For years, we've debated where retail media belongs. Is it part of search? Is search part of retail media? In this episode, I revisit a question I posed 18 months ago after a thought-provoking essay from Hershey's Vinny Rinaldi helped clarify what I was missing.

I explore why retail media continues to be funded, measured, and evaluated differently from other media channels, and why that may have less to do with capabilities, and more to do with organizational structures and inherited expectations. I unpack the growing conversation around demand creation versus demand capture, the role of budget ownership, and why brands may need to rethink not just how they measure retail media, but what they expect it to accomplish in the first place.

This episode is sponsored by Mirakl Ads

Timeline

[00:00] - Why "awareness and sales" is often a vague marketing brief that creates more confusion than clarity

[01:16] - Revisiting the debate: Is retail media part of search, or is search part of retail media?

[02:31] - Why retail media may be better understood as a way of buying media rather than a standalone channel

[03:11] - Vinny Rinaldi's insight: retail media inherited the job description of the budgets it came from

[04:15] - What brands like Hershey and Supergoop are teaching us about integrating commerce media into broader marketing objectives

[07:24] - The measurement debate: Can retail media networks prove brand impact, or should brands bring their own measurement frameworks?

Links & Resources

• The Agentic AI Revolution is here. The competitive edge belongs to those who move faster than disruption itself. Join Mirakl Ads and myself for Outpace in New York City on June 10, 2026. Strategies, insights, and connections built for the era of agentic commerce. Save your spot.
• Read Vinny Rinaldi's essay: Demand Creation and Demand Capture Aren't Two Budgets. They're One System.
• Follow Vinny Rinaldi, VP, Consumer Connections at Hershey, on LinkedIn
• Read my related articles:
  • Is retail media part of search, or is search part of retail media?
  • Whoever Owns the Budget Determines What Retail Media Is Allowed to Be
  • How Can RMNs Tap Upper-Funnel Brand Budgets
• In Atlanta? Join the Commerce Media Happy Hour on Wednesday June 17! RSVP here
• I'm sharing comedy skits on Instagram about retail media! Follow along: @retailmediabreakfastclub
• Subscribe to Retail Media Breakfast Club's daily newsletter
• Follow Kiri Masters on LinkedIn

Last week, I facilitated a closed-door workshop with brand leaders, retailers, agencies, and technology partners at the P2PI Retail Media Summit in Chicago. While much of the conversation centered on AI's impact on retail media and shopping behavior, what surprised me most wasn't panic: it was curiosity. Despite all the headlines about disruption, most brands aren't seeing dramatic changes in ad performance or sales outcomes just yet.

What is changing, however, is where shopping journeys begin. In this episode, I unpack the emerging signals brands are seeing as consumers increasingly turn to AI assistants, communities, and social commerce platforms for product discovery. I explore the rise of "dark search," why traditional attribution models are becoming less reliable, the new metrics brands are experimenting with, and which retail media channels may be best positioned to withstand the AI-driven shift in shopper behavior.

This episode is sponsored by Mirakl Ads

Timeline

[00:00] Highlights from a closed-door workshop at the P2PI Retail Media Summit in Chicago

[02:03] What brands say is holding steady: ad conversions and sponsored product performance remain resilient

[03:00] The biggest shift brands are seeing: shopping journeys are increasingly starting outside traditional search

[03:45] Why Reddit, Pinterest, Wikipedia, TikTok Shop, and AI assistants are becoming key discovery channels

[05:50] Understanding "dark search" and why AI-driven influence is often invisible in analytics platforms

[07:33] New measurement frameworks emerge, including "share of agent recommendations" and agent readiness

[08:21] Which retail media channels may be most defensible against AI disruption, and why influencers could have a lasting advantage

