4 days ago
Understanding the granularity of retail media for effective outcomes
Retail media is undoubtedly one of the most exciting frontiers in advertising today. Its blend of commerce, data and closed-loop measurement makes it a natural focus for growth. As a result, consultancies are setting bold visions for what's possible – pitching retail media as a cure-all for brand performance and media efficiency. These sky-high projections can be useful for mobilising investment, but they also risk setting a pace that's tough to sustain.
With high expectations often set at the top, internal teams can find themselves working toward ambitious targets that don't always reflect the realities of implementation on the ground. Retail media is already a noisy and competitive space and if we continue to set idealised expectations, we will only risk stalling long-term and locking in sub-par results.
It's time to take a step back and explore what will deliver real outcomes and target real people. The reality is that progress is incremental, and not something that can be achieved overnight. But that doesn't mean it's ineffective. The numbers might appear modest when compared to more established channels, but they are actually more meaningful because they are connected to real purchases from real customers. What's more, those lower cost-per-thousand impressions (CPMs) elsewhere might look good on paper, but often distort perceptions of value.
As Tayab Hasan, General Manager at Careem Ads said during a recent Campaign Middle East CMO Round Table, 'We need to do a lot of education on how to get that more upper funnel spend channelled into retail media because that's where the closed loop measurement exists.'
And he's right. Most campaigns are still measured on clicks – surface-level metrics that don't reflect actual outcomes and are easy to inflate – which means what we think we know about purchasing behaviour is probably wrong. If we are to shift this old-school thinking toward outcome-led strategies, the industry needs clear, ongoing education.
Everyone must align on what the value of data is, and how it can be unlocked. It's also about giving an honest assessment of what retail media can actually achieve while communicating the bigger picture. It's perfectly acceptable if we don't see success in the first month of a campaign. The right approach is to start small – test, learn and scale.
Complexity of scale, measurement and identity in retail media
As retailers look to grow beyond onsite activations and endemic partnerships, the complexity deepens. Scaling with non-endemic brands – those seeking to tap into rich retailer data to drive performance across the web –introduces new hurdles. Outdated attribution models and patchy reporting only add to the challenge. In-store remains a huge opportunity, but one that's still difficult to unlock. While solutions exist, many rely on assumptions rather than complete, verified customer data.
At the same time, integrating retail media into broader media plans, especially alongside social, is becoming increasingly important. But to do this effectively, marketers need to factor in match rates between platforms to create a truly unified customer experience. And even strong match rates aren't enough on their own. They must feed into clear, consistent measurement – something walled gardens still make difficult – limiting visibility and holding back campaign performance.
This is why identity sits at the heart of retail media. With more than 6 million IDs in UAE alone, Epsilon shows how scale can enable smarter activation. It gives brands the precision to identify and reach real people across channels and the open web, making retail media not just a channel, but a powerful connector.
Granular data and differentiated engagement
Beyond the complexities, we see retail media's true strength: granularity. It thrives on being able to target someone who recently bought Sensodyne toothpaste with precision across both onsite and offsite environments. This level of detail is what sets retail media apart.
Keep in mind sales data isn't one-size-fits-all. While the scale of a retail media network matters, each one captures different patterns of consumer behaviour. Alshaya gives breadth across more than 70 brands with offline and online data, while Careem Ads offers frequency and recency from more than 50 million users.
It's often the same audience, but in a different context. The key is recognising this diversity and building strategies that reflect it. Retail media must go beyond generic targeting, translating real-world intent and behavioural cues into campaigns that drive relevance and results.
Making retail media work
All of this brings us back to education. We need to help media teams and clients understand how to build real, lasting value from the channel.
As Chirag Galundia, Head of Commerce MENA at Publicis Commerce, aptly stated during the round table, it's our jobs as marketers and agency leaders to educate and manage 'not only in terms of what media to sell, but also in terms of how retail media affects their business, their targeting, and so on.'
The brands that pull ahead won't be the ones throwing the most money at retail media – they'll be the ones asking the right questions, setting achievable goals and grounding campaigns in real-world data. Because in a space full of hype, what matters most is clarity: knowing who you're reaching, what you're measuring, and why it matters. Everything else is just background noise.
By Rajesh Verma, General Manager, Middle East, Epsilon
