Retail Media Breakfast Club

Retail media has spent the last few years chasing growth through connected TV, influencer partnerships, social commerce, and in-store screens. But new research from eMarketer and Bain & Company suggests retail media network leaders are shifting their focus back to onsite advertising, where retailers have more control, higher margins, and a more established path to advertiser budgets. In this episode, an expansion on my recent article for The Drum, I explore why offsite retail media has been harder to scale than expected, what advertiser demand tells us about the industry's biggest growth opportunities, and why proving incremental revenue remains a challenge.
I also look at the growing threat of AI shopping agents that could bypass retailer websites and disrupt traditional sponsored product ads. Is returning to onsite advertising a smart strategic move, or are retail media networks sacrificing future growth for easier wins today? Drawing on insights from eMarketer's Sarah Marzano and perspectives from the retail media community, I unpack the trade-offs facing retail media leaders and what it will take to unlock the next phase of growth.

This episode is sponsored by GrowthLoop
Timeline
[00:00] - Why retail media is moving back toward its roots, with onsite advertising emerging as a leading growth opportunity.
[02:35] - Sarah Marzano explains why retailers have more control, fewer third parties, and higher margins with onsite ads.
[04:11] - Why offsite retail media is harder to sell, including the challenge of reaching brand budgets beyond ecommerce and sales teams.
[06:22] - The disconnect between retail media's promised growth and advertiser demand for social and in-store placements.
[08:21] - The retail media doom loop: declining confidence in incremental revenue, talent shortages, and underfunded technology.
[11:33] - How AI shopping agents could bypass retailer websites and put traditional sponsored product ads at risk.
[13:20] - The debate over whether returning to onsite is a sensible strategy or whether offsite is essential for the next wave of growth.

Links & Resources
A version of this piece was first published to my column at The Drum on October 12, 2026, as Should retail media get back to what it does best?
Follow Sarah Marzano, Retail & Commerce Media at EMARKETER, on LinkedIn
Read my related articles:Best Buy Ads’ showcase moves on from the sponsored product ad (The Drum)
Why OpenAI’s ad announcement should worry retail media networks (The Drum)
The Retail Media Doom Loop: 2026 Edition
Retailers, here’s how your media network can still thrive in an AI-shopping era (The Drum)
The AI assistant is the next ad surface. Only one retailer has actually built it (The Drum)

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

Are bigger retail media networks automatically better? And what really makes a network worth investing in? In this episode, I'm picking up the debate sparked by Brian Spencer at Kroger Precision Marketing about what it takes to build a successful retail media network. Scale matters, but so do audience relevance, addressability, and technology.
I also unpack GrowthLoop's 2026 Commerce Media Investment Index to explore what advertisers really want from audience targeting, whether faster audience fulfillment is worth paying more for, and what United's Connective restructuring reveals about the technology needed to turn valuable audiences into measurable results.

This episode is sponsored by GrowthLoop
Timeline
[00:30] – Brian Spencer's challenge: What really qualifies as a retail media network?
[02:09] – Audience relevance versus audience size.
[03:03] – Why specialty retailers can compete with the giants.
[05:30] – What advertisers want from retail media audiences.
[06:30] – Why more audience segments could drive greater spending.
[08:17] – Is faster audience fulfillment worth the premium?
[10:28] – United's lesson: Why audience data alone isn't enough.

Links & Resources
GrowthLoop's new research report: The 2026 Commerce Media Investment Index
Lots of great discussion in the LinkedIn comments under my Does Size Matter in Retail Media? It Depends Who’s Buying newsletter from Tuesday
The contentious LinkedIn post from Brian Spencer that first sparked the debate
Follow Brian Spencer, Marketing Director at Kroger Precision Marketing, on LinkedIn
ADWEEK reported this week that United has folded Kinective's media sales and operations team into the partnerships team for its MileagePlus loyalty program.
Read my related articles:Does Size Matter in Retail Media? It Depends Who’s Buying
7 Ways to Break the Retail Media Doom Loop
The Retail Media Doom Loop: 2026 Edition
How Can RMNs Tap Upper-Funnel Brand Budgets

Check out Basket Case, a project I’m part of with The Drum and QSIC, an irreverent and lively podcast series talking shop: latest episode
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

Why are retail media networks bringing back multi-touch attribution (MTA) when many marketers consider it outdated? In part 2 of my MTA series, I explore why Albertsons Media Collective and Best Buy Ads are investing in MTA, and how better measurement could help retailers unlock national brand advertising budgets beyond sponsored products.
I also look at the limits of current MTA solutions, why measurement matters when brands choose retail media networks, and three questions retailers should ask before building their own attribution capabilities. Plus, I preview the next big question in commerce media: are retail media networks growing market share or simply stealing conversions from other platforms?

This episode is sponsored by GrowthLoop
Timeline
[00:35] — Why the industry may be wrong about MTA being outdated, and why retailers see a different opportunity.
[01:51] — The case for earlier measurement signals, and why market share and quarterly marketing mix models aren't enough for week-to-week decisions.
[03:26] — The real incentive behind retailer MTA investments: unlocking national brand advertising budgets beyond sponsored products.
[05:39] — Why measurement capabilities matter when brands are choosing which retail media networks deserve a place in their media plans.
[07:42] — Where Albertsons and Best Buy's MTA solutions differ, and why brands still face gaps in cross-platform measurement.
[11:31] — The three-part test for deciding whether a retailer should build MTA in the first place.
[12:39] — A preview of part three: Are commerce media networks growing share or stealing conversions from other platforms?