Links & Resources

• The Agentic AI Revolution is here. The competitive edge belongs to those who move faster than disruption itself. Join Mirakl Ads and myself at Outpace in New York City on June 10, 2026 for strategies, insights, and connections built for the era of agentic commerce. Save your spot.
• Read my related articles:
  • 'Dark Search' Makes AI-Facilitated Commerce Look Smaller Than It Really Is
  • Why Agentic Shopping Poses an Existential Threat to Retail Media 
  • 5 Markers Of A Lasting Shift
• In Atlanta? Join the Commerce Media Happy Hour on Wednesday June 17! RSVP here
• I'm sharing comedy skits on Instagram about retail media! Follow along: @retailmediabreakfastclub
• Subscribe to Retail Media Breakfast Club's daily newsletter
• Follow Kiri Masters on LinkedIn

At Advertising Week New York, I had a surprising encounter that perfectly captured a growing sentiment in the advertising industry: that retail media is nothing more than a tax on brands. It’s a criticism I’ve heard more than once, and one that raises some important questions about where the industry stands today.

In this episode, I unpack the strongest arguments both for and against retail media’s future. Drawing on insights from leading industry voices, I explore whether retail media’s reputation problem is justified, why Amazon’s dominance continues to shape perceptions, and what could happen if retailers fail to evolve beyond the same old playbook. Is retail media truly becoming 'mid,' or are we underestimating one of the most important transformations in modern advertising?

This episode is sponsored by Mirakl Ads

Timeline

[00:00] My unexpected encounter at Advertising Week and the claim that retail media is “the scourge of the advertising world.”

[01:15] Why some industry leaders believe Amazon is the only real winner in retail media, and what they're missing.

[02:15] The bigger concern: retail media’s growing perception problem among both consumers and industry professionals.

[03:36] Andrew Lipsman explains why non-Amazon and non-search retail media are already massive businesses with significant growth ahead.

[05:54] Anne Hallock compares retail media’s current stage to the early days of programmatic advertising and explains why “clunky” doesn’t mean insignificant.

[07:30] Anna Laura Zane discusses why retailer data, not sponsored product ads, is becoming the industry's most valuable asset.

[08:30] The real risk facing retail media: retailers copying the same playbook without making meaningful investments in growth and innovation.

Links & Resources

• The Agentic AI Revolution is here. The competitive edge belongs to those who move faster than disruption itself. Join Mirakl Ads and myself in New York City for Outpace on June 10, 2026. Strategies, insights, and connections built for the era of agentic commerce. Save your spot.
• Subscribe to Andrew Lipsman's newsletter Media, Ads + Commerce
• Follow Anne Hallock, VP Americas at Mirakl Ads, on LinkedIn
• Follow Ana Laura Zain, Chief Marketing Officer at MetaRouter, on LinkedIn
• Read my related articles:
  • Is Retail Media Actually Kinda 'Mid'?
  • Is Retail Media Actually Kinda 'Mid'? PART 2
  • Dark Search, Broken Signals, and What Comes Next for Retail Media
• In Atlanta? Join the Commerce Media Happy Hour on Wednesday June 17! RSVP here
• I am sharing comedy skits on Instagram about retail media! Follow along: @retailmediabreakfastclub
• Subscribe to Retail Media Breakfast Club's daily newsletter
• Follow Kiri Masters on LinkedIn

Retail media has spent years chasing top-line revenue growth, but what happens when growth alone is no longer enough? In this episode, I’m joined by Anne Hallock, VP Americas at Mirakl Ads, to kick off our three-part series, The Demons Inside Retail Media. Together, we unpack the first and perhaps most pressing challenge facing the industry today: the growth demon.

We explore why retailers are beginning to scrutinize retail media profitability, how internal pressures are reshaping expectations for retail media networks, and why driving the broader retail business — not just ad revenue — has become the new benchmark for success. From Costco’s member-first approach, to Home Depot’s self-serve scaling strategy, this conversation reveals the realities that retail media leaders can no longer afford to ignore.

This episode is sponsored by Mirakl Ads

Timeline

[00:00] Introducing The Demons Inside Retail Media series and the industry's biggest internal challenges.

[02:00] Why top-line revenue growth can become a trap, and why profitability is emerging as the new scorecard.

[03:25] Anne explains why profitability pressure is coming from inside the retailer, not from retail media teams themselves.

