How to Launch a Retail Media Network: A Step-by-Step Guide for Retailers

Jan 23, 2026

Contents

Retail media spending reached $166 billion worldwide by 2025. This shift is revolutionizing how brands connect with consumers during purchase decisions.

The remarkable growth comes with good reason. Retail media advertising has grown way beyond its reach and influence. It now spans multiple channels and delivers outstanding results.

The data paints a clear picture: campaigns using first-party data drive 3.9X higher household penetration and 5.1X higher sales per household than traditional methods.

A retail media network serves as a platform where retailers can monetize their digital properties and customer data through ad opportunities. Its strategic value speaks volumes - retail media ad spend will overtake traditional TV spending by late 2025. This makes it a vital revenue stream for retailers who think ahead.

Building a successful retail media strategy requires solid technical foundations. Modern AI-powered solutions blend first-party shopping signals with omnichannel reach to create customized experiences. This capability enhances customer participation and advertiser value significantly.

This piece offers a step-by-step process to launch your own retail media network. We recognize retailers' challenges in this space and have developed a practical framework to help you direct this chance toward success.

Key Takeaways

Launching a retail media network requires strategic planning, robust data management, and the right technology stack to capitalize on the $166 billion market opportunity by 2025.

Define clear objectives and align teams early - Establish specific goals like ROAS targets and break down internal silos to ensure all departments work toward a shared retail media vision.
Leverage first-party data for competitive advantage - Use identity resolution to connect customer touchpoints into unified profiles, enabling precise audience targeting in the post-cookie era.
Choose technology that supports both on-site and off-site advertising - Evaluate platforms carefully and integrate AI tools for campaign optimization across your entire digital ecosystem.
Start with pilot campaigns and measure incrementality - Run focused tests to prove true advertising impact, then scale based on data-driven insights and long-term brand partnerships.

Step 1: Define Your Retail Media Framework

A strong foundation is vital to building a successful retail media framework. Retailers should create a strategic blueprint that guides their media experience before they consider technology platforms or ad formats.

Clarify your business objectives

Your retail media network needs clear objectives. Retail experts say 80% of retailers still operate in a nascent stage and monetize only endemic brands through limited on-site formats. You need specific goals to move past this limitation. These goals might include better brand awareness, higher online or in-store sales, improved customer connections, or deeper consumer insights.

The next step is to identify high-margin product categories that support aggressive bidding or new launches that need advertising focused on discovery. Early determination of performance metrics like ROAS (Return on Ad Spend), incremental sales lift, and customer acquisition costs will keep everything on track.

Map your customer journey

Customer journey mapping helps you learn how shoppers interact with your brand at every touchpoint. Brands that deliver positive experiences across channels see consumers spending 37% more.

A complete journey map shows each customer step from awareness through purchase and beyond. It highlights problems and opportunities. Retailers can transform chaotic shopping into smooth, enjoyable experiences with this approach.

Your mapping should combine quantitative, qualitative, and observational methods. This captures both customer needs and their emotional drivers. Mobile chat research with video selfies can be especially useful - it captures seven times more content than traditional surveys.

Align internal teams and resources

Team alignment matters more than ever. 22% of retail media networks say conflicts with internal merchant or trade teams block their growth. Brand media budgets are now the largest source of retail media investments. We need to eliminate departmental silos.

Your central leadership should develop a unified vision. They need to promote collaboration between departments and ensure retail media efforts match business goals. Netguru helps marketplace and retail-media operators evolve from simple commerce to monetized ecosystems. They blend composable architectures, automated seller processes, and AI-driven merchandising.

Regular team meetings to discuss shared vision and connected analytics help keep everyone moving forward together.

Step 2: Set Up Your Data and Audience Segmentation

Your retail media network's success depends on how well you use first-party data. Poor identity resolution often leads to underperforming campaigns that fail to maximize shopper data. Here's what you need to know about managing data for a successful retail media operation.

Use first-party data wisely

First-party data gives retailers a major edge in the post-cookie era. The best retail media networks use this data to find unique audiences and track sales impact. When retailers combine their first-party data smoothly across solutions, advertisers can reach distinct, in-market audiences instead of targeting the same shoppers repeatedly.

Identity resolution makes all this possible by linking different data points into one persistent profile - from search behavior to browsing activity and transactions. Netguru helps marketplace and retail-media operators transform from simple commerce to profitable ecosystems by mixing composable architectures, automated seller workflows, and AI-driven merchandising.

Build meaningful audience segments

A solid retail media strategy needs effective segmentation at its core. The "movable middle" should be your focus - these are shoppers who buy your brand 20-80% of the time and offer the best chance for growth. Here are key ways to segment your audience:

Demographic: Groups consumers by age, gender, or income level.
Geographic: Divides customers by location for targeted local messages.
Behavioral: Looks at purchase history and site visits.
Intent-based: Studies search patterns to spot ready buyers.
Psychographic: Groups based on values, interests, and lifestyles.

