Retail Media Breakfast Club

Today, I’m digging into a question that has been coming up more and more as retail media expands into a broader commerce media ecosystem: does commerce media really need to be tied to the cart?
I’m narrating a guest contribution essay from Tom Limongello of The Middlemen Podcast that got me thinking differently about the distinction between retail media and commerce media. Specifically why SKUs and assortments are useful ways to understand retail media, but may not actually define it (and why the more important concept could be the shopper mission). Tom's essay also looks at travel media, where the network may own the audience and the moment of attention without owning the products ultimately purchased. And that raises some fascinating questions about measurement, attribution and who gets credit when multiple commerce media networks influence the same customer journey.

This episode is sponsored by GrowthLoop
Timeline
[01:45] - Questioning why the definition of commerce media is so focused on the cart
[02:15] - Why a retail media ad can influence an in-store purchase even when the exposure happens on social
[03:15] - Introducing “assortment” as a key piece of the retail media vocabulary
[04:30] - Why SKUs are useful for operating retail media, but don’t necessarily define it
[05:45] - How travel media demonstrates the value of shopper missions beyond a retailer’s own assortment
[08:45] - The measurement challenge when one network owns the media exposure but another business records the transaction
[09:45] - A broader definition of commerce media, and the questions this creates for travel, financial services and mobility

Links & Resources
Today's post is a guest contribution from Tom Limongello, host of The Middlemen Podcast. Read Tom Limongello's essay on Substack: Retail Media Isn’t a Cart. Commerce Media Can’t Mean Everything
Subscribe to The Middlemen Podcast
Subscribe to Tom's Substack Shopper Missions
Follow Tom Limongello, host of The Middlemen Podcast, on LinkedIn
Listen to Collin Colburn from the IAB on The Middlemen: What Does Commerce Media Look Like Beyond Amazon? – Collin Colburn, IAB
Read my related articles:Offsite vs onsite retail media
Did we overcook in-store retail media measurement?
The retailer magazine: commerce media's most defensible surface?

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

By now, you’ve probably read plenty of coverage about the FTC’s case against Amazon’s ad auction (last week I shared an article on The Drum). But the question I’m more interested in is the one that actually matters if you’re managing an advertising budget or running a retail media network: does any of this change where the money goes?

My prediction, sadly, is no. Though I’d be very happy to be proven wrong. 
In this episode, I break down why cheaper clicks probably wouldn’t mean less money for Amazon, why advertiser outrage may not translate into budget shifts, and why this case gives other retail media networks a short window to make transparency and auction mechanics a competitive advantage. I also dig into some fascinating arguments from the LinkedIn comments, including whether Amazon’s auction practices may have distorted industry benchmarks far beyond the individual advertisers involved.

This episode is sponsored by GrowthLoop
Timeline
[00:55] - Why cheaper Amazon ad costs could actually lead advertisers to spend more
[01:46] - Why advertiser budgets are unlikely to leave Amazon anytime soon
[02:12] - The opportunity for other retail media networks to win on transparency and trust
[03:05] - The questions advertisers should be asking about auction mechanics, reserve prices, and pricing changes
[04:05] - Why the FTC’s Amazon case may be simpler to explain than the Google ad-tech case
[07:20] - How potentially inflated clearing prices could have contaminated retail media benchmarks and bidding tools
[09:35] - Why Amazon can disappoint advertisers morally and still be the best place to spend a performance dollar

Links & Resources
My article on The Drum: The FTC says Amazon put a thumb on its ad auctions. What happens next?
Read all the comments on my LinkedIn post
Follow Bryan Gildenberg, Managing Director of Retail Cities North America, on LinkedIn
Follow Katharine McKee, Fractional Head of Growth (CMO, CRO, CGO) of Morphology Consulting, on LinkedIn
Follow Tom Limongello, host of The Middlemen Podcast, on LinkedIn
Read my related articles:Amazon Unboxed 2025: Key Announcements & Takeaways for Brand Advertisers
Real Time Bidding: Retail Media's Savior Or Saboteur?
Walmart’s Push For 25% Ad Spending Highlights Retail Media’s Trust Problem

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

Retail media has a fragmentation problem. We have better dashboards, better reporting, and better measurement than we did a few years ago. But media buyers are still being asked to navigate an ever-growing number of retail media networks and walled gardens.
In this episode, I look at what’s happening in the UK, where two major retail media aggregation plays launched over the summer: RMX by Plan-Apps from SMG and the dunnhumby network alliance, involving Tesco, B&Q, John Lewis and Waitrose. I also share snippets of a conversation from the Retail Media Therapy podcast with Co-op Media Network’s Dean Harris about why these platforms are emerging now, and why the real driver may have less to do with retailers wanting to collaborate and more to do with what advertisers and agencies increasingly expect.
But there’s a bigger question underneath all of this: what is retail media aggregation actually for? Is the value simply having one place to buy across multiple networks, or is it about being able to reach a particular audience in one place? And if competing retailers put their audiences into the same marketplace, do we risk turning retail media audiences into commodities and pushing CPMs down, just as programmatic advertising did to publisher audiences? That tension could determine whether retail media aggregation becomes a genuine solution to fragmentation or creates an entirely new set of problems for retailers.

