Retail Media Breakfast Club

Last week, I stepped onto the stage at the Digital Shelf Summit here in Atlanta for a debate that’s been heating up across the industry: is agentic commerce an existential threat to e-commerce traffic? I took the “yes” side — boldly — and in this episode, I’m unpacking my full rebuttal to the idea that this is all just hype.
I walk through where I agree with the skeptics (because yes, some of the data has been overstated), but more importantly, where I think the industry is missing the point entirely. This isn’t about transaction share: it’s about where decisions are being made. If AI shifts the moment of product discovery and comparison upstream, what happens to the retail media model as we know it? Let’s dig into the real implications before we all get too comfortable.

This episode is sponsored by Mirakl Ads

Timeline
[00:00] – Setting the stage: My debate at Digital Shelf Summit and why this topic matters now
[01:25] – Breaking down the “agentic commerce is a hallucination” argument
[03:15] – The critical flaw: Measuring transactions instead of decision-making moments
[04:30] – Why retail media depends on consumer behavior that may be disappearing
[06:30] – New data reveals a shift toward direct-to-product-page shopping
[08:00] – The hidden trade-off: Higher conversion, fewer ad impressions
[10:30] – My final takeaway: The real hallucination isn’t disruption, it’s thinking nothing will change

Links & Resources
Andrew Lipsman's guest post on The AI Ad Economy: An Agentic Commerce Reality Check
Subscribe to Debra Aho Williamson's newsletter The AI Ad Economy
Subscribe to Andrew Lipsman's newsletter Media, Ads + Commerce
Criteo's 2026 COMMERCE & AI TREND REPORT
Adobe's Quarterly AI Traffic Report (April 2026)
Read my related articles:No Incentive To Sound The Alarm
Dark Search, Broken Signals, and What Comes Next for Retail Media
The 3 Ways Agentic Commerce Could Destroy Retail Media
Agentic Shopping Poses An Existential Threat To Retail Media (Part 2)
OpenAI is killing Instant Checkout. Don't dance on the grave of agentic shopping yet (The Drum)
Loyalty data is becoming retail media’s strongest defense (The Drum)
Retailers, here’s how your media network can still thrive in an AI-shopping era (The Drum)

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.
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! 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. 
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

Most retail media networks are built to look backward. But what if the real opportunity is predicting what customers will do next? In this episode, a reprise of my recent article for The Drum, I dig into a fascinating new model that challenges the industry’s reliance on transaction data and closed-loop attribution.
I’m unpacking my recent conversation with Marco Steinsieck, former head of Sephora’s media network and now GM of Backpack Media, an education-powered commerce media network built on Sallie’s ecosystem. I also play a snippet of Marco's recent appearance on The Middlemen podcast to explore how life-stage signals — like planning for college or making first financial decisions — might be a far more powerful indicator of future purchases than anything sitting in a transaction log. This one raises big questions about where commerce media is headed and whether the current playbook is already outdated.

This episode is sponsored by Mirakl Ads

Timeline
[00:00] – Why most commerce media networks are stuck selling the past 
[00:30] – Marco Steinsieck's big idea: predicting future purchases, not past behavior 
[01:04] – Life-stage data vs. transaction data: why one is a leading indicator 
[02:00] – Inside Backpack Media and how education data powers predictive modeling 
[03:15] – Lessons from Sephora: building a high-performing media network without massive scale 
[04:00] – The privacy-first challenge of building media inside a financial institution 
[07:30] – Is this really “commerce media”? Rethinking the definition of the category 
[09:00] – Why predictive commerce is still unproven, and what needs to happen next

Links & Resources
Marco Steinsieck profile on The Drum: Meet the former Sephora exec betting commerce media can predict the future
Marco Steinsieck's full appearance on The Middlemen podcast: Beyond Transactions — Marco Steinsieck (Backpack Media)
Subscribe to The Middlemen on YouTube and Apple Podcasts
Follow Marco Steinsieck on LinkedIn
Read my related articles:Best Buy Wants To Become An Ad Platform, Not Just Another RMN
Sam's Club Cracked the Code on In-Store Retail Media—Here's How They Did It
Retailers Hit 99% Ad Coverage Without Killing User Experience, New Research Shows

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.
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! 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. 
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 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