Retail Media Breakfast Club

Today I unpack a contrarian take that’s been sitting with me since my conversation with James Deaker on The Yield Doctor: what if the biggest threat to retail media is already here, but no one has the incentive to talk about it? I replay snippets from my convo with James, and dig into how AI-enabled commerce is reshaping the shopper journey long before customers ever land on a retailer’s site, and why that creates a structural risk for the entire retail media model.
I also explore the uncomfortable truth about leadership incentives: why retail media executives may be disincentivized from sounding the alarm, even as behavioral data signals start to disappear and ad surfaces lose relevance. This isn’t about the death of retail media, but it is about a major reset. The question is: who’s actually preparing for it?

This episode is sponsored by Mirakl Ads

Timeline
[00:00] - My opening take: why retail media leaders aren’t incentivized to sound the alarm on AI
[00:50] - James Deaker on why retail media must prioritize advertiser relationships
[01:26] - The fragility of endemic advertiser demand and why it matters
[01:52] - The hidden assumption: shoppers still arrive with unformed intent
[02:31] - The shift to AI-driven discovery before retailer interaction
[02:45] - My contrarian answer: AI-enabled commerce as an underappreciated threat
[03:27] - Real-world behavior change: using AI tools instead of retailer search
[04:10] - Declining behavioral signals and shrinking ad surface engagement
[05:07] - Why this signals a reset — not the end — of retail media

Links & Resources
Watch the full replay of my appearance on The Yield Doctor: Maximum Yield: Kiri Masters on Growing Your Retail Media Bottom Line
Subscribe to The Yield Doctor with James Deaker on YouTube
Follow James Deaker on LinkedIn
Read my related articles:'The Biggest Change in My Lifetime' — Marketecture CSO on AI Shopping
AI Is Claiming Browsing Behavior. Commerce Media Must Compete On Its Data Advantage
Why AI Search Advertising Could Reach $25 Billion By 2029

I'm keynoting at Xnurta's Signal to Scale summit on May 19 in Chicago. This is the room to be in if you work in retail media, care about what AI actually changes, and want to leave with something you can put to work. A full day focused on agentic AI, modern measurement, and the strategies the best teams are already building toward. Reserve your spot here.
In Atlanta? Join the Commerce Media Happy Hour on Wednesday May 20! RSVP here
EMARKETER is teaming up again with Bain to survey retail media network leaders for a unique insight into the forces shaping the industry. The survey is intended for people working in-house on retail media teams, and it is global this year!
Important to know that the survey is also double-anonymized. The survey organizers will not know, nor are they trying to determine, which specific retail media network a respondent works for. The goal is to understand broader retail media trends, not attribute responses to individual companies. Please take the survey 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

A few weeks ago, Kroger Precision Marketing announced a major partnership with Google that allows brands to activate Kroger audiences directly inside YouTube and DV360 while tying campaign measurement back to actual Kroger sales. On the surface, this looks like another retail media expansion story. But in this episode, I share snippets of a recent LinkedIn Live, and unpack why it’s actually something much bigger.
On the livestream I was joined by Christine Foster from Kroger Precision Marketing and Jon Flugstad from MetaRouter to explore the real competitive advantage emerging in commerce media: context. We discuss why retailer-owned shopper intelligence is becoming more valuable than rented identity solutions, how loyalty data changes the game for omnichannel measurement, and why the future winners in retail media won’t necessarily be the retailers with the most ad products, but the ones with the strongest infrastructure

This episode is sponsored by Mirakl Ads

Timeline
[00:00] Why Kroger’s Google partnership is really a story about shopper context, not just media activation 
[01:00] What retailers uniquely own that platforms and infrastructure companies can’t replicate 
[02:22] Christine Foster explains how Kroger’s 20+ years of loyalty data powers trusted audience intelligence 
[04:14] Jon Flugstad breaks down the fragmented retail media tech stack and why reconciliation is so difficult 
[05:30] Why retailer-owned context is becoming the “gold” of commerce media in the AI era 
[07:18] How Kroger designed its Google integration to give brands self-serve activation directly inside existing workflows 
[09:37] Why omnichannel visibility across online and in-store sales is the next evolution of retail media measurement 
[10:58] My biggest takeaway: the future winners in commerce media will be defined by infrastructure and context layers, not ad formats

