Retail media has a fragmentation problem. We have better dashboards, better reporting, and better measurement than we did a few years ago. But media buyers are still being asked to navigate an ever-growing number of retail media networks and walled gardens.

In this episode, I look at what’s happening in the UK, where two major retail media aggregation plays launched over the summer: RMX by Plan-Apps from SMG and the dunnhumby network alliance, involving Tesco, B&Q, John Lewis and Waitrose. I also share snippets of a conversation from the Retail Media Therapy podcast with Co-op Media Network’s Dean Harris about why these platforms are emerging now, and why the real driver may have less to do with retailers wanting to collaborate and more to do with what advertisers and agencies increasingly expect.

But there’s a bigger question underneath all of this: what is retail media aggregation actually for? Is the value simply having one place to buy across multiple networks, or is it about being able to reach a particular audience in one place? And if competing retailers put their audiences into the same marketplace, do we risk turning retail media audiences into commodities and pushing CPMs down, just as programmatic advertising did to publisher audiences? That tension could determine whether retail media aggregation becomes a genuine solution to fragmentation or creates an entirely new set of problems for retailers.

This episode is sponsored by GrowthLoop

Timeline

[00:00] - Why retail media federations have suddenly become a much bigger story in the UK

[01:35] - Dean Harris on the advertiser pressures driving retail media aggregation

[03:18] - Why media buyers increasingly want simplicity, not another retail media platform

[04:49] - The real value of aggregation: buying audiences across an entire retail sector

[07:17] - The programmatic lesson: could retail media aggregation drive CPMs down?

[08:19] - The strategic risks retailers need to consider before joining an aggregator

[10:04] - What the publishing industry's history can teach us about retail media consolidation

Links & Resources

• Listen to the full Dean Harris episode of Retail Media Therapy with Viv Craske and Colin Lewis.
• Subscribe to Retail Media Therapy
• Follow Dean Harris, Head of Co-op Media Network, on LinkedIn
• Read my related articles:
  • How Alliances Could Solve Retail Media's Fragmentation Problem
  • Meet The First Retail Media Federations & Consortiums
  • What It Actually Takes to Build a Retail Media Federation
• Check out Basket Case, a project I’m part of with The Drum and QSIC, an irreverent and lively podcast series talking shop: latest episode
• I'm sharing comedy skits on Instagram about retail media! Follow along: @retailmediabreakfastclub
• Subscribe to Retail Media Breakfast Club's daily newsletter
• Follow Kiri Masters on LinkedIn