Retail Media Predictions from Drew Cashmore: Farewell to Complexity!
The only phrase you may have heard as much as “AI” this year is “retail media.”
MULO (multi-location) brands and online advertisers are rapidly realizing that marketing to consumers in-store is a great way to capture share of wallet.
In addition, brands are launching their own retail networks and generating revenue by making that space available to CPG brands and other advertisers. Like any new media option, confusion and doubt abound.
Drew Cashmore is the head of strategy at retail media tech company Vantage and a former exec at Walmart Connect. He talked to Street Fight about the fragmentation in retail media and what he sees as the main trends for 2025 and beyond.
Simplifying the Business of Retail Media
“Retail media is highly nuanced and complex relative to other forms of media. In 2025, we’ll see a simplification of the model focused on making it easier and more appealing for advertisers to buy and for retailers to operate. We can’t keep throwing resources at inefficiencies in the model. This will include workflow automation—the flow of information between tools and teams—and greater connectivity of systems bridged by unifying technologies. Planning and operations will move from spreadsheets to workflow management.”
The Year of Self-Serve
“We’re seeing a more holistic effort to introduce self-serve buying capabilities into these media networks. The self-serve model has often required advertisers to log in to multiple tools to plan, activate, and measure their campaigns. In 2025, we’ll see retailers that have solved technology and team fragmentation bringing unified self-serve buying capabilities to market, similar to The Home Depot’s efforts this year. By reducing barriers to entry and maximizing efficiency, self-serve will drive the next phase of retail media growth.”
Refocusing on the Fundamentals
“The past few years have seen an astronomical growth trend in retail media, with everyone trying to take a piece of the pie. Over the last few months and into next year, we’ll see a refocusing on the fundamentals, including reducing buying friction for advertisers and simplifying operations and workflow. The stories around innovation in this space will be met with honest conversations about ‘the how,’ and retailers will work to create a strong foundation for growth.”
Join us at Street Fight LIVE 2025 on September 18th in Los Angeles, where retail media will be on the agenda. You’ll learn how many of Cashmore’s predictions came true and discover new retailers who are jumping into the retail media game.