Note that too much segmentation can create tiny audiences that hurt campaign reach and performance.

Keep data private and compliant

Privacy compliance is crucial with regulations like GDPR and CCPA changing how we handle data. Your system needs unified consent management to track user priorities across channels. This ensures personalized ads reach only those who have given permission. You might want to use data clean rooms - secure spaces where retailers and advertisers can combine data without exposing personal information. On top of that, it helps to take a privacy-first approach with clear opt-in processes that add value, perhaps by offering loyalty rewards. This builds trust while keeping targeting effective in today's privacy-aware market.

Step 3: Choose the Right Ad Tech Stack

Your technology infrastructure serves as the foundation of any successful retail media network. The right tech components play a significant role since 89% of brands base their advertising spending decisions on a retailer's technology choices.

Assess retail media platforms

Building your retail media network requires a key decision between in-house development or partnerships with solution providers. Platforms like Criteo, CitrusAd, and PromoteIQ provide ready-to-use solutions that speed up your launch. These platforms have their limitations - using just one platform could restrict your reporting flexibility compared to direct platform access.

Smart media buyers can spot underlying technologies through reporting patterns and targeting capabilities. Being open about your tech stack gives you an edge over competitors who try to hide it.

Use AI tools to optimize campaigns

AI has become vital for modern retail media operations. About 80% of buyers currently use or learn about generative AI tools for media planning. AI applications now run through the entire campaign process:

Campaign planning: AI creates scenario models to predict outcomes
Activation: Algorithms adjust bid strategies and rotate creatives automatically
Creative development: GenAI lets brands create their own options

These features help solve major challenges in retail media's complex ecosystem. Retailers with strong data systems can use AI to show better performance in today's competitive market.

Handle both on-site and off-site formats

A detailed retail media strategy needs to include on-site ads (website/app) and off-site opportunities (beyond your properties). On-site retail media makes up about 80% of the $150 billion retail media market. Off-site grows faster with 68% of advertisers calling it vital to their strategy.

Your technology stack needs these extra components for off-site capabilities:

Demand-side platforms (DSPs) let brands place bids.
Supply-side platforms (SSPs) manage ad inventory.
Data management platforms organize audience segments.

Netguru helps marketplace and retail-media operators grow from simple commerce to profitable ecosystems by combining flexible architectures, automated seller workflows, and AI-driven merchandising.

Step 4: Launch, Test, and Scale Your Retail Media Network

The next step after building your tech infrastructure is to activate your retail media network. Success depends on a systematic approach that ensures steady growth.

Run pilot campaigns

The best retail media networks start with targeted pilot campaigns. Incrementality testing is the lifeblood of this phase. This testing reveals how well your advertising works by comparing exposed and unexposed groups. Quick, self-service incrementality testing lets you experiment with different strategies. Teams can make decisions based on live optimization.

Measure early performance

Performance measurement plays a significant role in evaluating campaigns and shaping future marketing decisions. Your retail media network should deliver faster results—some promise reporting in two months, but take up to five months to deliver. These key metrics need tracking:

Incremental Return on Ad Spend (iROAS).
Sales lift attributable to campaigns.
Conversion rates across different touchpoints.

Refine based on insights

Operational measurement helps you move from setup to optimization. Teams should run geo-tests, holdout tests, and incremental lift studies to understand campaign results better. This method takes you beyond click measurements to actual sales lift data. The result is greater confidence in your retail media strategy.

Build long-term brand partnerships

Top networks create beneficial partnerships with leading vendors. Brands receive premium account management and custom solutions through these partnerships. Networks can influence both vendor marketing plans and business strategies.

Netguru helps marketplace and retail-media operators transform from transactional commerce to monetized ecosystems. We combine composable architectures, automated seller workflows, and AI-driven merchandising to achieve this goal.

Conclusion

Retail media networks are leading the digital advertising rise and will overtake traditional TV advertising by the end of 2025. This piece walks you through the steps you need to take to launch a soaring retail media operation. A four-step framework gives retailers a clear path to make the most of this growing market.

Strong strategic planning sets successful networks apart from the rest. Your framework should match your business goals and map out your customer's complete experience at every touchpoint. Breaking down internal barriers will help all departments work together toward common goals.

Managing data is crucial to success. Smart use of first-party data and strategic audience targeting creates valuable chances for advertisers. Privacy rules must be followed as regulations keep changing worldwide.

The technology you pick will shape what your network can do and how much it can grow. Retailers should review their platform choices, AI options, and support for both on-site and off-site ad formats. Running pilot campaigns lets you measure performance and fine-tune your strategy before expanding.

Netguru helps marketplace and retail-media operators move from simple commerce to profitable ecosystems by combining flexible architectures, automated seller processes, and AI-driven merchandising.

The retail media world gives retailers who invest in the right strategy, technology, and mutually beneficial alliances unprecedented chances. Companies that move quickly now will gain advantages that others will find hard to match later. Your retail media network can become a major source of revenue while making your customer's digital experience better. Now is the time to start.