Retail talks about retail media — but could capture a much larger share of ad spend

Brick-and-mortar retail holds what Google and Meta don’t: verified customer encounters at the exact moment of purchase. Yet surprisingly little is happening, say Christian Bönnelyche and Michael Lemner at BizLab.

Retail media is currently one of the fastest-growing areas globally. In the U.S., retail media already accounts for up to a third of operating profit for some of the largest retailers. Walmart and Tesco are two examples proving that it’s possible to build a highly profitable media offering on top of existing retail operations. And Amazon has long shown the way — and remains the dominant player in retail media revenues.

“Yet progress is significantly slower in European brick-and-mortar retail. One reason is that we still lack a new way of viewing the store as a media channel. And once retail sees it that way, it also needs to build in-store infrastructure that can deliver data for this new media channel. Finally, there must be a clear organization and internal ownership to operate like a media company,” says Michael Lemner.

The problem isn’t reach — it’s insight

“Retailers have millions of customer encounters every week. But despite that, they often know very little about the majority of visitors. The focus is still almost entirely on the 10–40 percent who actually buy something,” says Christian Bönnelyche.

That means 60–90 percent of store visitors remain completely invisible in decision-making. With new technology, retailers can now access data on all visitors in-store — including gender and age group — unlocking both new insights and the potential to increase conversion.

“In a time when margins are squeezed, costs are rising, and competition is intensifying, this is a revenue stream retail can no longer afford to ignore,” says Michael Lemner.

In-store retail media requires a new mindset

Perhaps the biggest misconception about retail media is that it’s only about digital screens. It isn’t.

Retail media is about:

• selling audiences instead of space

• delivering verified contacts instead of estimated reach

• providing data on who saw what, when, and in what context

When the store starts operating like a media company, the rules change. It becomes possible to compete with both digital and traditional media — on their terms.

Advertisers don’t want more channels. They want better data.

They want to know:

• who actually saw the message

• what each contact cost

• whether it delivered an effect

Physical retail can answer all three questions today — but only if retailers are willing to think differently.

2026 is a turning point

Either retail media remains something discussed at conferences, or it becomes a new revenue stream — a way to fund innovation and a tool to capture a share of ad spend from Google, Meta and traditional media.

But that requires action.

Retailers that start measuring, analyzing, and packaging their media offering now will gain a lead that will be hard for others to catch.

“The question isn’t whether in-store retail media will break through. The question is which retailers will drive the shift — and build that new revenue stream,” concludes Michael Lemner.