This episode is sponsored by GrowthLoop
Timeline
[00:00] - Why retail media federations have suddenly become a much bigger story in the UK
[01:35] - Dean Harris on the advertiser pressures driving retail media aggregation
[03:18] - Why media buyers increasingly want simplicity, not another retail media platform
[04:49] - The real value of aggregation: buying audiences across an entire retail sector
[07:17] - The programmatic lesson: could retail media aggregation drive CPMs down?
[08:19] - The strategic risks retailers need to consider before joining an aggregator
[10:04] - What the publishing industry's history can teach us about retail media consolidation

Links & Resources
Listen to the full Dean Harris episode of Retail Media Therapy with Viv Craske and Colin Lewis.
Subscribe to Retail Media Therapy
Follow Dean Harris, Head of Co-op Media Network, on LinkedIn
Read my related articles:How Alliances Could Solve Retail Media's Fragmentation Problem
Meet The First Retail Media Federations & Consortiums
What It Actually Takes to Build a Retail Media Federation

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

After living outside Australia for around 15 years, I’m experiencing retail and shopping here with fresh eyes. And one thing that has really caught my attention is just how much retail media is showing up in the physical world.
In this first Trip Report, I’m taking you on a quick tour of six retail and commerce media activations I spotted around Perth. From Commonwealth Bank and Coles, to JB Hi-Fi, David Jones, Australia Post and digital out-of-home media in shopping centres. This isn’t about declaring one market “better” than another. Instead, I’m looking at what’s happening on the ground and using it as a source of inspiration for what’s possible in retail media around the world.

This episode is sponsored by GrowthLoop
Timeline
[02:22] - Why I’m starting these retail media trip reports, and why the goal is inspiration, not declaring one market better than another
[03:08] - Commonwealth Bank’s surprisingly expansive retail media network, spanning branches, ATMs, its app and its Brighter magazine
[05:14] - How Coles 360 is using in-store screens, loyalty data and programmatic capabilities to make physical retail media more measurable
[06:15] - JB Hi-Fi’s transition from screens used for product demos to a more sophisticated, programmatic retail media network
[09:06] - David Jones’ Amplify network and the use of AI cameras to track views and dwell time
[10:00] - Australia Post turns parcel pickup infrastructure into an advertising opportunity, including a clever Vinted integration
[12:00] - The scale of digital out-of-home media inside Australian shopping centres and how local screens connect to a national network

Links & Resources
Retail media in Australia was worth just over $2 billion AUD in FY25
oOh!media operates Australia's largest retail out-of-home network, reaching ~43% of all footfall in the country and covering venues that capture ~46c of every retail dollar spent in shopping centres.
The outgoing Managing Director of Unified Retail Media at Epsilon, Adam Skinner, wrote a farewell post on LinkedIn last week, recounting the various eras he has lived through in his retail media career starting at the early days of CitrusAd.
Read my related articles:In-Store Retail Media Evolved Differently in Europe. Here's Why.
Did we overcook in-store retail media measurement?
The retailer magazine: commerce media's most defensible surface?

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

Last Thursday, Ace Hardware took over Wrigley Field in Chicago for the first upfront from Redvest Media, its roughly year-old retail media network. I wasn’t there myself, so I called my friend Tom Limongello, host of The Middlemen Podcast, who was on the ground. I wanted to know what was happening beyond the press releases: who Ace put on stage, what the retailer was really trying to communicate, and what advertisers were saying afterwards.
We dig into what Ace’s executive lineup reveals about the growing integration of retail media with the broader business, why audience innovation and weather targeting matter to Ace’s advertisers, and how partnerships like DoorDash are helping the retailer reach new customers. We also talk about why retail media networks may need to think differently about upfronts, vendor days and industry events — and why creating an experience that makes advertisers want to believe in the retailer could be a powerful part of the pitch.

This episode is sponsored by GrowthLoop
Timeline
[01:29] - How Ace is integrating retail media with merchandising and the broader business
[03:21] - Why Redvest’s new brand and custom audience capabilities could enable better test-and-learn
[04:31] - The message behind Ace’s executive presence and its growth investment
[07:00] - Why advertiser trust is becoming critical for a newer retail media network
[09:21] - Why weather targeting suddenly matters to Ace’s advertisers
[12:00] - How DoorDash is helping Ace reach new customers, particularly Gen Z
[14:30] - Why Wrigley Field may be a smarter retail media pitch than another industry conference

Links & Resources
Check out The Middlemen's interview with Ace Hardware's Molly Hjelm: When Campaign Results Aren't Enough — Molly Hjelm, RedVest Media
Subscribe to The Middlemen
Follow Tom Limongello, host of The Middlemen Podcast, on LinkedIn
Follow Molly Hjelm, Corporate Vice President and Head of Retail Media at Ace Hardware, on LinkedIn
Read my related articles:Ace Hardware's RedVest Media: Notes From My Interview With Molly Hjelm
Is Retail Media Kidding Itself?
Bring the "Retail" back to Retail Media

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