Episode 43: Building Omnichannel Retail Media (Part 1)
Hosts: Viv Craske & Colin Lewis
Guest: Florian Clemens – Former Director of Strategy, Proposition & Measurement at Tesco Media; former global accounts leader at Amazon Advertising
In this episode of Retail Media Therapy, Viv and Colin are joined by retail media veteran Florian Clemens to unpack the complexity of building a true omnichannel retail media business. Drawing on his experience at Tesco Media and Amazon Advertising, Florian breaks down the four major supply sources in retail media, the core principles for designing retail media propositions, and how retailers should think about demand – from large CPG partners to marketplace sellers and agencies.
This is Part 1 of a two-part conversation, focusing on inventory supply and advertiser demand in retail media.
Why Omnichannel Retail Media Is Hard
Building retail media on top of a retail business involves managing multiple moving parts simultaneously:
Ad inventory across physical and digital environments
Retail priorities vs advertising priorities
Technology and data infrastructure
Advertiser expectations shaped by large platforms
Florian emphasizes that retailers must coordinate many internal interfaces while building a credible media proposition.
The Core Framework: “Win–Win–Win”
Florian highlights a guiding principle for retail media strategy:
Every retail media product must work for three stakeholders:
Shoppers – Ads must enhance or at least not harm the shopping experience
Advertisers – Campaigns must deliver measurable results
Retailers – The activity must drive revenue and category growth
If any of these fail, the retail media product quickly breaks.
Retail Media Supply: The Four Major Inventory Sources
1. In-Store Media
2. Onsite & App Media
3. Offsite Retail Media
4. CRM & Loyalty Media
Example activation: Clubcard challenges
Customers earn points for increasing spend on a product
Brands fund the loyalty reward
Brands only pay if customers convert
Demand Side: Where Retail Media Revenue Comes From
Major suppliers generate a large share of revenue through Joint Business Plans.
Retail media can support broader category growth strategies.
Retail media becomes part of joint commercial planning, not just advertising.
Smaller brands often lack traditional brand budgets. Retailers must support them through:
Self-serve ad tools
Performance-driven retail media campaigns
Agency support similar to Amazon marketplace models
Marketplace Sellers
Marketplace sellers often assume retail media works like Amazon. But discovery dynamics differ. Example challenge: Shoppers may not search for categories like garden furniture on grocery sites.
Non-Endemic Advertising: Non-endemic brands represent a major future opportunity. But retailers must offer:
High-impact placements (video, homepage takeovers)
Brand measurement tools
Strong category guidelines
Retailers also need clear internal policies about which non-endemic advertisers are acceptable.
Agencies and the Future of Commerce Media
Florian predicts a major shift: “Commerce is eating advertising.”
Two agency worlds are emerging:
Performance Agencies: Want retail media platforms to behave like Amazon. Focus heavily on sales outcomes
Brand Agencies: Interested in upper-funnel opportunities. But still expect campaigns tied to sales impact
Retail media’s promise is combining brand and performance measurement into a single ecosystem.
Key Takeaways
Retail media must deliver value to shoppers, advertisers, and retailers simultaneously
The four major supply sources are in-store, onsite/app, offsite, and CRM
Retailers must balance relevance and inspiration
Future growth will come from offsite media and non-endemic advertisers
Agencies and brands increasingly expect commerce-driven advertising outcomes
What’s Coming in Part 2
In the next episode, the discussion continues with:
How retail media teams work with internal retail stakeholders
The technology stack required for retail media
The platform architecture retailers must build
Grace & Co | Retail Media Experts
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