The $140B global retail media market is eyeing AI for growth.
Discussions of retail media networks (RMNs) and AI are picking up momentum among execs from retailers, agencies, and digital media companies:
Source: CB Insights — Earnings transcript analysis
RMNs allow brands to run targeted ad campaigns across a retailer’s digital properties, leveraging the retailers’ first-party customer spending data.
As more companies launch ad networks, players from Visa to Walmart are already deploying AI tools to optimize media spending, generate content, and personalize digital experiences.
The movement creates two key opportunities for advertisers, retailers, and other industry players:
- Leveraging generative AI and consumer data to produce more personalized, targeted content: Retailers, brands, and advertising platforms alike must ensure their data infrastructure can support AI-powered analysis and personalization, whether via partnerships or buildouts of new technology.
- Testing and learning with AI search will supercharge retail media networks’ reach: Advertisers as well as retailers should be testing AI search platforms now as platforms like Perplexity represent new frontiers for reaching consumers at the point of intent. Waiting too long to enter this space could put companies at a competitive disadvantage.
In this brief, we use CB Insights’ earnings transcripts, funding data, and instant insights capabilities to understand retail and digital media’s next evolution.
