What: Even though the market is just opening up, and solutions are not totally ready, Forbes argues that retail media is now a sprint retailers have to take fast.

Why it is important: They might be right when it comes to talents, as first-movers are able to experiment and identify the exact type of profiles needed, even though the topic is constantly moving.

The retail industry has become a platform for digital advertising and data monetization, representing a $100 billion growth opportunity globally (€25bn by 2026 for Europe only). Retailers have access to large amounts of data about their customers and can provide advertisers with targeted and personalized content. This granular data is becoming more valuable as technology companies change their approach to user privacy.

As such, retail media offers benefits for consumers, retailers, and brands, but of course, retailers need to have the right digital infrastructure and data capabilities to capitalize on the opportunity. To do so, retailers are either creating their own retail media platform or focusing on building a data insights platform.

The real value lies in combining the two, but this requires a new end-to-end strategy for the whole business and access to new skills. This is a fast-moving space, and retailers need to act quickly to establish a clear retail media strategy and invest in the necessary technologies, processes, and skills.

As the retail business model evolves to resemble the media business model, early-movers will have the greatest rewards. 92% of advertisers and 74% of agencies are already partnering with retailers to reach consumers, making it vital for retailers to move quickly.

Retailers need to move fast to capitalize on Retail Media