In this episode, we discuss digital screens and audio, connecting in-store exposure to purchase, attribution challenges, retailer infrastructure investments, and shopper experience considerations. EMARKETER Vice President & Principal Analyst, Sarah Marzano hosts Gabi Viljoen, Vice President & Head of eCommerce at Nestlé Health Science and Austin Leonard, Vice President and General Manager of DG Media Network.

A leaked Amazon deck positions its Rufus AI shopping assistant as a high-intent retail media channel with CPC pricing on the horizon.

Offsite media retail represents a growing opportunity for advertisers and retail media networks (RMNs), as outlined in a session during EMARKETER's Commerce Media Trends Summit last week.

In today's podcast episode, EMARKETER Vice President & Principal Analyst, Sarah Marzano, examines what's holding in-store back, what it will take to overcome these constraints, and where the most meaningful opportunities lie as retailers work to scale the next stage of retail media.

Though both commerce media spend and measurement capabilities are growing rapidly, the gap between investment and the ability to accurately measure performance continues to widen.

While digital in-store retail media remains a small fraction of total retail media spend, the real challenge is integrating digital formats into physical stores thoughtfully to create a cohesive customer experience rather than a fragmented one.

Retailers have prioritized convenience while underestimating in-store behavior, said Placer.ai CMO Ethan Chernofsky at EMARKETER’s Commerce Media Summit.

Physical stores represent retail media's largest untapped growth opportunity, but the industry's ecommerce-first infrastructure is preventing that potential from being realized. "Retail media in the US was never built for physical stores," said our analyst Sarah Marzano at EMARKETER's Commerce Media Trends Summit. "The system we built was designed around ecommerce native signals, ecommerce native formats, and ecommerce native measurement."

Our industry KPI data shows CTV QR code scan rates falling from 0.010% to 0.004% in 2025 as ad clutter and fatigue curb second-screen action.

When ChatGPT rolled out ads on February 9, retailers moved quickly to test the format. The retail and grocery category accounted for 44% of ad impressions on ChatGPT during the two-week period from February 12 to 26, compared with 37% on Google Search, according to data from Sensor Tower.

Fire TV's new UI weaves ads across screens, tying CTV reach to retail data and programmatic scale.

Education solutions company Sallie has launched Backpack Media, an education media network that offers marketers access to Gen Z and Gen Alpha students and the families influencing their purchasing decisions across Sallie’s owned properties, the open web, and CTV.

As early movers launch ads within OpenAI's ChatGPT, they're closely watching how consumers interact with their campaigns and where this emerging channel fits within broader strategies. “Investment in technology and AI…goes hand-in-hand with great experience,” said Target CEO Michael Fiddelke, at the retailer’s 2026 Financial Community Meeting. “We know those tech investments pay off with stronger experience, whether that's digital or whether that's in-store.”