Links & Resources
Full livestream replay: How Kroger Precision Marketing Is Plugging Into National Brand Budgets
Follow Christine Foster, Group VP @ Kroger Precision Marketing, on LinkedIn
Follow Jon Flugstad, Chief Business Officer @ MetaRouter, on LinkedIn
Read my related articles:How Kroger Is Cracking Into Brand Budgets With YouTube
Managing a Multi-Retailer RMN Stack: The Operational Reality
AI Is Claiming Browsing Behavior. Commerce Media Must Compete On Its Data Advantage

I'm keynoting at Xnurta's Signal to Scale summit on May 19 in Chicago. This is the room to be in if you work in retail media, care about what AI actually changes, and want to leave with something you can put to work. A full day focused on agentic AI, modern measurement, and the strategies the best teams are already building toward. Reserve your spot here.
In Atlanta? Join the Commerce Media Happy Hour on Wednesday May 20! 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

Today I dive into a powerful idea that completely reframed how I think about retail media in relation to communicating narrative. After listening to a conversation featuring Joe Zappa on the AdTechGod Pod, I couldn’t ignore how directly his framework applies to our world. We’re not struggling with innovation: we’re struggling with storytelling.
I unpack why so many retail media announcements fall flat, even when the products themselves are solid, and what’s missing from the way we communicate value. I explore how shifting from feature-first messaging to problem-first narratives can transform how brands, agencies, and the industry as a whole responds. Plus, I break down practical ways leaders can stand out: not by being louder, but by being clearer and more intentional with their voice.

This episode is sponsored by Mirakl Ads

Timeline
[00:00] - Why I’m looking outside retail media to rethink how we tell our story
[01:00] - The core problem: leading with features instead of fixing what’s broken
[02:30] - Why most retail media announcements fail to answer “why should anyone care?”
[03:30] - The real opportunity for executives: sharing learnings instead of self-promotion
[05:15] - A simple 4-part framework for creating impactful LinkedIn content
[07:30] - Why being present and opinionated beats being technically “different”
[08:45] - The shift retail media needs: from “we launched” to “here’s the problem we solve”

Links & Resources
Listen to the full AdTechGod Pod episode with Joe Zappa: Ep. 130 The Power Flip: Joe Zappa on Why Leaders Must Become the Media
Subscribe to the AdTechGod Pod
Follow Joe Zappa on LinkedIn
Read my related articles:Why RMNs Keep Their Tech Stacks Secret
Get On The Damn Stage
Apply For The Damn Award

TODAY (Thursday May 7) I'm hosting a LinkedIn Live event: How Kroger Precision Marketing Is Plugging Into National Brand Budgets ! Join me, Christine Foster (head of Kroger Precision Marketing) and Jon Flugstad (Metarouter) to hash out the details of Kroger's partnership with DV360 and how this development is a sign of maturity in the retail media ecosystem. Bring your questions, we'll be doing this LIVE [signup link]
I'm keynoting at Xnurta's Signal to Scale summit on May 19 in Chicago. This is the room to be in if you work in retail media, care about what AI actually changes, and want to leave with something you can put to work. A full day focused on agentic AI, modern measurement, and the strategies the best teams are already building toward. Reserve your spot 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

Today, I’m doing something a little different. After attending Possible Miami and The Drum's Global Commerce Media Leaders Forum, my brain is overflowing, in the best way possible. I’ve got pages of notes, dozens of conversations swirling around, and one big question: which buzz-y trends actually matter most to you?
So instead of pretending I’ve got all the answers, I’m opening this up. In this episode, I walk you through seven of the most pressing, debated, and under-the-radar topics in retail media right now — from agency misalignment to AI agents — and I want your take. Which of these deserve a deeper dive? Which ones are hype vs. a real opportunity? Let’s figure it out together.

