Retail Tug-of-War

Ad Tech Insights

The Battle for Retail Media Budgets

The story: As retail media networks (RMNs) continue to rise in popularity, a complex tug-of-war is unfolding within organizations over budget control and strategy -- a division which is causing significant headaches for marketers attempting to effectively track and direct their retail media investments.

A recent Forrester survey sheds light on just how fragmented the nature of retail media spend has become: 36% of U.S. retail media spend comes from existing trade marketing budgets, 26% from shopper marketing budgets, with the remainder typically falling under marketing teams’ purview. This division of resources reflects a broader tension between departments. 

As one anonymous CPG marketer candidly puts it:

“Retail budgets are generally sitting with sales teams. National budgets are generally sitting with marketing and media teams -- and that is the tension.” 

This fragmentation extends beyond internal teams, too, creating hurdles for agencies tasked with fulfilling briefs and measuring their campaign effectiveness. Kiessé Lamour , global head of media and commerce at VML , points out that agency teams often work with a brand’s marketing team without involvement from sales or trade marketing teams. J. William Margaritis , EVP of commerce and retail at dentsu , echoes this sentiment, stating, “It’s hard to measure how much money is being spent. It’s a lot of different hands talking to each other.” 

The takeaway: As retail media continues to evolve, organizations must tackle these internal divisions head-on to maximize the impact of their investments. Fostering better alignment and communication between sales, marketing, and media teams will be essential for success in this rapidly expanding and increasingly important channel. 

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Extra Industry Insights

• PayPal is leveraging its ecommerce data and Venmo acquisition to expand its advertising capabilities, with a focus on online transactions and peer-to-peer payments. 
• Sam's Club , owned by Walmart, has 40 years’ worth of shopping data and is expected to make $90B in sales this year. 
• Harvey Ma , Sam’s Club vice president and general manager of retail media describes a strategic shift to more traditional in-store experiences with an emphasis on in-person events and fun: “The best part of that for a brand is that you get to see things. You get to touch things, taste things, smell things. We’re tracking all of that at the member-level.” 
• Nordstrom is also prioritizing creative within its retail media business, focusing on formats like video, in-store events, and visual installations. Aaron Dunford , VP of media at Nordstrom, also shares that the retailer is prioritizing winning non-endemic advertisers like cruise lines, streaming services, and airlines. 
• Industry leaders are increasingly advocating for a shift beyond ROAS to focus on incremental return on ad spend (iROAS) as a more accurate measure of campaign effectiveness. 
• Collaboration between brands, retailers, and agencies is becoming crucial in retail media, with a focus on aligning goals, KPIs, and measurement frameworks from the outset. 

Kevel Catch-Up

📢 PUBLISHED: Kevel Blog “5 Ways AI is Revolutionizing Retail Media in 2025”

Kevel’s latest blog explores how artificial intelligence is transforming the retail media landscape. Key areas of impact include enhanced contextual targeting, automated campaign optimization, AI-generated personalization, improved in-store experiences, and privacy-compliant data integration. 

Read the full blog post here. 

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