Retail Media Breakfast Club

Retail media has spent years chasing top-line revenue growth, but what happens when growth alone is no longer enough? In this episode, I’m joined by Anne Hallock, VP Americas at Mirakl Ads, to kick off our three-part series, The Demons Inside Retail Media. Together, we unpack the first and perhaps most pressing challenge facing the industry today: the growth demon.
We explore why retailers are beginning to scrutinize retail media profitability, how internal pressures are reshaping expectations for retail media networks, and why driving the broader retail business — not just ad revenue — has become the new benchmark for success. From Costco’s member-first approach, to Home Depot’s self-serve scaling strategy, this conversation reveals the realities that retail media leaders can no longer afford to ignore.

This episode is sponsored by Mirakl Ads

Timeline
[00:00] Introducing The Demons Inside Retail Media series and the industry's biggest internal challenges.
[02:00] Why top-line revenue growth can become a trap, and why profitability is emerging as the new scorecard.
[03:25] Anne explains why profitability pressure is coming from inside the retailer, not from retail media teams themselves.
[05:15] How consulting firms, budget shifts, and internal politics are changing retail media accountability.
[06:45] Lessons from Costco: why retail media must strengthen the retailer’s core business flywheel.
[09:45] The role of technology, automation, and self-serve platforms in building profitable retail media networks.
[11:15] What Home Depot’s latest retail media investments reveal about the next phase of industry growth.

Links & Resources
The Agentic AI Revolution is here. The competitive edge belongs to those who move faster than disruption itself. Join Mirakl Ads and myself in New York City for Outpace on June 10, 2026. Strategies, insights, and connections built for the era of agentic commerce. Save your spot.
Follow Anne Hallock, VP Americas at Mirakl Ads, on LinkedIn
Read my related articles:Growth Beyond Amazon: Retail Media's Broader Opportunities
Long-Tail Advertisers Are A Quiet Growth Engine For Top Performing RMNs
'Brand Media Lowers the Tax You Pay on Growth,' says Gildan's Jason O'Toole

In Atlanta? Join the Commerce Media Happy Hour on Wednesday June 17! RSVP here
I am sharing comedy skits on Instagram about retail media! Follow along: @retailmediabreakfastclub
Subscribe to Retail Media Breakfast Club's daily newsletter
Follow Kiri Masters on LinkedIn

I recently noticed something strange while selling items on Facebook Marketplace: automated buyers sending automated messages, met by my own automated seller responses. It got me thinking about a much bigger trend happening in retail media right now.
In this episode, I unpack the rapid rise of objective-based, AI-driven retail media buying and share the results of a LinkedIn poll I ran to find out what advertisers really think about handing campaign decisions over to algorithms. While automation promises efficiency, many marketers are raising important questions about transparency, control, incrementality, and long-term brand building. Are we removing friction from advertising, or removing humans from the process altogether?

This episode is sponsored by Mirakl Ads

Timeline
[00:00] The Facebook Marketplace experience that sparked a bigger question about automation
[01:07] How objective-based, AI-driven retail media buying mirrors the "bots talking to bots" phenomenon
[01:45] Results from my LinkedIn poll: what advertisers really think about AI-powered media buying
[04:00] Why automation may struggle to drive true incrementality, according to commerce media leaders
[04:40] Retailer bias, "ROAS jail," and the measurement challenges facing AI-driven ad platforms
[05:15] The risk of optimizing for short-term performance at the expense of brand equity
[06:00] The question I'm still wrestling with: are we removing friction, or removing ourselves?

Links & Resources
The Agentic AI Revolution is here. The competitive edge belongs to those who move faster than disruption itself. Join Mirakl Ads and myself in New York City on June 10, 2026 for strategies, insights, and connections built for the era of agentic commerce. Save your spot.
My AI-driven retail media buying LinkedIn poll
Follow Corey Buller, Senior Director of Commerce Media at dentsu, on LinkedIn
Follow Evan Walsh, who heads partnerships at measurement firm Incremental, on LinkedIn
Follow James Tenser, longtime retail tech analyst & journalist, on LinkedIn
Read my related articles:AI Agents & The Evolving Path to Purchase: How Brands Must Adapt
No Eyes on the Ad
Does 'Dark Search' Help or Harm Retail Media?

