What’s in store for Retail Media in 2025? We asked members of our Retail Media Committee to share their predictions on the trends and themes that will shape the industry over the next 12 months. Take a look below to see their insights, including their buzzword predictions.
A big thank you to the following contributors for sharing their thoughts:
Jason Wescott, Global Head of Commerce Solutions, GroupM & IAB Europe’s Retail Media Committee Chair
Tanguy Le Falher, Head of Retail Partnerships, Unlimitail
Katie Streeter Hurle, CSO, SMG
Lucie Laurendon, Head of Product Marketing, Equativ
Troy Townsend, CEO, Zitcha
Jason: “Innovation will be a key trend that shapes 2025. This can be interpreted broadly in the way that industry players will seek growth through differentiation as markets become more saturated. Data collaboration, automation, AI creative tools, and incrementality are key innovation fields promising bigger, better, and faster. I also think opportunism will be a trend, and I use this without negative connotation, but more in the sense of striking whilst the iron is hot. Retail Media is in demand and FOMO is in full effect for retailers who have been slow to mobilise. AdTech providers are well positioned to capitalise, with Amazon even throwing their hat in the ring recently announcing their Amazon Retail Ad Service rollout, in the US for on-site search, initially.”
Tanguy: “Retail Media will accelerate its transformation to be omnichannel. It is making a lot of sense for shoppers, retailers, and brands. Many omnichannel retailers are now becoming mature in Retail Media, enabling them to invest in-store and create opportunities for brands to connect with shoppers at the point of purchase where the large majority of sales still happen. This trend also corresponds to the key need to connect digital and physical touchpoints and measure the contribution of each interaction on total sales to reflect shopper behaviour.”
Katie: “I think the major trend we’ll see is Retail Media consolidation and partnerships. We know that the buy-side is finding it hard to navigate the explosion in Retail Media Network (RMN) launches that have cropped up across Europe in the last 2 years, yet there are still further retailers with interesting data and media propositions who could play an interesting role for advertisers. I believe that we’ll see a combination of smaller retail players partnering with larger networks, as well as new market propositions being launched that help to create more aggregated and integrated Retail Media offers. This should be good for everyone - it’ll drive simplification and ease of buying for agencies and brands, and it’ll create a role in the market for those with valuable media capabilities who can’t win on their own.”
Lucie: “Retail Media Goes Programmatic: Break Down Silos
Even if Retail Media will still be a gated garden, to increase revenue and fill rate, retailers will open their inventory to a certain extent. Bringing programmatic demand from standard DSPs through deals helps retailers meet their goals without relying solely on their internal sales house teams.
CTV Will Play a Big Role in Retail Media
Connected TV is poised to be a big driver in the next phase of Retail Media. With streaming becoming increasingly dominant, CTV offers retailers a new medium to capture consumers’ attention within the home.”
Troy: “I think we’re going to see European retailers level up when it comes to using data to deliver real value to their customers. They’ll focus on meeting shoppers where they’re spending their time—whether that’s Connected TV, social platforms, or other emerging channels—and using Retail Media to make those touchpoints more meaningful. The store is also going to play a much bigger role, with more retailers doubling down on store measurement. By connecting brand spend to in-store transactions, they’ll unlock some of the most valuable insights and opportunities for growth. It’s all about creating smarter, more connected retail experiences.”
Jason: “Data clean rooms will significantly impact Retail Media growth in 2025 by enabling secure data collaboration between retailers and brands without compromising consumer privacy. Using encrypted data, both parties can gain deeper insights into consumer behavior and optimise advertising strategies. For example, Amazon Marketing Cloud allows advertisers to perform analytics on their Amazon advertising data. Criteo’s partnership with LiveRamp enables Boots Media Group to offer transparent attribution by uniting loyalty card data with online exposure and in-store sales. As more retailers and brands adopt these capabilities, more effective advertising campaigns will drive further growth in the Retail Media sector.”
Tanguy: “Identity Resolution is the technological backbone to develop enriched experiences for brands. Having a robust identity resolution technology opens for retailers the offsite Retail Media opportunity by recognising shoppers not only on retailer websites but also in all publisher environments. Likewise, identity resolution connects offline signals and purchases with online customer behaviours. This is the only way to power and measure a robust ROPO effect on Retail Media activities to follow shoppers across channels and reflect their behaviour. This advancement in tech is already live but its usage will undoubtedly grow a lot in 2025.”
Katie: “Much of the existing Retail Media technology is still digital only but over the next year I hope we’ll start to see more seamless integration of in-store and digital media into single commerce media platforms as this is what both retailers and brands need. Perhaps we could even get to the point where these platforms enable a single customer view using loyalty data so that campaigns can be planned, activated, and measured on a genuinely 1-2-1 customer basis. That would be a significant advancement but it’s not out of the realms of possibility in the next 12 months”
Lucie: “Advancements in technology will significantly shape Retail Media strategies this year, driven by AI and machine learning. AI-powered tools will enable retailers to optimise creative assets dynamically, tailoring ads to specific audiences for better engagement. Machine learning will automate budget allocation and campaign performance optimisation across various Retail Media channels, ensuring efficient spending and maximizing ROI. These advancements will empower retailers to execute more precise, data-driven strategies, offering personalised experiences at scale while improving operational efficiency.”
