Retail Media Networks Turn Data and AI Into Growth Engines

Retail media networks are moving from the margins of advertising strategy to the center of how brands and retailers compete, as data and media increasingly converge to shape consumer experiences and marketing outcomes.

Recent PYMNTS coverage has tracked the evolution. Among a few examples, CVS has detailed how it is turning its vast trove of first-party data into a retail media advantage that connects loyalty, transaction and behavioral insights to advertising performance.

PYMNTS has also reported on how retail media networks are unlocking commerce by using first-party data to better understand intent and measure results across channels. Retail media data is being integrated across platforms, extending insights beyond the retailer’s own properties.

Those trends were reflected in a Wednesday (Jan. 7) CES panel titled “Fueling Innovation: How Retail Media Accelerates the Next Wave of Tech Growth,” presented by Roundel, Target’s retail media network. Executives from Target, Meta and Oura described a retail media ecosystem that is less about ad inventory and more about how data signals and technology support better decision-making.

Fragmentation, Personalization and Rising Expectations

Brittany Marzette, senior director at Roundel, framed the current challenge for marketers. According to Marzette, “today’s marketers are navigating a landscape defined by fragmentation, tighter budgets and rising expectations for personalization.” Consumers, she noted, are becoming more selective about how and where they spend their money.

That selectivity is pushing brands to rethink how they show up across channels and how they use retail media networks to connect intent with messaging. Rather than casting wide nets, marketers are looking for environments where data can clarify what consumers want and when they want it.

Data Signals

For Guthrie Collin, VP of Roundel Product, retail media begins with customer experience rather than technology for its own sake. “Instead of using tech for tech’s sake, it’s about how you make the customer experience amazing,” he said.

Collin pointed to his own “Target Run” during CES, where the Target app’s store mode helped guide him through aisles and used predictive analytics to connect his search for milk with a prompt for cereal. “That store mode app is using data signals that say, ‘if someone is looking for milk, this early in the morning, they may be looking for cereal.’”

Those same signals extend to brand marketers, Collin said, who are focused on what he described as an anchor experience, supported by boost experiences wherever marketing dollars are deployed. The goal is continuity across touchpoints rather than disconnected campaigns.

AI as Productivity and Decision Support

Artificial intelligence (AI) featured prominently in the discussion as a tool for efficiency and focus. Alicia LeBeouf, head of industry for retail and ecommerce at Meta, said that “marketers want efficiency and productivity and that’s where AI comes into play … so [they] can focus on the broader strategy pieces.”

By matching retail insights and signals across platforms such as Meta’s, LeBeouf said, marketers can achieve better targeting and relevancy along with stronger returns. That alignment, she noted, delivers “better returns on investment, which is something that all brands want.”

The discussion reinforced that AI’s role in retail media is not to replace human judgment, but to help teams process data at scale and prioritize decisions. Collin later described Target’s Precision Plus as enabling humans plus technology to work together effectively. “There isn’t this mindset that technology can outperform all the things a human can. You need human strategy and decisions,” he said.

Growth Beyond Traditional Retail

Retail media’s influence extends beyond traditional consumer packaged goods. Jeremiah Linder, VP Global Retail at Oura, discussed how the company’s Oura Ring smart ring has benefited from the growth of wearable technology and retail exposure.

That momentum has been reflected in projected sales of about $1.5 billion this year, up from $500 million in 2024, according to panel commentary. The example underscored how retail media can function as both a discovery channel and a feedback loop for brands scaling into broader markets.

LeBeouf also highlighted how Meta’s cross-channel efforts with Roundel have improved return on ad spend by aligning retail insights with moments of conversion. “You’re allowing the power of retail insights and Meta to decide where people make that leap to convert,” she said, whether online or in a physical store.

Proving Performance

As retail media networks mature, the ability to measure and prove results is becoming central. Collin emphasized that shift when he said, “You don’t just deliver the performance, you always prove the performance.” The combination of Target’s retail data signals with Roundel’s media algorithms, he said, allows marketers to track performance and fine-tune campaigns across segments and formats.

Looking ahead, Collin said the future of AI-driven retail media comes back to fundamentals that do not change: customer expectations. As new media experiences emerge in stores and across social platforms, LeBeouf added that “better data allows marketers to make better decisions.” As Marzette concluded, “brands are going to have to improve how they show up for their guests.”