30 July 2025

Retail media is growing. But not for the reasons you think.

In summary

• Retail media is no longer confined to retailer websites. It’s showing up in AI search, social feeds, streaming platforms, everywhere consumers are ready to buy.
• Big tech players like Google, Amazon and Microsoft are reshaping discovery into commerce, and brands are redirecting budgets to meet consumers in these new, shoppable moments.
• Retail media is now a core part of digital strategy: measured, data-driven, and deeply integrated. Agencies, platforms, and brands need to work together, or risk falling behind.

The rise of everywhere commerce

Retail media used to be a retailer problem. Or a shopper marketing line item. Not anymore.

At this year’s IAB Australia Retail Media & Commerce Summit, two themes surfaced again and again:

• People are shopping everywhere, in search, in chat, in streams, and expect relevant products to appear in real time.
• Big tech is reorganising the internet around that behaviour. And they want the media dollars that come with it.

Google’s AI Overviews are already blending product listings into AI-generated answers. Amazon owns the ad and the checkout. Microsoft’s retail data infrastructure is shifting the offsite game.

The implication is clear: if discovery is contextual, shoppable moments must be too.

Retail media is no longer a silo. It’s a strategy.

Retail media is no longer a silo. It’s a strategy.

Retail media isn’t just “growing.” It’s becoming embedded in targeting, optimisation, and measurement across the broader ad tech stack.

Budgets aren’t ballooning, they’re shifting.

As one panelist put it, “Most businesses are still working within the same overall budget. What’s changing is where the investment flows.”

That means trade deals, shopper allocations, and even brand spend are being reassigned, not because retail media is shiny, but because it’s measurable, contextual, and closer to the point of purchase.

And here’s the kicker: The true value of retail media lies in the first-party shopper data retailers own, data that’s unavailable anywhere else in the ecosystem.

As privacy regulations tighten and third-party cookies disappear, this data becomes mission-critical for targeting, personalisation, and closed-loop measurement.

But data alone isn’t enough. Brands that know how to integrate and activate this data effectively will gain a significant competitive edge, unlocking performance that others simply can’t match.

Success now depends on brands and agencies investing in integrated infrastructures and developing the skills to manage them effectively.

Those who don’t risk losing efficiency, accuracy, and market relevance.

Complexity is rising. So is the need for integration.

Retail media’s acceleration has created fragmentation. Walled gardens, inconsistent metrics, team silos, it’s a complex and fast-moving ecosystem.

Agencies are no longer just media buyers. They’re translators, integrators, and educators.
One panelist shared: “Sales teams are saying: I can negotiate an end cap. I don’t know what off-network means. Please take it off my hands.”

Today, media agencies are being pulled into commercial negotiations, product planning, and tech design, because most brands don’t have the in-house expertise to bridge retail data with media strategy (or navigate privacy protocols in clean rooms).

And with complexity comes new demands. Retail media now requires new skills, new technologies, and new resources, from clean room fluency and cross-functional collaboration to advanced measurement frameworks and privacy-compliant infrastructure.

From transaction to transformation

While industry satisfaction with retail media networks is dropping (down from 66% to 44% according to IAB Australia), that’s not a red flag, it’s growing pains.

We’re still in the early innings. Measurement is maturing. Platform infrastructure is catching up. And the people building this new ecosystem, brands, retailers, agencies, are still figuring out how to speak the same language.

Winning brands understand retail media isn’t just about immediate sales.

They’re investing in measurement frameworks that capture long-term customer value, offline conversions, and brand health, turning retail media from a short-term tactic into a strategic growth engine.

But that transformation doesn’t happen by accident. It requires the right infrastructure, data foundations, and cross-functional alignment.

That’s why building a strong measurement foundation matters. It’s the first step toward making retail media not just accountable, but genuinely effective, beyond ROAS, toward sustainable, long-term growth.

Louder’s recommendation

We think the brands that win won’t just chase reach or ROAS, they’ll treat retail media like a strategic system. That means:

• Building capability, not just campaigns
• Connecting offline, online, and offsite signals
• Partnering early, not just briefing late

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