E-commerce marketing · Industry brief

Digital retail advertising networks are rapidly expanding and differentiating their offerings to compete for advertiser dollars. Fifteen retail media networks — from traditional retailers like The Home Depot, Albertsons, and Macy's to e-commerce and fintech platforms including DoorDash, PayPal, and Instacart — presented at the Ascendant Network's Showcase upfront event in New York, showcasing how they leverage distinct datasets and consumer touchpoints. Common industry themes include focus on measurement and incrementality, upper-funnel campaigns beyond demand capture, aggregating consumer signals to anticipate behavior, and cross-channel interoperability. PayPal Ads (led by former Amazon and Uber ad executives) distinguishes itself by offering a view across multiple merchants rather than single-retailer limitations, while Instacart positions itself as a shared retail technology ecosystem powering third-party platforms. Walgreens announced a new network of digital screens rolling out across 1,200 stores beginning October in partnership with Looma, signaling continued infrastructure investment in the retail media space.

ISBA published the second phase of its Digital Retail Media Study, the industry's first independent validation of capabilities across five major UK retail media networks. Conducted by mediasense and funded by ten ISBA member advertisers, the study assessed over 200 capability data points and found that while first-party data capabilities and closed-loop measurement are well established, retailers continue to define core metrics differently, lack consistent attribution methodologies and reporting standards, and vary significantly in self-service access and measurement sophistication. The report establishes an industry baseline and recommends practical steps including a shared cross-retailer glossary, common reporting principles, and consistent reporting standards to improve transparency and comparability across digital retail advertising networks. The findings build on ISBA's Responsible Retail Media Framework and IAB Europe's Commerce Media Measurement Standards (ISBA, mediasense).

Take10Media announced the national expansion of its retail media network across convenience stores, fuel centers and ATM locations, deploying proprietary ATM-topper digital displays as premium advertising inventory for national brands and agencies. The company's growth capitalizes on advertiser budget shifts toward Retail Media Networks and Digital Out-of-Home advertising, positioning eye-level displays at consumer points of purchase while creating new monetization opportunities for retailers and ATM operators through revenue-sharing arrangements.