Key Takeaways
- Retail media is advertising sold by retailers. Amazon, Walmart, Instacart, Target and others sell ads on their own sites, apps and beyond, targeted with their shopper data.
- Each network reaches a different shopper. Amazon reaches search-driven online buyers, Walmart reaches everyday online and in-store households, Instacart reaches grocery baskets, and Target's Roundel reaches Target guests.
- It is not the same as trade spend. Trade spend buys price, placement and promotion in the store; retail media buys ad impressions and clicks, with results reported by the retailer.
- Measurement is not comparable across networks. Attribution windows, view-through rules and in-store matching differ, so compare incremental sales and new customers, not reported ROAS.
- Start where you already sell and are in stock. Fix the product page, reviews and availability first, then spend on the network where your distribution is strongest.
Retail media networks are advertising businesses run by retailers. Amazon Ads, Walmart Connect, Instacart Ads and Target's Roundel let brands buy search, display and video ads on the retailer's site and beyond, targeted with the retailer's own shopper data and measured against sales at that retailer. For CPG brands they sit between trade spend and brand advertising.
We manage Amazon, Walmart, TikTok Shop and Shopify for product brands, including consumer packaged goods (CPG) and food brands that also sell in grocery and mass retail. The question we hear from brand marketers and sales leads is not "what is retail media?" It is "where should the next dollar go?" This guide explains the main networks, how they differ from trade spend, how to read their results, and where a CPG brand should start.
What is retail media?
Retail media is advertising you buy from a retailer to reach shoppers on that retailer's site, app, stores or partner channels. The retailer sells the ad space and the targeting, and reports results using its own sales data.
Three things make it different from other digital advertising:
- It happens close to the purchase. Many placements appear in search results and on product pages, where shoppers are already choosing what to buy.
- It uses first-party purchase data. The retailer knows what shoppers actually bought, not only what they browsed.
- It can close the loop. The retailer can match ad exposure to sales on its own platform, and some match to in-store purchases through loyalty programs and payment data.
What are the main retail media networks?
| Network | Owner | Who it reaches | Main ad types | Who can buy |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Amazon Ads | Amazon | Amazon shoppers, plus Amazon-owned streaming and partner sites | Sponsored Products, Sponsored Brands, Sponsored Display, Amazon DSP, video | Seller Central sellers and Vendor Central vendors; DSP is open to advertisers more broadly |
| Walmart Connect | Walmart | Walmart.com and app shoppers, in-store shoppers, and offsite audiences | Sponsored Products, Sponsored Brands, display on and off Walmart, in-store media | Walmart Marketplace sellers and suppliers |
| Instacart Ads | Instacart | Grocery shoppers ordering through Instacart and partner retailers' storefronts | Sponsored product ads, display, shoppable video, coupons and promotions | Brands whose products are carried by retailers on Instacart |
| Roundel | Target | Target guests online and in store, plus offsite audiences | Sponsored products, display, offsite media, in-store placements | Mainly brands sold at Target |
Others a CPG brand will hear about include Kroger Precision Marketing, Albertsons Media Collective, Walgreens and CVS media networks, and delivery apps such as DoorDash and Uber Eats. The same logic applies: the retailer sells access to its shoppers, measured against its own sales.
Amazon Ads
The largest and most self-serve network. Sponsored Products and Sponsored Brands capture shoppers who search with clear intent, which makes Amazon the place most brands start. Amazon DSP (demand-side platform) and Amazon Marketing Cloud (AMC) add display, video and audience analysis on and off Amazon. See our Amazon DSP guide and our DSP and AMC services.
Walmart Connect
Walmart's network reaches a large base of households that shop Walmart online and in store. Sponsored search is the natural start for Marketplace sellers. Suppliers who sell to Walmart stores can add display and in-store media that tie to store sales. Our Walmart Marketplace guide covers the selling side.
Instacart Ads
Instacart sits in the grocery basket. Its ads show up while shoppers build orders from their local grocers, which makes it valuable for food, beverage, household and personal care brands with grocery distribution. Coupons and promotions can run alongside ads. Because Instacart sells products that local stores carry, your reach depends on your shelf distribution.
Roundel
Target's network is built for brands that sell at Target. It offers onsite ads, offsite audiences built from Target guest data, and in-store opportunities, often planned with the Target buying relationship. Brands not sold at Target usually have little reason to start here. Target Plus, Target's invite-only marketplace, is a separate channel; we compare it in Amazon vs Walmart vs Target Plus.
How is retail media different from trade spend?
CPG brands have long paid retailers through trade spend. Retail media often draws from the same budget, but it buys something different.
| Trade spend | Retail media | |
|---|---|---|
| What you pay for | Price reductions, slotting, displays, features, circulars, scan-backs, allowances | Ad impressions and clicks on retailer sites, apps, stores and partner media |
| Who controls it | Negotiated with the buyer or category team | Often self-serve or managed by the retailer's media team |
| How it is measured | Volume lift during the promotion, often with a lag | Attributed sales, new-to-brand customers, return on ad spend, reported by the retailer |
| Speed | Planned months ahead | Can be changed daily |
| Main risk | Paying for volume you would have sold anyway | Paying for sales the retailer's attribution credits to ads that would have happened anyway |
The practical takeaway: retail media is not a replacement for good distribution, price and placement. It works best when those are already right and you need to be found by shoppers who are choosing between you and a competitor.
