Why brands and agencies should be paying closer attention to retail media

Retail media is one of the fastest-growing channels in digital marketing – and yet, many brand teams still don’t fully believe in it. So, why are brands still so hesitant to invest – and why is so much of its revenue still coming from trade budgets?

Retail media doesn’t have a performance problem – it has a perception problem. The results are there, but the story isn’t.

According to the Path to Purchase Institute, the share of brands that view retail media as “just a money grab by retailers” more than doubled from 8% to 19% between 2024 and 2025. And that trend may continue into 2026.

Retailers need to do a better job explaining why brands and agencies should care – and how this channel should be positioned within their marketing mix.

For brands, that means building a narrative that resonates with the CMO – and ultimately, the CFO. For agencies, it means doing the same for your clients.

Five reasons this channel deserves a far more central role in your marketing mix:

1. You’re influencing customer decisions at the exact moment they’re made

Retail media isn’t just another touchpoint – it’s where intent is at its highest. According to POPAI, up to 70% of purchase decisions are made at the point of sale. Consumers are already searching, comparing, adding-to-basket within a retail environment where purchase is already happening.

This isn’t about hoping your brand shows up later in the purchase journey. It’s about shaping choice in the moment it happens.

2. It’s one of the only channels with true closed-loop measurement

Retail media connects exposure directly to purchase.

You’re able to see who saw your ad, what they did next, and what they ultimately bought. For brand teams under pressure to justify spend, this is critical. It moves the conversation from assumptions to actual revenue impact.

3. You’re buying real customer behaviour – not proxies

Most media channels rely on inferred or lookalike audiences. Retailers don’t need to infer – they already know:

• What customers buy
• How often they buy
• When they switch brands

This allows for far more strategic targeting of high-value shoppers, competitor switchers, or even lapsed customers.

That’s not just better targeting. It’s better decision-making.

4. It compresses the funnel in a way few channels can

Traditional marketing splits the purchase journey into stages, where retail media often collapses that into a single environment – from discovery to conversion.

The result is less wasted spend, a faster path-to-purchase, and far fewer drop-off points. This is efficiency and effectiveness, in one place.

5. It bridges the gap between brand and performance

Retail media sits in a space most channels desperately struggle to occupy. It’s able to drive immediate sales, while directly influencing visibility, consideration, and choice.

This isn’t about choosing between brand and performance anymore. It’s one of the few channels where both can work together – and one of the few where that connection is measurable.

The author of this article, Aidan Johnson is the Vice President of Alternative Revenue for Massmart which owns Makro and other leading retail brands in Southern Africa.