Observed Signal · Oct 12, 2026 · Research / Insights · Source: The Drum · Impact: 3/5 · Sentiment: Positive
Retail media networks shift focus back to onsite ads
A new survey of 61 US retail media network (RMN) leaders by eMarketer and Bain & Company reveals a strategic retreat from offsite formats like social, CTV, and influencers back to onsite product advertising. The survey, conducted in July, found that the top three growth formats for the next year are all onsite: search and sponsored product ads (43%), native AI ads (39%), and display/banner ads (36%). This shift is driven by higher profit margins (70-80% onsite vs. 40% offsite), greater control, and fewer third parties involved. Offsite expansion, including social and in-store, has proven difficult to sell, with social retail media spending under 2% of total US retail media spend. However, the strategy carries risks, as AI assistants could bypass retailer-owned purchase journeys, threatening the sponsored listings that dominate onsite revenue. Only a few well-resourced networks like Best Buy are pursuing big offsite bets.
The article provides strategic insights into the retail media industry's shift towards onsite advertising, highlighting financial motivations and challenges. It is highly relevant to AdTech/MarTech professionals and includes proprietary survey data from eMarketer and Bain & Company.
Track Omnicom Signals & Market Shifts in Real-Time
Polaris7 autonomous intelligence agents track regulatory filings, primary sources, executive changes, and deal flow 24/7. Create your Polaris7 workspace to monitor these entities.
Key Takeaways & Evidence Grounding
- Survey of 61 US retail media network leaders conducted in July shows top growth formats for next year are all onsite.
- Onsite advertising generates profit margins of around 70-80% for US retailers, compared to roughly 40% for offsite.
- Retail media spending on social will be about $1.3bn in the US this year, under 2% of total retail media spend.
- 44% of retail media leaders named AI platforms bypassing retailer-owned purchase journeys as a top disruption.
- Only 31% of leaders strongly agree their retail media revenue is incremental to existing supplier spend, down 14 percentage points.
Connected Companies & Entities
7 Entities mapped“Walmart Connect and Omnicom brought Meta into their partnership to match Walmart purchase data with Instagram creators.”
“Meta's Muse AI agent can now shop and check out for users.”
US pharmacy retailer delivering prescriptions, healthcare services, consumer goods and retail media.
“Walgreens is putting screens into 1,200 stores.”
“New research from eMarketer and Bain & Company shows that senior retail media leaders believe that their future actually lies closer to home...”
“Walmart Connect and Omnicom brought Meta into their partnership to match Walmart purchase data with Instagram creators.”
“New research from eMarketer and Bain & Company shows that senior retail media leaders believe that their future actually lies closer to home...”
“Amazon was the only retailer with a monetized AI chat assistant.”
Ontology Mapping & Concepts
Related Market Signals & Shifts
Recent verified developments and strategic activity across this market segment.
Retail Media Expands Beyond Retailer Websites to Off-Site Channels
Retail media is evolving from a focus on on-site advertising to a more integrated approach that includes off-site channels. In Europe, the share of buyers allocating over 41% of their digital retail media budget to off-site increased from 30% in 2024 to 46% in 2025, according to IAB. On-site ads capture high-intent users near the point of purchase, while off-site extends retail audiences into the broader digital ecosystem using first-party data activation across display, video, and CTV. This approach builds brand awareness and consideration earlier in the customer journey. Shoppable ads with dynamic product feeds enhance engagement, and incrementality measurement helps assess true campaign impact. A holistic omnichannel strategy connects online and offline touchpoints, leveraging retailer data to unify the journey from discovery to purchase.
Agency Execs Urge Holistic Retail Media Beyond Lower Funnel
At Digiday's Media Buying Summit, agency executives discussed the evolution of retail media, emphasizing its potential beyond lower-funnel performance marketing. Dentsu's president of commerce for North America, Aisha Khan, highlighted the significant growth opportunity in in-store retail media, noting that over 80% of sales still occur in stores but less than 5% of retail media spend targets in-store. She also mentioned that AI-powered Media Mix Modeling (MMM) could reduce costs and that data CPMs for closed-loop measurement may compress as advertisers build their own measurement capabilities. Instrument CEO Laurel Burton argued that websites remain central to commerce strategy, contrary to predictions of their decline, and stressed the need for cohesive consumer experiences across channels. Crocs CMO Carly Gomez echoed this, emphasizing consistent messaging across websites, social media, and e-commerce. The discussions also touched on the importance of creative in retail media and the potential consolidation of retail media networks.
Amazon App Reveals Personal Inferences to Users
The Amazon app includes a hidden 'About You' page where the company lists inferences about customers based on purchase history, Alexa interactions, reviews, and search queries. A US customer, 'fangirlinmegan', discovered this feature and shared her profile on Threads, which showed surprisingly specific attributes like 'has a flat butt' and assumptions about Kindle ownership. The post went viral, prompting other users to share their own inferred profiles, which often included remarkably accurate personal traits. Amazon states this data is used to provide relevant product recommendations and allows users to view and edit such preferences. However, this feature is not available in Germany; German users can only manually enter preferences, though data collection continues. The story highlights the extent of consumer data profiling by major e-commerce platforms.
Receive all future signals for Omnicom & competitors in your briefing
Never miss material M&A deals, leadership changes, account wins, or product rollouts. Polaris7 monitors 20,000+ primary sources 24/7, delivering verified telemetry directly into your executive briefing.