This episode is sponsored by Mirakl Ads

Timeline
[00:00] – Why my brain is overflowing after Possible Miami and why I’m asking for your input
[01:20] – Why brands don’t want retail media as a line item anymore
[02:28] – Objective-based buying: breakthrough solution or black box?
[03:11] – The hidden impact of ad sales team compensation on retail media performance
[04:00] – Untapped potential in email, SMS, and CRM as retail media channels
[05:45] – Experiential retail media and the return of in-store human connection
[06:52] – Data clean rooms and AI agents: real use cases vs. vendor hype
Links & Resources
Recap of the panel I hosted at The Drum's inaugural Global Commerce Leaders Forum: Bring the "Retail" back to Retail Media
Read my related articles:Best Buy Wants To Become An Ad Platform, Not Just Another RMN
Agentic Commerce Is a Sequencing Problem, Not an Existential One
Sam's Club Cracked the Code on In-Store Retail Media—Here's How They Did It

On Thursday May 7 I am hosting a LinkedIn Live event: How Kroger Precision Marketing Is Plugging Into National Brand Budgets ! Join me, Christine Foster (head of Kroger Precision Marketing) and Jon Flugstad (Metarouter) to hash out the details of Kroger's partnership with DV360 and how this development is a sign of maturity in the retail media ecosystem. Bring your questions, we'll be doing this LIVE [sign up link]
I'm keynoting at Xnurta's Signal to Scale summit on May 19 in Chicago. This is the room to be in if you work in retail media, care about what AI actually changes, and want to leave with something you can put to work. A full day focused on agentic AI, modern measurement, and the strategies the best teams are already building toward. Reserve your spot 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

Today I unpack the intense industry reaction to a piece of Albertsons Media Collective, Ovative Group, and Kellogg School of Management research that challenged how we measure iROAS in retail media. When a single campaign’s return can swing wildly — up to 6.5x — based purely on methodology, it raises some uncomfortable but necessary questions. I walk through the biggest critiques that surfaced from practitioners and academics, and why this debate matters more than ever for brands trying to make sense of their performance data.
I also share how the authors of the study responded to the pushback, and what they didn’t address. More importantly, we get into what this all means for real-world advertisers, especially mid-market brands navigating opaque reporting standards. If you’ve ever questioned whether your campaign results are telling the full story, this episode will give you a fresh lens to evaluate retail media measurement.

This episode is sponsored by Mirakl Ads

Timeline
[00:00] – Why controversial research is better than silence, and what sparked this debate
[00:31] – The headline finding: iROAS can vary dramatically depending on measurement methodology
[01:24] – Key critique: Are these methodologies even comparable in the first place?
[02:07] – The BSTS debate: causal method or misapplied forecasting tool?
[03:08] – A practical question: What are brands actually using iROAS for?
[04:30] – The authors respond: what the study was, and wasn’t, designed to prove
[05:39] – What mid-market brands should do next: pushing for transparency and better disclosure

Links & Resources
The white paper in question, titled iROAS Demystified, is a collaboration between Albertsons Media Collective, Ovative Group, and professors from Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management. 
My original article on the white paper: iROAS results can be easily gamed. But we shouldn't just throw it away
The LinkedIn comment thread in which the research was fiercely debated
Check out Prof. Koen Pauwels' Substack Amazon Days
Read my related articles:Why ROAS Refuses To Die
Retail Media's Measurement Problem: It's Not Just the Retailers
'Not 100% altruistic': ad measurement veteran on what retail media is really optimizing for

On Thursday May 7 I am hosting a LinkedIn Live event: How Kroger Precision Marketing Is Plugging Into National Brand Budgets ! Join me, Christine Foster (head of Kroger Precision Marketing) and Jon Flugstad (Metarouter) to hash out the details of Kroger's partnership with DV360 and how this development is a sign of maturity in the retail media ecosystem. Bring your questions, we'll be doing this LIVE.
I'm keynoting at Xnurta's Signal to Scale summit on May 19 in Chicago. This is the room to be in if you work in retail media, care about what AI actually changes, and want to leave with something you can put to work. A full day focused on agentic AI, modern measurement, and the strategies the best teams are already building toward. Reserve your spot 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