With 15+ years in 360-degree marketing for B2C and B2B brands and over four years of experience in the retail media ad market, I’ve learned one thing: selecting the right AdTech partner for your retail media networks is not just about technology and platform capabilities.

It’s a decision that shapes your ability to grow revenue, build proper relationships with advertisers and automate your business for long-term success. 

That’s why I’ve created this guide to help you choose the right partner to build your retail media network and turn your business into a revenue-generating hub. I’ll walk you through a step-by-step process of finding the best provider with expert insights and real-world examples. I’ll also introduce you to Loadstone—a retail media networks provider that helps you build new revenue streams and improve brand visibility with targeted ads and smart product placements.

Are you ready for retail media?

Before choosing a partner or opening a tender, ensure your business is ready for what retail media refers to.

If you’re unsure, take this quick 10-question “yes-no” checklist. 

If you answer “yes” to at least five questions, your business is ready to capitalize on the retail media market.

1. Do you expect a net profit from data monetization to exceed $15,000 annually?
2. Are you willing to prioritize your tech team to implement data monetization tools?
3. Are you unsure how much money you’ve lost by not having retail media inventory in place?
4. Could advertising revenue contribute at least 2% of your turnover?
5. Does your online traffic exceed 500,000 monthly visitors across the web and app?
6. Have you never monetized any part of your website, app, or offline spaces?
7. Are you using static banner ads (like sliders) that don’t change based on customer targeting, and relying on trade marketing budgets?
8. Do you manually manage offline multimedia content (e.g., displays or tablets) without precise performance data?
9. Are you dissatisfied with your current in-house ad solution and considering white-label improvements?
10. Does your business fall into industries like grocery, fashion, marketplaces, fintech, lifestyle, automotive, beauty, pharma or other high-demand retail & e-commerce segments? Or does it belong to one of these non-retail industries: airlines, traveling, ticketing, online cinemas and streaming services, gaming or classifieds?

Over five yeses:

You’re ready! Choosing the best AdTech partner and implementing the right solution will set you up for an enormous profit increase in the next couple of years. This article will help you get started faster! 

Less than five yeses:

Your business might not be fully ready to transform yet. For now, focus on refining your business and marketing strategies and analyzing your targeted goals and operational metrics. This article will still be a valuable resource, offering insights into retail media networks and helping you build a strong framework for the future. 

Building your framework for selecting a retail media networks partner

Now that you have a clearer view of your retail media readiness, it’s time to create a framework for selecting the right AdTech partner. 

A well-structured Request for Information (RFI) is your starting point. This document outlines your requirements and helps potential providers understand your expectations.

Here’s a detailed look at how to create an RFI properly.

Avoid common pitfalls

From my experience interviewing publishers’ teams across marketing, commercial, finance and DevOps departments, I’ve seen firsthand that an RFI often doesn’t align with the real needs or expected results in retail media. 

For example: 

1. Limited resources: Some companies want a white-label solution and plan to manage everything in-house. But after a year, they often realize the results aren’t meeting expectations. The issue? They didn’t set aside enough resources to support and manage the system properly. So they overlooked tasks like campaign management, brand consulting and optimization.
2. Lack of conversion: Others prioritize modern ad formats like stories or butterfly ads because they seem like popular choices for engagement and conversion. But, in the first two years after launching their ad strategy, 70% of their profit actually comes from more traditional sponsored ad formats, like Product Listing Ads (PLAs), including banners and shelves.
3. Incomplete Customer Journey Mapping (CJM): Many don’t allocate enough ad space across the customer journey. They focus on using only a few ad formats, mostly banners, on just two or three pages, expecting substantial profits. A year later, they realize fill rates are low and their ad capacity is insufficient, which is holding them back. These companies lost a year’s potential profit by the time they expanded their placements.
4. Data storage server issues: Some insist on hosting the code on their servers to secure sensitive data. Yet, in practice, a provider’s system often offers better security and stability without extra in-house resources. That’s why even large companies like Slack, Airbnb and Netflix store their data on cloud providers like AWS.
5. Misunderstanding of the target audience: Some companies initially request click-out ads, but along the way, they shift their approach and use banners to send users to their product pages instead. 

These examples highlight how a company’s perceived priorities differ from its actual needs. Based on my global experience with over 50 ad inventory implementations— helping retailers and non-retailers become publishers—I’ve identified the key factors that truly matter to publishers. While these may not always align with their initial requests, they often reflect their underlying priorities and strategic needs.

