Retail Media Breakfast Club

We’ve struck a pretty clear deal with advertisers: we tolerate ads in exchange for free or subsidized services. But what happens when those ads show up inside AI assistants that we’re increasingly relying on to help us shop? New research from Bazaarvoice, which I co-authored, reveals that consumers are already questioning whether AI recommendations are truly independent. And that raises some important questions for brands and retail media advertisers.
In this episode, a recap of my recent article for The Drum, I dig into what shoppers actually think about advertising in AI, why sponsored placements aren’t a shortcut to building brand trust, and where consumers go to validate AI-recommended products. I also explore what brands can do right now to make sure their reviews, user-generated content, and product information are accessible to both shoppers and AI crawlers. Because AI might open the door to a brand, but that doesn't mean it earns the customer's trust.

This episode is sponsored by GrowthLoop
Timeline
[00:00] – Why consumers tolerate traditional advertising but feel differently about ads inside AI assistants.
[01:03] – New Bazaarvoice research reveals that 54% of consumers believe advertising in AI could influence its recommendations.
[02:19] – The difference between earning an organic AI recommendation and buying a sponsored placement.
[05:00] – Why AI advertising is still an immature channel, and what that means for brand budgets and campaign measurement.
[06:01] – Where shoppers actually go to validate AI recommendations, from customer reviews to brand websites and retailer sites.
[08:40] – How brands can build trust with reviews, user-generated content, and accessible product information.
[10:25] – The evolution of who vouches for brands, and why AI assistants can’t be the only source of trust.

Links & Resources
This is a recap of an article was originally published to my column at The Drum on September 15  2026 as 'Ads in AI can’t vouch for your brand yet. Here’s what can'. It is reproduced here with permission.
Here's the link to download the full Bazaarvoice consumer study that I co-authored: What Is a Brand Worth When AI Does the Shopping?
Learn about Bazaarvoice, a platform that collects, syndicates, and optimizes UGC across retailers, all in one place.
Check out WPP: Who owns the learning? by Ad industry veteran John Ebbert, who founded AdExchanger and now writes the tipsheet.ai newsletter.
Read my related articles:Maybe Ads in AI Don't Have To Suck?
I Really, Really Hoped That Ads in AI Wouldn't Suck. Now We Find Out.
AI Makes Shopping Easier. But Shoppers Still Check The Receipts.

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

I've got some really good news to share on today's Retail Media Breakfast Club. Despite some of the things that can leave me feeling a little disheartened about the retail media industry, I recently discovered something genuinely exciting: 44% of US retail media networks are led by women. That's substantially higher than the representation of women in VP and SVP roles reported in recent McKinsey research.
I put together a database of named P&L leaders across the NRF's 2026 Top 100 US retailers, and I'm sharing what I found, along with a few theories about why retail media might be getting something right. From the role of relationships and women's leadership networks, to the influence of marketing functions, I'm exploring what might be behind these numbers. I don't have a definitive conclusion just yet, but I'd love to hear what you think we're doing well as an industry, and what we should do with this information.

This episode is sponsored by GrowthLoop
Timeline
[00:51] – The surprising discovery: 44% of US retail media networks are led by women.
[01:46] – How I built my database using the NRF's 2026 Top 100 US retailers.
[03:14] – Why retail media might be a more welcoming segment of the media industry.
[03:44] – How women's leadership networks and meaningful relationships can help women reach the top.
[05:39] – Could retail media's roots in marketing help explain the numbers?
[06:07] – Why I ruled out the glass cliff theory as an explanation.
[06:35] – What these findings mean for the industry, and why I want to hear your thoughts.

Links & Resources
Link to RMN Leaders Database for Retail Media Breakfast Club subscribers: Who runs US retail media? The RMN leaders database
Women in the Workplace 2025 McKinsey research
Women In Commerce Media Collective
Follow Ana Laura Zain, Co-Founder of Women In Commerce Media Collective, on LinkedIn
Subscribe to Andrew Lipsman's newsletter Media, Ads + Commerce
Read my related articles:FTC v Amazon: Nothing Changes
The Other Side of the Story: Why Retailers Struggle with Media Measurement & Standardization
Why Do Brand Marketers Love To Hate On Retail Media?

I'm sharing comedy skits on Instagram about retail media! Follow along: @retailmediabreakfastclub
Subscribe to Retail Media Breakfast Club's daily newsletter
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Why do good retailers make bad ad tech decisions? In part two of my series on the different eras of retail media, I’m expanding on my recent article for The Drum, and exploring why choosing the right technology is only part of the equation. The bigger question is: What role does your retail media network actually play in the media plan?