How do you measure retail media?
Every network reports its own results, and those reports are built differently. Before comparing them, understand what each one counts.
- Attribution windows. Each network credits a sale to an ad within its own time window after a click or view. Longer windows credit more sales.
- View-through credit. Some networks count sales from shoppers who saw an ad without clicking. That inflates reported results compared with click-only networks.
- Online and in-store matching. Networks with store sales data can credit in-store purchases to online ads. Useful, but not comparable with online-only reporting.
- Branded versus new demand. Ads on your own brand name usually report strong returns because those shoppers were looking for you. They defend sales more than they create them.
What to track instead of reported ROAS alone
- Incremental sales: use holdout tests or on and off periods where the network supports them.
- New-to-brand customers: shoppers who have not bought your brand at that retailer recently.
- Total sales at the retailer, not only attributed sales, so you see whether ads grow the business or just claim credit for it. On Amazon, that is the logic behind TACoS vs ACoS.
- Share of search: how often your products appear for the category terms that matter.
- Profit after ad spend and trade, at the product level.
Deciding where your retail media budget should go? Our Growth Diagnostic is a full audit across Amazon, your own site, TikTok Shop and your other marketplaces, with a 90 day roadmap. It shows where your product pages, reviews and stock are ready for paid traffic and where ad spend is claiming sales it did not create, and the cost is credited to your first month if we work together. Start with a conversation.
Where should a CPG brand start with retail media?
- Start where you already sell and stay in stock. Ads on a retailer where your product is often out of stock or not carried in most stores waste money.
- Fix the digital shelf first. Clear titles, strong images, complete nutrition and ingredient details, and enough reviews to convert. Ads send traffic; the product page closes the sale. Our listing optimization approach applies to every retailer.
- Begin with sponsored search on your strongest retailer: defend your brand terms, then test the category terms where you can win.
- Add retargeting and display once search is profitable and you know which audiences convert.
- Expand to a second network where your distribution and your customer overlap, such as Instacart for grocery brands or Walmart Connect for mass-market staples.
- Coordinate with trade and promotions. Time ads to price promotions and new distribution, so ads and in-store support push in the same week.
- Review monthly across networks using the same scorecard: total sales, new customers, profit and in-stock rate.
Which retail media network fits which CPG brand?
| If your brand is... | Start with | Then consider |
|---|---|---|
| Selling mostly online, strong on Amazon | Amazon Sponsored Products and Sponsored Brands | Amazon DSP and Walmart Marketplace with Walmart Connect |
| In national grocery distribution | Instacart Ads and your largest grocery retailer's network | Amazon for online stock-up buyers |
| A mass-market staple sold at Walmart | Walmart Connect sponsored search | Walmart in-store and offsite media, Amazon |
| Sold at Target with a strong guest profile | Roundel, planned with your Target team | Amazon and Instacart for online reach |
| A regional brand with limited distribution | Amazon, where you control availability nationally | Retailer networks in your regions as distribution grows |
For how retail media fits the rest of your channel plan, read our guide to multi-marketplace strategy, and for the Amazon side of a grocery business, how to sell food and beverage on Amazon.
What mistakes do CPG brands make with retail media?
- Spreading a small budget across every network instead of winning one first.
- Advertising products that are out of stock or poorly distributed at that retailer.
- Comparing reported ROAS across networks that use different attribution rules.
- Spending most of the budget on branded terms and calling it growth.
- Running retail media separately from trade so ads and promotions work against each other.
- Sending traffic to weak product pages with few reviews or missing details.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a retail media network?
A retail media network is an advertising business run by a retailer. It sells ads on the retailer's site, app, stores and partner channels, targeted with the retailer's shopper data and measured against sales at that retailer.
What are examples of retail media networks?
The best known are Amazon Ads, Walmart Connect, Instacart Ads and Target's Roundel. Others include Kroger Precision Marketing, Albertsons Media Collective, and networks run by pharmacy chains and delivery apps.
Is retail media the same as trade marketing?
No. Trade spend pays retailers for price reductions, placement and promotions in the store. Retail media buys ad impressions and clicks. Many CPG brands fund retail media partly from trade budgets, but the two are measured differently.
Which retail media network should a CPG brand start with?
Start where you already sell and stay in stock, usually the retailer with your strongest distribution. For many brands that is Amazon, because it is self-serve and nationally available. Grocery brands with wide store distribution often add Instacart early.
How do you measure retail media results?
Look beyond each network's reported return on ad spend. Track incremental sales, new-to-brand customers, total sales at the retailer and profit after ad spend. Remember that attribution windows and view-through rules differ, so reported numbers are not directly comparable.
Do you need to sell at a retailer to use its retail media network?
Usually, yes, for onsite ads, because they promote products the retailer carries. Some networks, including Amazon DSP, also sell offsite audiences to a broader set of advertisers.