I’ve summarized all necessary factors into a simple guiding principle: the “Three S” strategy for evaluating AdTech partners. Integrating this strategy into your marketing approach helps focus on the elements you actually need to build a successful retail media network.

The “Three S” strategy for a retail media networks' success 

As its name suggests, the strategy is built on three key pillars, each starting with an S:

1. Sustainability

I love this word and find it suitable, as the definition covers reliability, stability and strength. Your system must reflect all three: remaining stable, secure and adaptable. It should:

• Protect sensitive data with strong security protocols.
• Operate smoothly without compromising your website’s functionality.
• Be updatable to align with changing business goals and market conditions.

2. Satisfactability

A retail media network and its interface should be “sexy”, meaning pleasant and practical to work in. In other words, it must:

• Have an intuitive UI/UX that makes self-service enjoyable and efficient, and supports web interface customization.
• Provide advanced analytics capabilities. This includes the ability to track real-time monetary metrics and KPIs like views, click-through rate (CTR), Revenue, return on ad spend (ROAS), and advertising cost of sale (ACOS), enabling both publishers and advertisers to achieve their goals.
• Deliver positive ROI quickly by automating ad purchasing processes and balancing investments with outcomes.

3. Scalability

Your AdTech solution should grow with your business:

• Adapt to omnichannel strategies, integrating offline locations into your monetization plans.
• Support international domains and broader product feeds.
• Allow for a pilot project to test the initial implementation before scaling.

By focusing on these three pillars, you can be sure that your retail media network works on a solid foundation that supports long-term growth and success. 

The best way to ensure that is to partner with an AdTech provider that helps you build retail media networks in line with the “Three S” strategy. 

Loadstone may be your perfect match.

It’s a modular martech and adtech ecosystem with products catering to different marketing needs. You can choose the ones that best fit your business and goals.

As part of its retail media offering, Loadstone provides the Retail Media Platform.

It optimizes retail media networks for retailers, brands and marketing agencies. It lets you showcase your ads in both digital channels and physical spaces. With AI audience targeting and flexible ad placements, you can reach the right people at the right time.

Loadstone ensures sustainability by complying with GDPR standards, protecting your data and your advertising partners’ and customers’ information. Regarding satisfactability, Loadstone’s no-code interface lets you create ad campaigns with just a few clicks, without writing a single line of code. For scalability, our customer engagement software supports your growth with an omnichannel strategy, allowing you to showcase products and track data across all your online touchpoints, like websites, apps and in physical brick and mortar stores.

Want to learn more about how Loadstone can help you build and scale successful retail media networks? 

Schedule a call with our team today.

The 8 essential scoring criteria for choosing a retail media networks provider

Below, I’d also like to share with you the criteria I’ve identified and developed through three years of exploring the retail media audience needs and challenges.  

I’ve reviewed hundreds of RFI documents, ranging from fifty to five hundred listed requirements. However, in reality, only a handful of these truly mattered to the decision-makers. This insight is the result of my personal experience, drawn from interviews conducted both before and after implementing advertising inventory, as well as from analyzing goals versus achieved results. 

These criteria represent only the most critical and relevant expectations of company owners and stakeholders when selecting a technical partner for third-party advertising inventory.

Here are the most important things to consider when choosing your AdTech and retail media networks provider:

1. Campaign efficiency results: Ensure the system provides immediate analytics and performance metrics. With Loadstone, you get advanced analytics and real-time monitoring of key metrics like customer retention rate (CRR), ROAS, impressions, clicks, CTR and cost per click (CPC). 
2. Ease of integration: The solution should require minimal resources and support quick, autonomous testing. Loadstone has an open API and webhooks to connect the Retail Media Platform with all your in-house and third-party systems.
3. Data privacy: Compliance with cookieless environments is critical. Systems should analyze user behavior in real time without relying on personal data.
4. Data measurement transparency: Platforms should offer clear, objective reporting, including downloadable stats.
5. Compatibility: The solution must complement your existing tools without causing conflicts.
6. Market demand: The platform should meet advertiser needs with advanced targeting, including demographics like age and location, and behavioral marketing data like shopping history and interests. With our Retail Media Platform, you also get a connected Customer Data Platform (CDP) that collects and analyzes customer data from all online and offline channels. Define precise audience segments like “users under 40 who bought T-shirts twice in the last three months”. Then target them with products that match their preferences and what they’re most likely to buy.
7. Self-service tools: Your teams should easily manage campaigns without coding, so you don’t need developers. That’s precisely what you get with Loadstone. It lets you design and plan your advertising initiatives in the drag-and-drop editor, without writing any code. 
8. Proven success: Look for case studies and testimonials to verify the partner’s track record.

