Amazon to Offer Ad Technology to Third-party Retailers
Amazon has a precedent of developing industry-leading technology internally, then offering it out as a service: First with the development and launch of Amazon Web Services, then with “Buy with Prime” in 2022. Its newest offering, the Amazon Retail Ad Service, allows other retail businesses to utilize Amazon’s ad technology.
Amazon’s new service aims to be a potent disruptor within the world of retail media and has certainly raised a few eyebrows. From Amazon’s point of view, this is a great opportunity to expand its advertising business, not just from additional revenue streams but also from the newly available buyer behavior data enriching its existing DSP and AMC offerings.
Retail Media & Next-Gen Ads – CES
This week, the yearly Consumer Electronics Show unveiled some unbelievable, futuristic products. While there were an endless number of new products and ideas showcased during CES, retail media and marketing tech also made a big splash.
This detailed article from Chief Marketer highlights some key areas of interest. AI advancements were a primary focus, especially regarding measurement and analytics. Samsung’s use of AI in new display models, for example, offers advertisers better real-time data.
Melanie Babcock, VP of Orange Apron Media and Monetization for The Home Depot, predicts “…retail media networks will differentiate themselves with expanded in-store network capabilities, continued focus on CTV partnerships and offerings and AI-based content tools to aid advertisers with quick campaign content development.”
If you’d like more about the latest from CES, keep an eye on our Linkedin where we’ve been busy sharing keytakeaways!
2025: A Pivotal Year for RMNs?
Retail media networks saw rapid expansion in 2024, with 80% of the top 100 retailers currently having their own RMN or working with a third party. In a recent article by Vidhi Choudhary on Retail Brew, a case is made that last year’s trends toward standardization could reach a noticeable inflection point in 2025.
At Pacvue, we encourage the trend toward standardization across our industry. Last year, IAB released the final version of its “Retail Media Measurement Guidelines” , aiming to “enhance transparency and consistency in retail media measurement.” These guidelines are not a silver bullet, but they did address the key issue of data silos that our partners, clients, and competitors deal with, and we hope that with a critical mass of shared sentiment, our industry can become a cohesive, collaborative, and standardize marketing metrics.
Self-Replenishing Refrigerators via Samsung & Instacart
A futuristic idea is becoming a reality–refrigerators that restock themselves. An exciting new collaboration between Samsung and Instacart has brought the Jetsons to life with the 2025 Bespoke models of Samsung refrigerators. Consumers can use the fridge’s built-in AI to manage their food supply and restock directly through Instacart.
This intuitive combination of Vision-AI and eGrocery service is another example of how new technology can synergize with existing services andpotentially change the way we go through life. The grocery industry has demonstrated a bullish attitude towards new technology, with plenty of brands embracing in-store display advertising as a recent example. As AI advancements become more robust, expect AI to continue finding additional avenues to enhance parts of the customer journey that might otherwise have remained undisturbed.
Albertsons Announces Launch of Retail Media API
Speaking of grocery, US supermarket chain Albertsons is back in the news with the launch of its retail media API. This will enable advertisers to integrate campaign performance data into their own measurement models for analysis.
From the press release: “In a fragmented ecosystem, brands are looking for campaign measurement to compare performance across retailers and channels. To meet this demand, Albertsons Media Collective’s API offers advertisers a way to bring campaign data into their own measurement models for analysis, providing them with near real time, frictionless access to performance data. Advertisers can choose the destination, whether it be their own systems, agency or measurement partner. The API is now available for all clients.”