In Atlanta? Join the Commerce Media Happy Hour on Wednesday June 17! RSVP here
I'm sharing comedy skits about retail media on Instagram! Follow along: @retailmediabreakfastclub
Subscribe to Retail Media Breakfast Club's daily newsletter
Follow Kiri Masters on LinkedIn

In this episode, I’m pulling back the curtain on what it’s actually like being on the receiving end of PR pitches in the retail media industry, and why most of them completely miss the mark. Inspired by a standout interaction with LoyaltyLion and PR pro Francesca Baker Brooker, I unpack what separates relationship-building from transactional pitching, and why “spilling some tea” is often the difference between getting ignored and becoming a trusted source.
I also dive into how influence in media is shifting away from traditional gatekeepers toward niche newsletters, podcasts, LinkedIn creators, and independent analysts. From fragmented authority and psychographic tribes, to what vendors, retailers, and PR teams should actually be doing to build narratives that land, this episode is a candid look at the new communications playbook for retail media.

This episode is sponsored by Mirakl Ads

Timeline
[00:00] – The LoyaltyLion pitch that actually worked, and why patience from PR pros matters more than persistence
[02:30] – Why I’m sharing my honest perspective on being pitched by brands, retailers, and tech vendors
[03:45] – How the media landscape is fragmenting, and why newsletters, podcasts, and LinkedIn creators are gaining influence
[08:30] – My first rule for PR outreach: know your audience before you pitch
[10:15] – “Spill some tea”: why executives who stick to talking points waste everyone’s time
[13:00] – Why retailer store tours, media breakfasts, and thoughtful event experiences create lasting coverage opportunities
[17:00] – My plea to research teams: stop commissioning generic retail media surveys and start using your actual platform data

Links & Resources
The Agentic AI Revolution is here. The competitive edge belongs to those who move faster than disruption itself. Join Mirakl Ads and myself in New York City on June 10, 2026 for strategies, insights, and connections built for the era of agentic commerce. Save your spot.
Follow Francesca Baker-Brooker, PR @ And So She Thinks, on LinkedIn
My LoyaltyLion piece that Francesca helped facilitate: Loyalty as the Retail Media Backbone
Semrush piece about LinkedIn content: We Analyzed 89K LinkedIn URLs Cited in AI Search: Here's What Drives Visibility
Read my related articles:Standing Room Only: What Shoptalk Attendees Wanted Most Wasn’t on the Main Stage
Writing From the Middle of the Room
Apply For The Damn Award

In Atlanta? Join the Commerce Media Happy Hour on Wednesday June 17! RSVP here
I'm sharing comedy skits on Instagram about retail media! Follow along: @retailmediabreakfastclub
Subscribe to Retail Media Breakfast Club's daily newsletter
Follow Kiri Masters on LinkedIn

In this episode, I unpack one of the clearest real-world examples yet of how AI shopping is reshaping retail strategy. Ashley Furniture is officially experimenting with transactional commerce inside Perplexity, and their approach reveals how major retailers are thinking about AI discovery, customer behavior, and the future of shopping experiences.
I break down key insights from Ashley Furniture’s SVP of E-commerce and Marketing, Nick Lezin, shared on an episode of Total Retail Talks, including why AI referral traffic matters even when it’s still small, why “content hygiene” suddenly became mission-critical, and how AI shopping is creating political momentum inside organizations to finally fix long-ignored catalog and customer experience problems. This isn’t a panic pivot: it’s a calculated early move with potentially massive long-term upside.