Links & Resources
This is part 2 of my series on MTA. Part 1) Do brands really want MTA? 
Part 2) Why retailers are reviving MTA [What you're listening to right now!]
Part 3) Is MTA past its expiration date? [Subscribe to get it!]

Check out the discussion in the LinkedIn comments after I shared part 1 of this MTA series
Read my related articles:RMNs Are Launching MTA. Do Brands Want It? [Part 1]
Best Buy Ads’ showcase moves on from the sponsored product ad (The Drum)
Kiri Masters: Why retail media networks are resurrecting multi-touch attribution (The Drum)

Check out Basket Case, a project I’m part of with The Drum and QSIC, an irreverent and lively podcast series where we talk shop.
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

Are there really only 10 or 20 successful retail media networks, or are we overlooking the value of the other 180? A recent LinkedIn post from Brian Spencer at Kroger Precision Marketing sparked a debate about what it takes to be a successful retail media network, and I wanted to dig into one of his key criteria: scale. Because while scale absolutely matters to some advertisers, I think the bigger question is: scale for whom?

In this episode, I unpack why national CPG media teams gravitate toward the biggest retail media networks, what that means for smaller and regional players, and why shopper marketing teams could be the key to unlocking the long tail of retail media. From Amazon and Walmart, to Woolworths in Australia and H-E-B in Texas, I explore why a network that looks small on a national media plan can be absolutely critical to winning in a specific market. And as the biggest networks chase upper-funnel brand budgets, I look at the very different growth challenges facing the rest of the industry.

This episode is sponsored by GrowthLoop
Timeline
[00:00] – The LinkedIn debate that got me thinking: Are there really only 10 or 20 successful retail media networks?
[02:10] – Why even the biggest CPG advertisers don't want to manage more retail media networks.
[03:14] – Inside the $1 billion club: The commerce media networks publicly reporting more than $1 billion in ad revenue.
[06:00] – Why scale is relative, and why regional retail media networks still matter in markets like New Zealand, Ireland, and Australia.
[09:22] – Who buys the long tail? Why shopper marketing teams could be the answer for smaller retail media networks.
[12:24] – How two things can be true: Only a handful of networks may matter to national media directors, while hundreds remain relevant locally.
[13:01] – The retail media doom loop: Why scale, technology, talent, and advertiser budgets are so difficult to balance.

Links & Resources
The LinkedIn post from Brian Spencer that sparked the debate
Follow Brian Spencer, Marketing Director at Kroger Precision Marketing, on LinkedIn
Read my related articles:Some Retailers Want to Power Other Retailers' Ad Businesses. Will It work?
7 Ways to Break the Retail Media Doom Loop
What It Actually Takes to Build a Retail Media Federation
The Retail Media Doom Loop: 2026 Edition
How Can RMNs Tap Upper-Funnel Brand Budgets

Check out Basket Case, a project I’m part of with The Drum and QSIC, an irreverent and lively podcast series where we talk shop.
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

Consumer AI is growing at an incredible pace, but here's the thing: even though millions of people are using AI, very few are actually paying for it. So how are these platforms going to make money, and what does that mean for retail media and the future of shopping?
In this episode, I'm digging into some fascinating new research from Andreessen Horowitz on consumer AI adoption, spending habits, and the business models emerging around these platforms. I explore why people are willing to pay for productivity but not necessarily everyday consumer queries, why advertising could become the dominant monetization model for AI agents, and what a potential ChatGPT wallet could mean for closed-loop measurement and retailers' first-party data. Plus, I look at the race to build the winning AI shopping experience and why retailers need to think carefully about whether to embrace or block emerging AI agents.

This episode is sponsored by GrowthLoop
Timeline
[01:24] — AI adoption is booming, but few consumers are willing to pay for it.
[04:02] — Why people want to spend time, not just save it, and what that means for AI shopping.
[06:15] — Why subscriptions may not be enough, and why advertising could become AI’s dominant revenue model.
[09:30] — How a potential ChatGPT wallet could reshape retail media measurement and first-party data.
[12:36] — Why the race to build the winning AI shopping experience is still wide open.
[13:38] — Why retailers need to think carefully before blocking AI shopping agents.

Links & Resources
Andreessen Horowitz just dropped some major insights on their blog about the adoption of consumer AI technology. Read the full research report at the a16z blog.
Listen to the recent The a16z Show podcast episode that discusses the research: The Top 100 Consumer AI Apps: Who’s Actually Paying?
Subscribe to The a16z Show on Apple Podcasts
Read my related articles:Not all shopping is fun
Why Agentic Shopping Poses an Existential Threat to Retail Media (Part 1)
Agentic Shopping Poses An Existential Threat To Retail Media (Part 2)
Agentic Shopping Might Seem Crazy. So Did Self-Service Supermarkets.

Check out Basket Case, a project I’m part of with The Drum and QSIC, an irreverent and lively podcast series talking shop: latest episode
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