Maturation Drives a Bid for Brand Budgets
Retail media networks (RMNs) are evolving beyond their traditional emphasis on performance-driven, lower-funnel advertising. This shift reflects the maturation of the retail media sector, as RMNs seek to broaden their appeal by offering full-funnel advertising solutions that address both brand awareness and direct sales. The goal is clear: capture a greater share of brand advertising budgets and diversify revenue streams as competition intensifies.
Key recent examples illustrate this trend. Partnerships and acquisitions across the industry enable RMNs to expand their reach beyond on-site conversions. Walmart Connect’s collaboration with NBCUniversal and Amazon’s integration with Roku illustrate moves into off-site channels, enabling advertisers to engage consumers across broader digital environments. Similarly, strategic alliances such as DoorDash’s partnership with Symbiosys and Instacart’s link with Pinterest highlight the push to incorporate shoppable media and cross-platform measurement tools. These developments enhance targeting precision and create measurable brand outcomes alongside sales attribution.
The timing reflects demands from brand marketers for addressable, transparent advertising environments. RMNs are responding to these expectations by building capabilities that support holistic attribution models and cross-channel reach, critical for measuring brand impact and allocating diversified ad spend effectively. The off-site expansion represents a significant growth opportunity, allowing retail media to transcend its original conversion-oriented framework and better align with full-funnel marketing strategies.
Implications for the Industry
This strategic realignment intensifies competition among RMNs, with each seeking to differentiate through capabilities that span the entire consumer journey. The inclusion of upper-funnel tactics shifts retail media from a narrowly focused conversion tool into a central component of integrated brand campaigns. For advertisers, this translates into a more versatile and measurable retail media ecosystem that complements traditional digital and TV media buys. Overall, the full-funnel transition signifies a key milestone in retail media’s evolution, positioning it for sustained growth and broader strategic relevance in advertisers’ media plans.
