You search for toothpaste online. While browsing a retailer’s app or checking your email, you see an ad for toothpaste. After that, you return to the site and make the purchase. The retailer now knows what you browsed, what you bought, and which ad you saw before checking out. It connects your initial search, your ad exposure, and your final purchase. This insight is then packaged and sold to toothpaste suppliers. That is retail media in action. The model described above, known as a retail media network (RMN), is transforming how suppliers reach shoppers. It combines advertising with transaction data to deliver personalized messages and measurable results, all at the point of purchase. It is supposed to be precise, profitable, and full of promise. Suppliers drive sales increases, retailers rake in high margin advertising revenue, and consumers get a customized shopping experience. Win, win, win. Across the industry, many RMNs are starting to stall. Supplier frustration is growing. Some now describe RMNs as a fee they are forced to pay, not a strategy they choose to invest in. They face high prices, limited transparency, inconsistent results, and shrinking patience. What went wrong? The Research To answer this question, we formally interviewed 28 executives embedded within retail media ecosystems. Our sample consisted of a range of job levels, company types, and company sizes from North America, Europe, and Asia. Half of the executives were providers of retail media offerings and others were users of these services. The companies represented in our research collectively account for over $1.1 trillion in annual revenue. Interviews were primarily conducted via video conferencing and lasted 60-90 minutes. Executive comments and insights were labeled to identify common patterns across different RMN experiences. Once consistent themes emerged from this process, follow-up interviews were conducted to share our findings and confirm our interpretations were accurate. What we found is that some RMNs are thriving because of how they work with suppliers. Others are faltering because they treat retail media like a profit lever instead of a partnership. In practice, the problem is not technical or strategic. It is relational. The dynamics between retailers and suppliers are being tested by new incentives, mismatched expectations, and a lack of trust. But not all RMNs are stuck. Some are moving forward by creating real value for suppliers, not just extracting margin. Here are five ways they are doing it: The Buyer-Seller Role Inversion Requires a New Playbook Retail media changes the fundamental relationship between retailers and suppliers. In the traditional model, retailers buy products from suppliers. In the retail media model, suppliers become the buyers. This time they are purchasing advertising services offered by the retailer. That shift carries real implications for power dynamics, communication, and collaboration. A leading retailer recognizes this role reversal. It has created dedicated media sales teams, it offers self-service advertising portals, and it provides regular performance reporting. Industry insiders note that leading retailers treat suppliers as advertising clients. They structure support like a media company would, offering campaign planning tools and reporting dashboards designed for marketers. Typical retailers, in contrast, have imposed fixed media spending requirements tied to supplier revenue without meaningful transparency into outcomes. Supplier feedback has labeled this approach a cost of doing business rather than a value-creating opportunity. This practice has led to growing frustration among suppliers. The problem is not the advertising investment. Rather, it is the lack of clarity, control, and partnership. Retailers who understand the role reversal are winning participation and building momentum. Retailers who ignore it are damaging the very relationships that fund their media businesses. Performance Accountability Is Not Optional Anymore Early investments in retail media were often exploratory. Suppliers were willing to test and learn. That era is over. Media budgets are now scrutinized for results. If the return is not clear, the investment will not continue. Leading retailers have leaned into this expectation by providing near real-time reporting, standardized definitions of key metrics, and credible methods for measuring sales impact. Their system links ad exposure to transactions, giving brands the ability to assess outcomes without relying on modeled guesswork. This level of clarity has built credibility over time. Typical retailers continue to rely on vanity metrics like impressions and basic clickthrough rates without connecting those figures to actual product sales. Several consumer goods companies have reported being asked to increase spending with no data to validate past performance. Another supplier described their RMN investment as a black box with a bill. Retailers that can quantify incremental sales and deliver that insight consistently will earn long-term participation. Those that can’t will struggle to justify their ad pricing in a tighter budget environment. Personalization Must Respect Privacy Boundaries One of the biggest promises of retail media is precision. By using purchase history and browsing behavior, RMNs can serve highly relevant ads to individual shoppers in a meaningful context. But this benefit comes with risk. If retailers push too far, consumers may feel surveilled or manipulated. Leading retailers have invested in consent management tools and allow customers to adjust their ad preferences. They segment messaging not only by purchase intent but also by privacy preferences. Internal teams are trained to think in terms of trust, not just targeting. This has allowed leading retailers to balance effectiveness with responsibility. Typical retailers have taken a less nuanced approach. In some cases, ads are served based on data collected without clear disclosures. Regulators and watchdog groups have started to pay closer attention. Government legislation is now evolving to address consumer privacy concerns. Consumers are increasingly aware of how their data is being used. Retailers that lead on privacy will build shopper loyalty and attract suppliers that care about brand safety. Those that overreach may generate short-term clicks but lose long-term trust. RMNs Cannot Succeed Without Trust Retail media is a business built on relationships. Suppliers will only continue investing if they believe the platform is fair, transparent, and reliable. Leading retailers have made trust a central part of their strategy. They offer clear and detailed campaign reporting and provide post-campaign reviews that include both successes and areas for improvement. Third-party verification partners are included in measurement conversations. There is structure, consistency, and accountability. Typical retailers frequently change pricing models and introduce new fees without prior communication. Suppliers express concern that spending levels are being used as leverage in unrelated commercial negotiations. As one executive noted, typical retailers turn collaboration into coercion. Trust is earned through behavior. Retailers that share openly and deliver on their commitments will earn supplier trust and ongoing loyalty. Those that treat retail media as a transactional cash grab will eventually erode the very relationships they depend on. Supplier Enablement Creates Shared Value The best RMNs do more than sell ads. They help suppliers become better advertisers. That means offering tools, insights, creative support, and training. Leading retailers have developed onboarding resources, host regular workshops, and make its internal teams available to help suppliers optimize campaigns. Its media portal includes audience planning features, testing tools, and campaign analytics. These resources are designed to help suppliers succeed, not just spend. Typical retailers have focused more on monetization than enablement. Their pitch decks emphasize reach and access but offer little in the way of ongoing support. Suppliers report receiving media plan templates but no strategic guidance. Creative approval timelines are slow, and support is often routed through merchandising teams who lack marketing expertise. Supplier enablement creates a virtuous cycle. Retailers who invest in their partners earn greater media investment and increased sales of the very products they already carry. . . . Retail media is not just an additional revenue stream. It is a new way of working. Retailers who view suppliers as long-term partners, not just a new source of funding, will build stronger ecosystems. They will attract better brand participation, drive higher quality media engagement, and sustain growth over time. Those who treat RMNs as a margin grab or mandate will struggle to retain trust. They may still get short-term dollars, but they will not earn long-term loyalty. Retailers that fail to recognize this reality will continue to see stalled adoption, supplier pushback, and missed revenue opportunities. Retailers built their RMNs on supplier dollars. Now they must earn them.