Troy: “The next wave of technology will focus on integrating Retail Media operations seamlessly. Unified platforms are becoming essential, connecting planning, execution, and reporting into a single view. Automation will play a big role in reducing manual work, freeing up teams to focus on strategic goals. AI-driven analytics will deliver real-time insights, enabling smarter decision-making and more precise omnichannel execution. These advancements will also prioritise privacy-first architectures, ensuring first-party data remains secure while empowering retailers and brands to optimise campaigns and drive meaningful growth.”
Jason: “I’m optimistic the industry can make strides forward on more standardised measurement and reporting this year. Publishing Retail Media measurement standards last year was a positive start, but there is much to be done to facilitate widespread adoption. Our Retail Media Measurement Certification programme (currently in beta testing) will help progress standardisation by offering retailers the chance to substantiate (and promote) their adherence, and thus offer assurance to advertisers.”
Tanguy: “We have seen tremendous effort over the last two years on measurement standardisation, which is a good sign. As Unlimitail we are seeing a common and shared interest from retailers and brands to reach the goal of having the same definitions and structure regarding standards. More and more mature retailers do understand the need for a standardised approach to measurement and their benefits. For 2025 I expect to see more retailers using the same measurement framework via the same KPI definitions such as shared by IAB Europe and the work of local entities like Alliance Digitale in France.”
Katie: “Retailers are working hard behind the scenes to adopt the measurement frameworks developed and championed by the IAB. This takes time (it’s often far more about the practical realities of systems inside retailers rather than appetite or desire to standardise), but I think we’ll see progress in adoption, particularly in the second half of 2025.”
Troy: “In 2025, real-time reporting will become more prominent, giving stakeholders actionable insights to optimise campaigns dynamically. Standardisation will also take center stage, as retailers and platforms push for greater transparency and consistency in how performance is tracked and evaluated. Efforts by organisations like IAB Europe will play a key role in driving the adoption of uniform metrics, building trust, and making it easier for buyers to understand the direct impact of their retail media investments across all channels.”
Jason: “As the sector continues to mature and advertisers (and their agencies) are becoming savvier in relation to the value and context of Retail Media performance metrics, ostensible claims of success through an inflated ROAS without broader context on campaign objectives, targeting and placements will no longer fly. This progression is an undoubtedly positive development but will make buying more complex as advertisers demand the use of more sophisticated and commercially robust KPIs i.e. sales uplift, iROAS.”
Tanguy: “There are two big challenges on the buy side in 2025. First, concerns on the budget allocation by the retailer. With the improved options offered by retailers in Europe, brands and agencies have multiple relevant choices regarding where to put their focus. Buyers will need to consider their retailers and marketplace turnover to balance their investments correctly and invest where their shoppers are. The second challenge concerns attribution with the need for buyers to have a deep look at their performance metrics and the scope of attributed sales. It is key to compare apples with apples and to be able to gain precise performance metrics such as standardised post view and post click lookback windows and ROAS.”
Katie: “I think internal alignment and structures are a growing challenge. Retail Media is disrupting the traditional categorisation of media and that means that bridging gaps between brand, shopper, and media teams (plus, of course, agencies) to build cohesive Retail Media strategies is crucial but also incredibly difficult. It often takes a single brand-side champion to connect the dots manually which is a great short-term intervention, but we will likely need more systemic reorganisation inside brands to make this truly work. I also think a key challenge is balancing short-term performance with long-term brand building. I’d love advertisers to properly rethink Retail Media's role beyond lower-funnel objectives, and that will mean a whole new planning and measurement approach.”
Troy: “We will continue to see the critical challenge of fragmented teams, with marketing, merchandising, and operations often working in silos, leading to misaligned strategies and inefficiencies. To succeed, organisations must prioritise unifying these teams through platforms or systems that enable seamless collaboration and shared visibility. This internal fragmentation is compounded by external challenges like the lack of standardisation across Retail Media networks, concerns around data ownership, and rising costs for premium placements. Overcoming these hurdles requires a focus on integrated solutions that bring teams together, ensure transparency, and empower buyers to make data-driven decisions with confidence.”
Jason: “Incrementality (this is my favourite), full-funnel (I loathe this one but keep hearing it), offsite and in-store (these two will be ubiquitous), and non-endemic advertiser (just rolls off the tongue?!)”
Tanguy: “Omnichannel will be much more part of the conversations to reflect shopper behaviour through advanced technologies. Regarding measurement, incrementality will be a hot topic and surely be covered by professional associations.”
Katie: “It’s got to be consolidation and upper-funnel right?! Plus, standardisation will still be high in the Retail Media conversation agenda”
Lucie: “In-store and sustainability. Retailers will expand interactive digital displays to personalise in-store promotions, increasing real-time relevancy based on shopper data and behavior. In-Store Data Integration: Expect deeper integration of in-store shopping behavior with online profiles, enabling more unified omnichannel campaigns. Sustainability will be a growing concern in advertising in general.”
Troy: In 2025, "merch" is definitely going to be a buzzword to watch—it’s where merchandising and Retail Media finally come together in a meaningful way. JBP (Joint Business Planning) isn’t going anywhere either; it’s still the backbone of strong retailer-brand partnerships. Omnichannel will keep making waves as businesses focus on tying together in-store, online, and offsite experiences seamlessly. And, of course, ROAS is here to stay—it’s the metric everyone loves to rely on for measuring campaign success.”