Retail Media

“I think there's definitely a danger that Amazon uses its power, which is extraordinary. It's an extraordinary amount of data for marketers and reach among its audience to tie up a big portion of the media business and create a little mini monopoly. And I don't see anything stopping them right now because what they're doing is not illegal. They don't have a monopoly in anything except maybe book sales or something.”

“I think there's definitely a danger that Amazon uses its power, which is extraordinary. It's an extraordinary amount of data for marketers and reach among its audience to tie up a big portion of the media business and create a little mini monopoly. And I don't see anything stopping them right now because what they're doing is not illegal. They don't have a monopoly in anything except maybe book sales or something.”

“2025 PREDICTION #2: RETAIL MEDIA WILL GO MORE MAINSTREAM NEXT YEAR, WITH A WAVE OF RETAIL MEDIA ON CTV.”

“Like retailers, we have first-party data and a dedicated audience. But what sets us apart is the unrivaled scale and insights from our customers — having long served as a trusted guide for their financial decisions. Chase reaches across brands, merchants and shopping verticals, providing a comprehensive view of purchase behavior; this strengthens the degree of personalization, helping brands deliver offers that stoke consumer interests.”

“Increasing prevalence of AI-based activation” in retail media, led by Amazon and mature networks; retailers will automate audience/placement selection for outputs like ROAS or new-to-brand growth, balancing automation with advertiser controls.”

“AI is going to be increasingly important – both generative and predictive. [Epsilon] has been using predictive AI to get the right message in front of the right consumer at the right time for over 10 years. This is not going to stop and will become increasingly important to help drive the best outcomes for consumers, brands and retailers.” (On generative AI: “This too will be important to help manage campaigns and manage creative within retail media.””

“Retail media networks are going to eat search budgets faster than CTV ate TV — every retailer with a loyalty program is now an ad seller.”

“Retail media networks are about to become the third big wave of digital advertising, after search and social.”

“Amazon Ads is on track to be the third pillar of digital advertising and is squeezing both Google and Meta for budget.”

“Amazon becomes one of the five largest media firms by the end of 2020.”

“Retail media will likely come full circle, moving from brick-and-mortar to digital to TV and right back into the physical store—only this time through digital media displays. While brick-and-mortar signage is still in the early phases of adoptions, particularly in grocery stores where it wields the greatest potential, it’s inevitable that retail media will get reintroduced into this environment—albeit in a different format.”

“Not everyone needs to buy everything through AI for it to become a healthy sales channel. This year, many of the sources of friction are going away. Consumers may be surprised at first that they can buy that weather-sealing tape without leaving the conversation. Soon enough, they'll expect it.”

“Open-web programmatic CPMs will continue to compress in Q1 2026 as walled-garden retail media siphons budgets, with at least one major SSP issuing a guidance cut.”