This episode is sponsored by Mirakl Ads

Timeline
[00:00] Why I’ve been arguing that product discovery is moving upstream into AI tools 
[00:43] Ashley Furniture launches transactional commerce on Perplexity with PayPal and Stripe integration 
[01:30] Nick Lezin explains the exponential growth in AI referral traffic to Ashley Furniture 
[03:17] Why AI traffic may actually be undercounted because of “dark search” behavior 
[04:48] How AI shopping is forcing retailers to finally prioritize product catalog and content hygiene 
[06:23] Ashley  admits its product content has been too static, and why dynamic PDPs now matter more than ever 
[08:10] Why AI should be viewed as an amplifier for better retail operations, not a shortcut or crutch 
[10:40] My takeaway on why this Perplexity partnership represents a smart, low-risk experimentation strategy for retailers

Links & Resources
Listen to Nick Lezin's full appearance on Total Retail Talks: Inside Ashley's Plan to Launch AI Home Shopping
Subscribe to Total Retail Talks on Apple Podcasts
Follow Nick Lezin, senior vice president of e-commerce and marketing at Ashley, on LinkedIn
Follow Joe Keenan, Total Retail Talks, Editor-in-Chief, on LinkedIn
Read my related articles:‘Dark Search’ Is Making AI-Facilitated Commerce Look Smaller Than It Really Is
Does 'Dark Search' Help or Harm Retail Media?
Dark Search, Broken Signals, and What Comes Next for Retail Media

I am sharing comedy skits on Instagram about retail media! Follow along: @retailmediabreakfastclub
Subscribe to Retail Media Breakfast Club's daily newsletter
Follow Kiri Masters on LinkedIn

Amazon has always operated in contradictions. And in this episode, I dissect comments made on Christine Russo's What Just Happened podcast made by Justin Honaman, AWS's global head of retail, consumer goods, and restaurants, to unpack one of the biggest contradictions emerging in the AI commerce era. 
On one hand, Amazon is encouraging retailers and brands to embrace “off-site search” and make themselves discoverable through AI agents like ChatGPT and Perplexity. On the other hand, Amazon is actively blocking outside shopping agents from accessing its own ecosystem while simultaneously sending its own Buy For Me agent onto everyone else’s storefronts.
I break down the growing tension between agentic commerce, retail media, and platform control, including Amazon’s legal fight with Perplexity, the strategic implications of its DSP dominance, and why this all points to one core objective: owning the customer journey from discovery to checkout. I also explore why brands should pay far closer attention to Amazon’s actions than its public messaging as the next phase of commerce infrastructure takes shape.

This episode is sponsored by Mirakl Ads

Timeline
[00:00] Amazon’s long history of contradictions between customer obsession and supplier impact 
[01:15] AWS discusses “off-site search” and why retailers are being told to optimize for AI discovery 
[02:18] The core contradiction: Amazon’s agents are allowed out, but outside agents are blocked from coming in 
[03:15] Breaking down Amazon’s lawsuit against Perplexity and the real debate around shopper permission 
[04:19] How Rufus and Alexa Shopping generated billions while Amazon blocks competing AI shopping agents 
[05:15] Why retail media is really the monetization layer sitting on top of shopper behavior 
[06:30] Google’s Universal Cart signals that commerce journeys no longer need to begin on Amazon 
[07:30] The key lesson for brands: watch what Amazon does, not what it says

Links & Resources
Listen to the full Justin Honaman episode on Christine Russo's What Just Happened podcast: Justin Honaman, AWS: The Agentic Commerce Roadmap for Retailers
Subscribe to What Just Happened on Apple Podcasts
Follow Christine Russo on LinkedIn
Follow Justin Honaman on LinkedIn
Read my related articles:AI Agents & The Evolving Path to Purchase: How Brands Must Adapt
No Eyes on the Ad
Does 'Dark Search' Help or Harm Retail Media?

In Atlanta? Join the Commerce Media Happy Hour on Wednesday May 27! RSVP here
I'm sharing comedy skits about retail media on Instagram! Follow along: @retailmediabreakfastclub
Subscribe to Retail Media Breakfast Club's daily newsletter
Follow Kiri Masters on LinkedIn