[05:15] How consulting firms, budget shifts, and internal politics are changing retail media accountability.

[06:45] Lessons from Costco: why retail media must strengthen the retailer’s core business flywheel.

[09:45] The role of technology, automation, and self-serve platforms in building profitable retail media networks.

[11:15] What Home Depot’s latest retail media investments reveal about the next phase of industry growth.

Links & Resources

• The Agentic AI Revolution is here. The competitive edge belongs to those who move faster than disruption itself. Join Mirakl Ads and myself in New York City for Outpace on June 10, 2026. Strategies, insights, and connections built for the era of agentic commerce. Save your spot.
• Follow Anne Hallock, VP Americas at Mirakl Ads, on LinkedIn
• Read my related articles:
  • Growth Beyond Amazon: Retail Media's Broader Opportunities
  • Long-Tail Advertisers Are A Quiet Growth Engine For Top Performing RMNs
  • 'Brand Media Lowers the Tax You Pay on Growth,' says Gildan's Jason O'Toole
• In Atlanta? Join the Commerce Media Happy Hour on Wednesday June 17! RSVP here
• I am sharing comedy skits on Instagram about retail media! Follow along: @retailmediabreakfastclub
• Subscribe to Retail Media Breakfast Club's daily newsletter
• Follow Kiri Masters on LinkedIn

I recently noticed something strange while selling items on Facebook Marketplace: automated buyers sending automated messages, met by my own automated seller responses. It got me thinking about a much bigger trend happening in retail media right now.

In this episode, I unpack the rapid rise of objective-based, AI-driven retail media buying and share the results of a LinkedIn poll I ran to find out what advertisers really think about handing campaign decisions over to algorithms. While automation promises efficiency, many marketers are raising important questions about transparency, control, incrementality, and long-term brand building. Are we removing friction from advertising, or removing humans from the process altogether?

This episode is sponsored by Mirakl Ads

Timeline

[00:00] The Facebook Marketplace experience that sparked a bigger question about automation

[01:07] How objective-based, AI-driven retail media buying mirrors the "bots talking to bots" phenomenon

[01:45] Results from my LinkedIn poll: what advertisers really think about AI-powered media buying

[04:00] Why automation may struggle to drive true incrementality, according to commerce media leaders

[04:40] Retailer bias, "ROAS jail," and the measurement challenges facing AI-driven ad platforms

[05:15] The risk of optimizing for short-term performance at the expense of brand equity

[06:00] The question I'm still wrestling with: are we removing friction, or removing ourselves?

Links & Resources

• The Agentic AI Revolution is here. The competitive edge belongs to those who move faster than disruption itself. Join Mirakl Ads and myself in New York City on June 10, 2026 for strategies, insights, and connections built for the era of agentic commerce. Save your spot.
• My AI-driven retail media buying LinkedIn poll
• Follow Corey Buller, Senior Director of Commerce Media at dentsu, on LinkedIn
• Follow Evan Walsh, who heads partnerships at measurement firm Incremental, on LinkedIn
• Follow James Tenser, longtime retail tech analyst & journalist, on LinkedIn
• Read my related articles:
  • AI Agents & The Evolving Path to Purchase: How Brands Must Adapt
  • No Eyes on the Ad
  • Does 'Dark Search' Help or Harm Retail Media?
• In Atlanta? Join the Commerce Media Happy Hour on Wednesday June 17! RSVP here
• I'm sharing comedy skits about retail media on Instagram! Follow along: @retailmediabreakfastclub
• Subscribe to Retail Media Breakfast Club's daily newsletter
• Follow Kiri Masters on LinkedIn

In this episode, I’m pulling back the curtain on what it’s actually like being on the receiving end of PR pitches in the retail media industry, and why most of them completely miss the mark. Inspired by a standout interaction with LoyaltyLion and PR pro Francesca Baker Brooker, I unpack what separates relationship-building from transactional pitching, and why “spilling some tea” is often the difference between getting ignored and becoming a trusted source.

