Retail Media Networks: Why You Can’t Ignore Them in 2025

Introduction – Riding the Retail-Media Wave Retail media is no longer a tactical experiment. Global retail-media spend is set to jump 13.9 % in 2025, making it the fastest-growing digital channel after CTV.dentsu.com At the same time, digital advertising overall will smash the three-quarter barrier for the first time, accounting for more than 75 % of worldwide media investment.emarketer.com Brands that master Retail Media Networks (RMNs) now will own the digital shelf tomorrow.

1 | What Exactly Is a Retail Media Network?

A Retail Media Network is a closed ad ecosystem run by a retailer—think Amazon Ads, Walmart Connect or Carrefour Links—that monetises first-party purchase data.

• On-site: sponsored products, display banners, branded storefronts.
• Off-site: programmatic inventory on third-party sites using retailer audiences.
• In-store: digital screens, radio, smart carts, point-of-sale displays.

Because RMNs sit centimetres from the transaction, they blur the line between media and trade spend and deliver performance signals upper-funnel channels can’t match.

2 | Why 2025 Is the Tipping Point

1. Death of third-party cookies — first-party data is the new gold.
2. Board-level ROAS pressure — finance teams fund what sells, not what “reaches”.
3. Commerce everywhere — social feeds, search results and streaming apps now have a “Buy” button.
4. European scale — IAB Europe projects retail-media investment to hit €25 bn by 2027, quadrupling 2020 levels.iabeurope.eu

Every euro leaving linear TV or open-web display is hunting for performance—RMNs are first in line.

3 | Blueprint of a Winning RMN Strategy

Building Block

Key Question

Pro Tip

Business goal

Awareness, conversion, loyalty?

Tie each format to a hard sales KPI; align with trade marketing.

Network selection

Which RMNs reach your shoppers?

Start with endemic retailers; expand once measurement is mature.

Creatives & formats

Search vs. video?

Use retail search for bottom-funnel wins; rich media for storytelling.

Measurement

How to prove incrementality?

Blend matched-market tests with clean-room analyses; avoid last-click bias.

4 | Eight-Step Operational Checklist

1. Map the customer journey and basket drivers.
2. Pick two pilot networks; ring-fence test budget.
3. Upload clean product feeds with consistent taxonomy.
4. Build keyword and audience matrices.
5. Launch A/B creative tests (static vs. motion).
6. Track retailer attribution plus Google Analytics.
7. Hold fortnightly optimisation sprints.
8. Document learnings and scale to new markets.

5 | Glossary (Fast Five)

• RMN – Retail Media Network, a retailer-owned ad platform.
• First-party data – Purchase or behavioural data collected directly by a retailer.
• On-site vs. Off-site – Ads that live on the retailer’s property versus across the open web.
• Clean room – Privacy-safe environment where brands and retailers match datasets.
• Incremental sales – Units sold that would not have happened without the campaign.

6 | Common Pitfalls to Avoid

• Copy-pasting Google keywords. Retail search intent is narrower; focus on SKU-level queries.
• Under-investing in creative. Even sponsored-product tiles need storytelling—test lifestyle imagery vs. pack-shot.
• Ignoring supply-chain realities. Promoting an out-of-stock item tanks ROAS overnight.
• Relying on last click. Pair media impressions with point-of-sale data to surface true incrementality.

7 | What Success Looks Like in Year One

Metric

Target

Why It Matters

Incremental ROAS

+20 % vs. baseline

Confirms the network moves product, not just shifts channels.

Repeat rate

≥15 % of RMN buyers repurchase within 60 days

Proves quality of customers acquired.

Share-of-Shelf

Top-3 slot for strategic SKUs on key category terms

Increases visibility and blocks competitors.

Track these three indicators quarterly; they form a leading dashboard for C-suite updates.

Conclusion & Call-to-Action

Retail media has graduated from experimental line item to must-have discipline. Brands that act decisively in 2025 will lock in data advantages their competitors will struggle to match.

Ready to dive deeper? Visit EmilioDeCesare.com for the complete Retail Media Strategy Guide and start conquering the digital shelf today.