of US sell-side retail media decision-makers rank creative services as one of the most important services/solutions that retail media networks (RMNs) offer, according to Dentsu鈥檚 2025 Retail Media Industry report.

As tariffs put pressure on retail media budgets, advertisers are, in turn, pressuring retail media networks (RMNs) for more sophisticated measurement tools that provide them with richer data across the entire funnel.

As retail media networks (RMNs) clamor for advertiser budgets, the channel鈥檚 measurement shortcomings are moving into the spotlight. Advertisers cite a lack of cross-platform standardization among their top RMN-related challenges, but an overcorrection on measurement could do more harm than good.

In our exclusive survey, CPG and general merchandise ad buyers shared their opinions of retail media network attributes across metrics including traffic, targeting, and ad cost.

Last week, Amazon made a last-minute offer to buy TikTok, just days before President Donald Trump postponed enforcement of the sale-or-ban law for another 75 days. Reportedly, the bid isn鈥檛 being taken seriously, so it鈥檚 unlikely the deal will go through. However, the deal is worth considering because it shows how Amazon is trying to maintain its status as the top retail media network and ecommerce retailer in the US.

Retail media networks (RMNs) are using APIs to give advertisers more control over the management, measurement, and optimization of their campaigns.

Advertisers have higher expectations for retail media networks: That鈥檚 fueling a wave of updates from Best Buy, Instacart, and DoorDash.

Partnerships between retail media networks (RMNs) and connected TV (CTV) platforms are giving brands access to better data, more shoppable ad options, and a full-funnel approach that drives results. These collaborations can make targeting smarter, shopping easier, and measurement clearer, helping advertisers prove their effectiveness.