I also dive into how influence in media is shifting away from traditional gatekeepers toward niche newsletters, podcasts, LinkedIn creators, and independent analysts. From fragmented authority and psychographic tribes, to what vendors, retailers, and PR teams should actually be doing to build narratives that land, this episode is a candid look at the new communications playbook for retail media.

This episode is sponsored by Mirakl Ads

Timeline

[00:00] – The LoyaltyLion pitch that actually worked, and why patience from PR pros matters more than persistence

[02:30] – Why I’m sharing my honest perspective on being pitched by brands, retailers, and tech vendors

[03:45] – How the media landscape is fragmenting, and why newsletters, podcasts, and LinkedIn creators are gaining influence

[08:30] – My first rule for PR outreach: know your audience before you pitch

[10:15] – “Spill some tea”: why executives who stick to talking points waste everyone’s time

[13:00] – Why retailer store tours, media breakfasts, and thoughtful event experiences create lasting coverage opportunities

[17:00] – My plea to research teams: stop commissioning generic retail media surveys and start using your actual platform data

Links & Resources

• The Agentic AI Revolution is here. The competitive edge belongs to those who move faster than disruption itself. Join Mirakl Ads and myself in New York City on June 10, 2026 for strategies, insights, and connections built for the era of agentic commerce. Save your spot.
• Follow Francesca Baker-Brooker, PR @ And So She Thinks, on LinkedIn
• My LoyaltyLion piece that Francesca helped facilitate: Loyalty as the Retail Media Backbone
• Semrush piece about LinkedIn content: We Analyzed 89K LinkedIn URLs Cited in AI Search: Here's What Drives Visibility
• Read my related articles:
  • Standing Room Only: What Shoptalk Attendees Wanted Most Wasn’t on the Main Stage
  • Writing From the Middle of the Room
  • Apply For The Damn Award
• In Atlanta? Join the Commerce Media Happy Hour on Wednesday June 17! RSVP here
• I'm sharing comedy skits on Instagram about retail media! Follow along: @retailmediabreakfastclub
• Subscribe to Retail Media Breakfast Club's daily newsletter
• Follow Kiri Masters on LinkedIn

In this episode, I unpack one of the clearest real-world examples yet of how AI shopping is reshaping retail strategy. Ashley Furniture is officially experimenting with transactional commerce inside Perplexity, and their approach reveals how major retailers are thinking about AI discovery, customer behavior, and the future of shopping experiences.

I break down key insights from Ashley Furniture’s SVP of E-commerce and Marketing, Nick Lezin, shared on an episode of Total Retail Talks, including why AI referral traffic matters even when it’s still small, why “content hygiene” suddenly became mission-critical, and how AI shopping is creating political momentum inside organizations to finally fix long-ignored catalog and customer experience problems. This isn’t a panic pivot: it’s a calculated early move with potentially massive long-term upside.

This episode is sponsored by Mirakl Ads

Timeline

[00:00] Why I’ve been arguing that product discovery is moving upstream into AI tools 

[00:43] Ashley Furniture launches transactional commerce on Perplexity with PayPal and Stripe integration 

[01:30] Nick Lezin explains the exponential growth in AI referral traffic to Ashley Furniture 

[03:17] Why AI traffic may actually be undercounted because of “dark search” behavior 

[04:48] How AI shopping is forcing retailers to finally prioritize product catalog and content hygiene 

[06:23] Ashley  admits its product content has been too static, and why dynamic PDPs now matter more than ever 

[08:10] Why AI should be viewed as an amplifier for better retail operations, not a shortcut or crutch 

[10:40] My takeaway on why this Perplexity partnership represents a smart, low-risk experimentation strategy for retailers

