Retail media has matured rapidly, but many of the tools powering it remain rooted in legacy publishing paradigms. When I launched onsite display for Macy’s Media Network, the limitations of traditional fixed-price monetization models became abundantly clear. Operational complexity, the absence of retail-native features, and missed opportunities in automation, auction-based pricing, and performance optimization significantly held us back. The solution I envisioned—purpose-built for retail, outcomes, and scalability—didn’t exist.
It’s a simple but overlooked truth that advertising in a retailer context is different than in a standard publisher environment. Unlike traditional publishers—whose business models are primarily ad-driven—retailers must balance dual objectives: driving product sales and growing ad revenue. Every inch of real estate on a retailer’s site must work hard to serve both goals, delivering a seamless shopping experience while also enabling meaningful monetization. To modernize retail media onsite display, the tech that underpins it needs to be built specifically for retail. Let’s look at three things that are missing in most onsite display campaigns today that a retail-first approach would solve:
An Auction Designed Specifically for Retail
Whether in my past role at Macy’s or in my current role overseeing retail media globally at Criteo, I’ve consistently seen retailers struggle to balance supply and demand. For example, at Macy’s, the Fragrance category often had more advertising demand than available traffic could support, whereas Apparel experienced the opposite. This dynamic plays out across nearly every retail media network: some categories are oversubscribed, others underutilized—and static pricing models rarely adapt fast enough to optimize yield across the board
To address this, we initially tried granular pricing (by category, placement, and targeting), but this reduced the operations team’s flexibility. Optimizations often required updating insertion orders, slowing us down. Eventually, we moved to bundled “packages” that allowed more flexibility—but at the cost of yield. I continue to see this same pattern play out across many retailers: in a fixed-price environment, efforts to go granular in pursuit of precision often backfire, creating operational drag and limiting the ability to respond dynamically to shifting demand. Without automation or auction-based pricing, flexibility and performance are frequently at odds.
Manual and inconsistent forecasting further compound these challenges, leading to underspend due to reliance on out-of-platform reporting. Additionally, maximizing inventory reservations while balancing full delivery across line items with varying flight and inventory configurations prove difficult.
A dynamic, retail-specific auction would address these challenges. Amazon and Walmart had already validated this model. But many retailers are still operating onsite display through traditional, fixed-price, booking-based methods—approaches better suited to legacy publishing than to the dynamic needs of retail media. What I needed at Macy’s—what all retailers need—is a retail-optimized auction solution that enables retailers to complement their direct deals and sponsorships with premium auction demand, governed by a waterfall logic that prioritizes guaranteed buys but allows dynamic competition for remaining inventory. A solution that is commerce-optimized, with built-in relevancy and creative controls. And a solution with dynamic pricing that adjusts to category demand and seasonality, helping retailers boost yield in high-demand placements while staying competitive elsewhere.
True Self-Service Capabilities
Brands all too often feel their role in retail media is limited to writing checks, without meaningful control over their campaigns. The pacing, optimization, and managed service approaches used by many retailers leave brands with limited visibility—a “black box” rather than the promised “white glove” service.
Though it is now common for sponsored product campaigns to be self-service, onsite display still relies heavily on a managed-service approach. For many retailers, managed service works adequately because smaller brands often prefer not to handle media directly. But larger brands and agencies want hands-on control. They want the flexibility to manage campaigns directly, adjusting pacing, placements, and keyword strategies to optimize performance.
To satisfy a variety of clients, real self-service requires an onsite display solution that supports multiple buy types, from lockouts and preferred deals to auction. It’s a win-win that gives brands more options and more control and retailers the chance to earn more money, more ways.
Retail-Specific, Shoppable Ad Formats
Retail media isn’t traditional publishing. Ecommerce platforms must simultaneously drive product discovery and ad monetization. It’s a balance between selling ads, selling products, and maintaining a positive shopper experience. Achieving that balance requires ads built for commerce.
A modern onsite display solution supports a full range of retail-native formats—including static ads, rich media, and onsite video specifically tailored for brand storytelling in commerce environments. These video units help retailers tap into brand budgets without compromising conversion. Additionally, hybrid formats that blend display or video ads with shoppable elements like Sponsored Products create cohesive shopping experiences that effectively bridge brand and performance goals. With real-time, automated conversion reporting available directly within the platform, retailers and brands can optimize campaigns mid-flight instead of relying solely on post-campaign insights. Furthermore, streamlined tools for creative approvals and compliance ensure efficiency without sacrificing quality.
The Path Forward
My experience building Macy’s Media Network and my time overseeing retail media here at Criteo underscore the necessity of modernizing retail media display advertising. The future demands a solution that:
- Prioritizes the shopper experience through:
- Retail-native, shoppable formats
- Emphasis on conversion and personalization
- Maximizes retailer revenue opportunities via:
- Flexible purchasing models, including premium auction options
- Dynamic pricing to better align supply and demand
- Genuine self-service options alongside managed service
- Gives brands flexibility and control with:
- Self-service that allows for flexible bidding, performance-based adjustments, and higher delivery efficiency
- Auctions that enable advertisers to optimize ads, improve performance, and boost retailer sales with more relevant ads
- A variety of ad formats to drive outcomes across all stages of the journey
- Scales efficiently by:
- Increasing campaign automation, reducing manual tasks
- Integrating built-in relevancy and site-experience safeguards
- Offering streamlined creative approval and compliance tools
These priorities now shape our focus at Criteo, informed directly by real-world learnings from the front lines of retail media. These experiences drive our commitment to creating the modern onsite display solution I once wished for—designed explicitly for retail, delivering outcomes, and ready for scale.