Drawing on insights from Co-op Media Network’s Dean Harris and Ace Hardware’s Molly Hjelm, I look at the different end states for retail media networks, from scaled walled gardens to specialist players and low-cost reach extensions. I also explore why some networks get stuck in the squeezed middle, how technology decisions can create organizational headaches, and why retailers need to think about their proposition before rushing to launch a product.
If you're building a retail media network, evaluating ad tech, or trying to understand what advertisers actually want, this episode is about taking a step back and asking the right questions before investing in the next big technology solution

This episode is sponsored by GrowthLoop
Timeline
00:00 – Revisiting the different eras of retail media technology and why technology alone doesn't explain the market.
01:39 – Rocks, pebbles, and sand: Dean Harris's framework for understanding the different end states of retail media networks.
03:15 – The squeezed middle: why networks without scale or differentiation struggle to attract agency attention and repeat investment.
04:16 – Tech composability versus the all-in-one solution: understanding which strategies are realistic for different retail media networks.
06:49 – Why Ace Hardware's Redvest Media puts its proposition first, and why retailers need different technology strategies.
08:13 – The organizational cost of retail media technology: why pre-integrated solutions can't solve internal inertia and infrastructure challenges.
10:00 – What media buyers actually want, and why retailers need to acknowledge their place in the media plan.

Links & Resources
A version of this piece originally appeared in my column at The Drum
I've split it into two parts for RMBC. This episode is part two of two. You can listen to or read part one.
Co-op Media Network — the UK's first convenience retail media network
Co-op's network is run by Threefold, whose parent SMG launched a retail media exchange of its own this year.
Follow Dean Harris, Head of Co-op Media Network, on LinkedIn
Read my related articles:Retail media's four eras (Part 1 of 2)
The UK Takes A Run At Retail Media Aggregation
The Retail Media Doom Loop
Ace Hardware's RedVest Media: Notes From My Interview With Molly Hjelm

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

Retail media technology has already gone through several major reinventions. From retailers building their own ad tech stacks, to point solutions, cloud-based composable technology, and now AI-ready data infrastructure.
In this episode, I’m recapping my recent article for The Drum, and exploring the four eras of retail media tech. More importantly, why these eras aren’t necessarily sequential. Across retail media networks today, you can find very different technology architectures operating at the same time, and I dig into what led up to this moment. 
Tomorrow, in part two, I’ll look at another framework for thinking about retail media technology investment and what all of this means for the brands actually buying retail media.

This episode is sponsored by GrowthLoop
Timeline
00:00 — Why legacy ad servers are still holding retail media networks back
02:35 — The four eras of retail media technology
03:25 — How economic cycles influence build vs. buy decisions
04:22 — The rise of cloud and composable retail media technology
04:51 — Why AI is changing the requirements for retailer data
07:18 — Why the four “eras” are actually happening simultaneously
08:40 — The budget clock vs. the career clock in retail media

Links & Resources
A version of this piece originally appeared in my column at The Drum last week. I've split it into two parts for RMBC; this is part one of two.
On 20 August 2026, current RMBC sponsor GrowthLoop launched an end-to-end commerce media network solution that's pre-integrated with The Trade Desk, Moloco, Snowflake, BigQuery, Databricks and identity provider Audience Acuity.
Read my related articles:Costco Is The First US RMN To Reveal Its Entire Tech Stack
Ace Hardware's RedVest Media: Notes From My Interview With Molly Hjelm
How an RMN's tech stack impacts your advertising results

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

Most shoppers are now using AI tools to shop, and they’re increasingly discovering new brands and products inside a chat window. That raises a practical question for anyone buying or selling commerce media: what does it actually take to get a shopper to switch to a brand they’ve never heard of when an AI assistant recommends it?
In this episode, I’m sharing highlights from the new consumer study I collaborated on with Bazaarvoice, What Is a Brand Worth When AI Does the Shopping? We looked at price sensitivity, brand familiarity, consumer trust, product reviews, category risk, private label, and what happens when AI puts incumbent and challenger brands side by side. The findings suggest that AI shopping may be less of a race to the bottom than brands fear — but it does raise the bar for proving that a premium is actually worth paying.
This episode is sponsored by GrowthLoop
Timeline
[01:41] - How much of a discount does it really take to make shoppers switch to a dupe?
[02:30] - Why shoppers aren’t automatically choosing the cheapest option when AI presents them with multiple products
[04:15] - The surprising strength of brand familiarity when AI makes the recommendation
[06:15] - Why category risk changes how willing shoppers are to try an unfamiliar brand
[07:30] - The role of reviews, photos, and video in making an unfamiliar AI-recommended brand credible
[08:31] - What private label can teach challenger brands about competing against established national brands
[09:11] - Why brands and retailers need to make their proof points findable by both shoppers and AI models

Links & Resources
Here's the link to download the full Bazaarvoice consumer study that I co-authored: What Is a Brand Worth When AI Does the Shopping?
Learn about Bazaarvoice, a platform that collects, syndicates, and optimizes UGC across retailers, all in one place.
Read my related articles:AI Makes Shopping Easier. But Shoppers Still Check The Receipts.
AI-Enabled Shopping Hits 74% Adoption
AI Agents & The Evolving Path to Purchase: How Brands Must Adapt

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