Links & Resources

• Listen to Nick Lezin's full appearance on Total Retail Talks: Inside Ashley's Plan to Launch AI Home Shopping
• Subscribe to Total Retail Talks on Apple Podcasts
• Follow Nick Lezin, senior vice president of e-commerce and marketing at Ashley, on LinkedIn
• Follow Joe Keenan, Total Retail Talks, Editor-in-Chief, on LinkedIn
• Read my related articles:
  • ‘Dark Search’ Is Making AI-Facilitated Commerce Look Smaller Than It Really Is
  • Does 'Dark Search' Help or Harm Retail Media?
  • Dark Search, Broken Signals, and What Comes Next for Retail Media
• I am sharing comedy skits on Instagram about retail media! Follow along: @retailmediabreakfastclub
• Subscribe to Retail Media Breakfast Club's daily newsletter
• Follow Kiri Masters on LinkedIn

Amazon has always operated in contradictions. And in this episode, I dissect comments made on Christine Russo's What Just Happened podcast made by Justin Honaman, AWS's global head of retail, consumer goods, and restaurants, to unpack one of the biggest contradictions emerging in the AI commerce era. 

On one hand, Amazon is encouraging retailers and brands to embrace “off-site search” and make themselves discoverable through AI agents like ChatGPT and Perplexity. On the other hand, Amazon is actively blocking outside shopping agents from accessing its own ecosystem while simultaneously sending its own Buy For Me agent onto everyone else’s storefronts.

I break down the growing tension between agentic commerce, retail media, and platform control, including Amazon’s legal fight with Perplexity, the strategic implications of its DSP dominance, and why this all points to one core objective: owning the customer journey from discovery to checkout. I also explore why brands should pay far closer attention to Amazon’s actions than its public messaging as the next phase of commerce infrastructure takes shape.

This episode is sponsored by Mirakl Ads

Timeline

[00:00] Amazon’s long history of contradictions between customer obsession and supplier impact 

[01:15] AWS discusses “off-site search” and why retailers are being told to optimize for AI discovery 

[02:18] The core contradiction: Amazon’s agents are allowed out, but outside agents are blocked from coming in 

[03:15] Breaking down Amazon’s lawsuit against Perplexity and the real debate around shopper permission 

[04:19] How Rufus and Alexa Shopping generated billions while Amazon blocks competing AI shopping agents 

[05:15] Why retail media is really the monetization layer sitting on top of shopper behavior 

[06:30] Google’s Universal Cart signals that commerce journeys no longer need to begin on Amazon 

[07:30] The key lesson for brands: watch what Amazon does, not what it says

Links & Resources

• Listen to the full Justin Honaman episode on Christine Russo's What Just Happened podcast: Justin Honaman, AWS: The Agentic Commerce Roadmap for Retailers
• Subscribe to What Just Happened on Apple Podcasts
• Follow Christine Russo on LinkedIn
• Follow Justin Honaman on LinkedIn
• Read my related articles:
  • AI Agents & The Evolving Path to Purchase: How Brands Must Adapt
  • No Eyes on the Ad
  • Does 'Dark Search' Help or Harm Retail Media?
• In Atlanta? Join the Commerce Media Happy Hour on Wednesday May 27! RSVP here
• I'm sharing comedy skits about retail media on Instagram! Follow along: @retailmediabreakfastclub
• Subscribe to Retail Media Breakfast Club's daily newsletter
• Follow Kiri Masters on LinkedIn

Recently I joined a retail media panel at Loyalty Connect in Atlanta, surrounded by the people who’ve spent decades building and evolving loyalty programs. What became crystal clear to me is that loyalty and retail media are no longer parallel industries: they’re fundamentally intertwined. In this episode, a recap of my article for The Drum, I unpack why loyalty data has become the backbone of modern retail media networks, powering audience creation, closed-loop measurement, and advertiser confidence at scale. From Kroger Precision Marketing and Costco to CVS and Marriott, I share the examples that prove the strongest retail media businesses are built on strong loyalty ecosystems.

But the bigger shift is what happens next. As AI agents compress the shopping journey and consumers increasingly arrive at retailer websites already knowing what they want, many of today’s high-margin retail media ad surfaces are under threat. What survives? Loyalty. I explore why emotional drivers like status, belonging, and access may become retailers’ most defensible advantage in an AI-driven commerce environment. And why the future winners won’t just offer points and discounts, but experiences consumers genuinely care about.