These eight criteria have proven their importance time and time again across industries—food, delivery, beauty, fintech, omnichannel retail and more.

However, every business is unique. When choosing a retail media network provider, focus on your specific goals and priorities.

Here’s a step-by-step guide to help you define your criteria and align them with the capabilities of your future AdTech partner.

Step-by-step guide to finding the right retail media networks partner

1. Define your retail media goals

Start by identifying what you want to achieve with your retail media network. Are you looking to monetize traffic and activate new revenue streams? Or do you want to create an omnichannel customer experience through high-end ad inventory? Your goals will guide your choice of a provider. 

Key questions to ask:

• What is the primary purpose of your retail media network? 
• Do you need advanced ad formats like banners, videos or sponsored product listings?
• How important are real-time data and analytics?

Expert insights:

If you’re unsure about the primary purpose to focus on when implementing your retail media network, look for an AdTech partner offering strategic consulting. They can help you pinpoint your main objectives, develop a project plan and define the resources you’ll need.

At Loadstone, we support our clients every step of the way. Whether you’re just starting your retail media networks or optimizing them for best performance, our expert team is here for you. We’ll help you create successful advertising strategies and reach the results you’re aiming for. 

Schedule a chat with our team. 

When it comes to ad formats, there are two main types you should know about: click-in and click-out. Both can work with different content types, like sponsored products, banners, videos and text. Click-in and click-out formats require separate budgets. They serve different purposes but complement each other and create independent revenue sources.

Let’s break them down:

Click-in formats (like PLA, sponsored products and shelves) tend to have high conversion rates, meaning they’re more likely to lead directly to sales. These formats usually have a smaller budget because they aim to bring direct purchases.

Click-out formats (like banners and videos) attract advertisers from outside your direct retail space. These formats usually need a bigger budget because they reach a wider audience and have a higher CPC. 

Important tip: Before allowing click-out brands to advertise, ensure their audience aligns with yours and double-check the pages where the ads will appear. Since these users will be leaving your website to visit an external landing page, it’s best to start with click-out ads on pages where a transaction has already been completed. For example, the “Thank you for your order” page. This approach minimizes the disruption of the user experience and increases audience engagement. It also improves user loyalty by delivering relevant content. 

Loadstone gives you multiple ad formats to choose from. Opt for online banners or e-shelves, or offline options like video and audio in-store ads on tablets and displays.

2. Evaluate core capabilities

Look for a retail media network solution with features that meet your needs. Here are some must-have features to look for: 

• Self-service platform: Enables advertisers to manage campaigns independently. A huge bonus point goes to those who let you manage ad spaces and rules independently. For example, you should be able to set up a bid floor for every format and placement and change it anytime you need, without reinstalling the system. The Loadstone advertising platform is built for simple self-service. Both advertisers and brands can easily access it to sell ad space, purchase ads, and launch and manage campaigns. This gives them the freedom to move quickly, adjust campaigns on the go and take control of ad performance.
• Real-time bidding (RTB): Provides flexibility and efficiency in ad placement. Choose if you need a first or second price auction bidding system. From my experience, the second option works best as it naturally grows your profit, and in the end, you earn more compared to the first price version. It also provides more flexibility to advertisers. Loadstone offers a transparent, easy-to-use second-price auction system. Advertisers place bids and can immediately see if they’ve won a specific product placement.
• Targeting and personalization: Supports segmentation by demographics, behavior and purchase history. The more targeting you have, the better. If you have multiple warehouses and delivery options, make sure that targeting on stock is available, so “out-of-stock” units won’t be shown to users and advertisers won’t waste their budgets. Loadstone keeps your ads relevant with real-time product sync. It connects to SKU databases and instantly removes out-of-stock items. This way, your audience only sees products they can actually buy.
• Omnichannel integration: The platform should unify online, offline (in-store) and mobile retail media networks campaigns within one web interface. 
• Scalability: The solution you choose should adapt to your business growth and changing demands.

3. Prioritize user experience

Both your team and your advertisers need an interface that simplifies campaign creation, management and reporting.

