The Shift to Maturation
Retail media networks, historically centered on lower-funnel performance marketing, are broadening their scope to offer full-funnel advertising solutions. This strategic evolution aims to attract larger brand budgets by providing campaigns that address awareness, consideration and conversion stages. The move reflects retail media’s growing maturity as it adapts to marketer demands for comprehensive measurement and multi-stage brand impact.
Key Recent Examples
- Walmart & NBCUniversal: This partnership integrates Walmart’s shopper data with NBCUniversal’s cross-platform audience targeting, enabling seamless reach across linear, digital and streaming environments.
- Amazon & Roku: Their collaboration involves pooling audiences through Amazon’s DSP and Roku’s platform, extending targeting beyond Amazon properties into broader media ecosystems.
- DoorDash Ads & Symbiosys Acquisition: DoorDash expanded its retail media capabilities with the off-site Symbiosys acquisition, enabling advertisers to engage consumers beyond the app.
- Instacart & Pinterest: Their partnership brings shoppable pins to Pinterest’s visual discovery platform, blending inspiration with on-demand purchasing opportunities.
- Other retail media players such as Kroger, Albertsons and PayPal Ads have similarly broadened their offerings to incorporate off-site media and more advanced measurement solutions.
Why the Change Matters
The shift to full-funnel solutions provides retail media networks with access to diversified ad spending, moving beyond click-to-cart attribution alone. Marketers increasingly expect attribution models that deliver insights across awareness, engagement and sales, driving integrated campaign strategies. This expanded capability helps retail media differentiate within a competitive digital advertising market and capitalizes on the growing opportunity presented by off-site retail media spend.
The Outlook
As retail media networks mature, their role evolves into indispensable, measurable platforms that drive both brand building and direct sales. The full-funnel approach aligns with advertiser priorities for attribution and cross-platform impact, positioning retail media as a central component of modern marketing mix strategies. Brands and agencies can expect retail media to continue expanding its reach and sophistication in the coming years.