This episode is sponsored by Mirakl Ads

Timeline

[00:00] — Why loyalty and retail media are inseparable 

[01:18] — Kroger’s loyalty data advantage and retail KPI measurement 

[03:56] — Why measurement is the foundation of loyalty-powered media 

[04:30] — How AI shopping journeys threaten retail media revenue 

[05:18] — The emotional side of loyalty that AI can’t replicate 

[08:16] — Why AI agents may disrupt earning points, but not redemption

Links & Resources

• Read my full article on The Drum: Loyalty data is becoming retail media’s strongest defense
• Read my related articles:
  • Why Agentic Shopping Poses an Existential Threat to Retail Media (Part 1)
  • Agentic Shopping Poses an Existential Threat to Retail Media (Part 2)
  • 7 Ways to Break the Retail Media Doom Loop
• EMARKETER is teaming up again with Bain to survey retail media network leaders for a unique insight into the forces shaping the industry. The survey is intended for people working in-house on retail media teams, and it is global this year! The survey is also double-anonymized. The survey organizers will not know, nor are they trying to determine, which specific retail media network a respondent works for. The goal is to understand broader retail media trends, not attribute responses to individual companies. Please take the survey here. 
• In Atlanta? Join the Commerce Media Happy Hour on Wednesday May 27! RSVP here
• I'm sharing comedy skits on Instagram about retail media! Follow along: @retailmediabreakfastclub
• Subscribe to Retail Media Breakfast Club's daily newsletter
• Follow Kiri Masters on LinkedIn

At Xnurta’s Signal to Scale Summit this week, I heard some of the most practical conversations yet about how brands are actually using AI in retail media. Spark Foundry’s Kris McDermott summed up the mood perfectly: “We did AI. To what end? That is not a verb.” 

From Boiron managing 50,000 keywords with a two-person team, to AI-powered creative testing that drove a 29% sales lift, this episode explores where agentic workflows are delivering real operational value, and where they still require strong human oversight.

I also break down why advanced practitioners are moving beyond ROAS as the primary metric, what Amazon Ads is building with MCP servers and Skills, and why Xnurta's new open-source AI evaluation framework could become critical infrastructure for the future of retail media automation. The biggest takeaway: AI can accelerate performance, but only when paired with clear goals, guardrails, and teams that still understand “the gears” behind the machine.

This episode is sponsored by Mirakl Ads

Timeline

[00:00] — “We did AI. To what end?” and the real theme of the summit 

[01:18] — Boiron’s AI-powered retail media workflow managing 50,000 keywords 

[02:00] — AI image scoring drives a 29% sales increase 

[03:30] — Why ROAS alone is not the goal anymore 

[04:15] — The “automatic vs stick shift” analogy for AI media buying 

[06:04] — Xnurta launches open-source AI evaluation framework for retail media

Links & Resources

• If you're interested in joining the Agentic Retail Media Council, Xnurta is recruiting members: sign up link
• Find all the Signal to Scale 2026 speakers here
• Read my related articles:
  • No Incentive To Sound The Alarm
  • Dark Search, Broken Signals, and What Comes Next for Retail Media
  • Why ROAS Refuses To Die
  • AI in real life: how retailers and brands are leveraging AI (real numbers)
• EMARKETER is teaming up again with Bain to survey retail media network leaders for a unique insight into the forces shaping the industry. The survey is intended for people working in-house on retail media teams, and it is global this year! The survey is also double-anonymized. The survey organizers will not know, nor are they trying to determine, which specific retail media network a respondent works for. The goal is to understand broader retail media trends, not attribute responses to individual companies. Please take the survey here. 
• In Atlanta? Join the Commerce Media Happy Hour on Wednesday May 27! RSVP here
• I am sharing comedy skits on Instagram about retail media! Follow along: @retailmediabreakfastclub
• Subscribe to Retail Media Breakfast Club's daily newsletter
• Follow Kiri Masters on LinkedIn