Cat McGinn, curator of REmade, writes:
We asked members of the REmade advisory panel for their predictions for the retail media sector over the year to come. As we move into 2025, the forces shaping the retail media landscape are converging around a critical theme: the evolution of data-driven strategies and the race to innovate. Whether it’s the growing dominance of first-party data, the rapid expansion of retail media networks, or the push for advanced measurement and AI-driven personalisation, the year ahead promises transformative shifts.
Jana Marle Zizkova, CEO & founder, Meiro:

“One of the major trends for 2025 will be an even bigger focus on first-party data. We see with our customers that first-party data addressability determines the ‘destiny’ of (that) business. Those organizations that focus on good Identity Resolution across all touchpoints of their customers, attempt to increase customer or visitor authentication, and proactively collect marketing consent, are going to be winning long term. Third-party cookies lost their activation ability regardless of Google shutting them down, The future is a first-party data-based strategy.”

Mohammad Heidari Far, managing director, Flywheel
“It’s been encouraging to see the uptick in the use of cleanrooms and transaction data to drive sales. We’ve been utilising clean room solutions like AMC to drive full funnel campaigns for many of our clients here at Flywheel and continue to extract insights as we’ve done in the past. This transition in the role of clean rooms from insight generation to activation has been a good learning for many of our clients.
“With more retail media networks coming to market and increased inventory from the current players, a key question for clients is budget allocation and focus. A key trend in 2025 will be solutions that address this need. In my view, it requires two things:
“1. The expertise in understanding strengths of each RMN and their assets in achieving specific client objectives
“2. Technology that enables assessing performance of media across different networks and asset types against said campaign objectives.”
Simon Porter, head of retail, Hatched

“For me, looking back at 2024 the pace of growth in interest in retail media has been really noticeable. Certainly the industry groups seem to be growing with new members every month. But the pace of innovation isn’t keeping up with the interest.
“Looking forward to 2025 there are a couple of trends we’ll see. Firstly, there are going to be numerous new retail media networks launched. I expect to see a number announced early in the new year, major household retailers among them. My guess is the number of retail media networks in Australia is going to be 3x what we see today. Which will lead to a bit of a reset as competition intensifies. Secondly, 2025 is going to see some genuine innovation in the space and we’ll see the first real strides in digitisation of in-store over and above the screens currently in play.”

Roger Dunn, Global retail media lead, Diageo
“In 2024 we've been focused on the 'metrics that matter,' aiming to move beyond basic metrics and ROAS, and move towards incrementality and long-term sales growth As AI eats the world, we've looked to experiment and adopt artificial intelligence to automate and personalise our messaging. We've learned to strengthen collaboration across teams, to ensure we have a view across all our retail media activity.
“In 2025, retail media will continue to grow offsite, with big advancements in CTV and video more broadly. Advanced measurement solutions will help bring greater accountability - but this will not just be delivered by retailers/platforms - brands will also have to work on their own measurement solutions that integrate across the broader marketing mix. Retail media will continue to expand outside traditional retailers and marketplaces, into new areas and pushing the limits of today’s nomenclature.”

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