Retail media networks (RMNs) have spent years expanding beyond their owned properties, building capabilities across social, search, connected TV, and the open internet. But as shopping journeys become more fragmented, the industry's next challenge is demonstrating how retailer data can improve advertising investments across those channels.

That was a central theme of "Partnerships Powering the Future of Discovery," a panel featuring executives from Target, Pinterest, Google, and The Trade Desk. The event was held Oct. 13 at The Roundtable: NYC, hosted by Target's Roundel.

The boundaries between discovery and shopping continue to blur

US off-site retail media ad spending will reach $17.98 billion in 2026 and $35.57 billion by 2030, according to EMARKETER forecasts. But expanding into more channels doesn't automatically give advertisers a compelling reason to shift their budgets.

Consumers increasingly move between social platforms, search engines, AI-powered assistants, and physical stores as they discover and evaluate products. Nearly half of purchases that begin with ecommerce browsing are completed in stores, according to Bhaskar Mishra, vice president of digital product at Target. For the retailer, the opportunity is to make those transitions easier, including through AI-powered experiences that help consumers navigate product choices and move from discovery to purchase.

Pinterest is seeing a related shift in how consumers express shopping intent. Rather than beginning with a specific product or brand, consumers often arrive with an idea, aesthetic, or occasion in mind, according to Kristin Patterson, vice president of omnichannel retail at Pinterest. The platform sees more than 80 billion searches each month, roughly half of which are commercial, and 96% of its top searches are unbranded.

AI is making it possible to interpret these less explicit signals of intent. Stefanie Stewart, head of industry for retail media at Google, highlighted how search is also evolving toward more conversational, visual, and exploratory experiences. For advertisers, these changes create opportunities to influence demand earlier in the shopping journey, while raising questions about what unique value retailers can contribute when discovery increasingly happens on platforms they don't own.

Retailer data must make existing media investments better

Retail media's expansion across the funnel has largely focused on building access to new advertising environments. Yet despite widespread partnerships between RMNs and major social platforms, just $1.30 billion in social advertising spending will flow through RMNs in 2026, according to EMARKETER forecasts. That's less than 2% of total retail media spending and less than 1% of social media spending.

For advertisers already investing heavily in these environments, access alone isn't a compelling reason to involve another intermediary. The opportunity lies in what retailers know about actual purchasing behavior.

Amy Babcock, senior director of client development at The Trade Desk, emphasized how retailer transaction data can help advertisers understand who purchases a brand, chooses a competitor, or buys complementary products. Through its partnership with Roundel, The Trade Desk incorporates SKU-level sales data from Target's online and physical stores to inform audience strategies and campaign optimization.

That intelligence can help advertisers identify valuable customers, understand where their brands have opportunities to grow, and make more informed decisions across their broader media plans. Retailer data can also improve the consumer experience by connecting inspiration with relevant, available products, making it easier for shoppers to act on an idea.

Scaling adoption requires simpler activation and stronger measurement

Even when retailer data can improve campaign performance, advertisers face practical barriers to adopting these capabilities at scale. Buying processes, measurement systems, and budget ownership often differ across shopper marketing, brand, social, and broader media teams. Adding retailer data can introduce another layer of complexity unless integrations fit naturally into existing workflows.

For Pinterest, simplifying activation is an important part of that equation. The company reports that its Performance+ tools require 50% fewer inputs to launch a campaign, while product-catalog sales campaigns have delivered an average 20% improvement in cost per acquisition compared with business-as-usual setups.

Measurement must also evolve to reflect retail media's broader role in discovery and demand creation. Connecting advertising exposure with a transaction remains valuable, but attribution alone doesn't establish whether advertising changed consumer behavior. Advertisers increasingly need to understand whether their investments are attracting incremental customers, influencing consideration, and generating sales that otherwise wouldn't have occurred.

For Target, Mishra identified incremental buyers, lower acquisition costs, and the relevance of sponsored recommendations as important indicators of progress.

Ultimately, retail media has made considerable progress expanding where advertisers can reach consumers. Its next phase of growth will depend on making discovery more useful for consumers and demonstrating that commerce intelligence delivers measurable value across the broader media plan.