What to check:

• Is the interface simple for advertisers and your internal publishers team?
• Does the system include elements like drag-and-drop tools for product selection?
• How responsive is the support team in resolving technical issues? Is there a 24/7 team available to fix the issues quickly?

Expert insight:

An easy-to-use UI/UX saves time, increases adoption rates among advertisers, and reduces the workload for your internal teams. It also encourages advertisers to invest more. For example, a product catalog with a drag-and-drop functionality can save hours for advertisers while adding an element of fun. 

The Loadstone drag-and-drop campaign builder lets you set up campaigns easily. Simply select a product order and decide which ad formats you want them to appear on, e.g., banners or shelves.

In just a few clicks, you can also customize display rules, like limiting how often an ad shows to the same person or excluding specific categories.

4. Assess data and analytics capabilities

Data is at the core of every successful retail media network. Choose a partner that excels in analytics and reporting.

Key features to look for:

• Real-time dashboards with campaign performance metrics: Real-time tracking of your campaign’s performance is a must. To get the most out of your retail media network, you need instant insights into how users are interacting and clear metrics for every ad format and placement.

• Integration with third-party analytics tools like Google Analytics: Smooth integration with external platforms is essential for syncing your data flows.
• Understanding shopper behavior and ad performance: This is a key to getting a high return on your ad spend. Getting help from your AdTech partner is particularly valuable in the beginning stages of your project. They can guide you on how to:
  
  • Plan your promotions and use your budget wisely.
  • Manage and optimize your campaigns to reach the most relevant audience.
  • Interpret results and improve future campaign performance. 

Expert insight:

Clearly define your metrics. Do you need raw data for custom pivot tables or polished dashboards for quick insights? Consider whether you want post-view and post-click attribution models for deeper insights into user behavior. While comprehensive reporting is ideal, overcomplicating analytics can drive up costs unnecessarily.

Remember:

The more criteria you add to your list, the harder it will be to find the right provider. Excessive time spent on research can delay implementation, costing you thousands of dollars in lost profit. A typical preparational stage, including paperwork and strategy, can take a year. Decisive action with clear priorities will save time and resources. 

The Loadstone team is the perfect partner to help you assess your data and analytics. With the CDP, you’ll always have a clear view of your audience’s data. Our team of experts is here whenever you need a helping hand to understand or use it to improve your retail media networks strategies.

5. Ensure technical compatibility

Your AdTech solution must integrate with your existing tech stack, including e-commerce tools, loyalty programs and CRM and marketing automation platforms.

Key questions:

• Does the provider support integration with your existing platforms?
• Is the system compatible with your first-party data?
• How flexible are they in adapting to your technical requirements?

With the first two questions, at least 50% of providers will likely say “yes”. However, the real challenge lies in flexibility. Look beyond basic capabilities and focus on whether the provider can adjust their solution to meet your unique tech needs. That’s what I called “satisfactability” in the “Three S” strategy. 

Ask potential partners about their approach to system improvements and upgrades after implementation:

• Will updates require additional backend development on your end, or will they be integrated as part of the provider’s global updates?
• Can they collaborate with you to create a project roadmap that includes features you may need in the future but don’t currently have?

Expert insight:

Look for a provider you can trust with customization and feature prioritization. A strong partner will adopt a collaborative, partnership-driven approach, demonstrating both a serious commitment to your success and excellent technical capabilities.

Loadstone gives you that. Since it’s a composable commerce platform, you can upgrade your system anytime with additional products like the AI Recommender System, Promotional Marketing, and CRM & Communications. Each product can work on its own or come together as one system.

6. Evaluate revenue models

Get a clear picture of the provider’s pricing structure and how it aligns with your revenue goals. Here’s a breakdown with examples from well-known companies to help you see what revenue model options exist.

• Revenue-sharing agreements: YouTube shares advertising revenue with content creators, incentivizing high-quality content creation. Apple’s App Store works similarly, giving developers a percentage of revenue from app sales and in-app purchases, which helps the entire app ecosystem grow.
• Fixed licensing fees: Microsoft Office offers enterprise software licenses for a fixed fee, granting organizations the right to use their suites of applications. Another example is an Oracle Database that provides software licenses to businesses for a set fee, allowing extensive data management capabilities. 
• Pay-as-you-go or subscription-based models: Netflix offers its content for a monthly fee, while Amazon Web Services (AWS) charges users based on a combination of usage, hardware, operating systems, software and networking features.

Now, let’s look at when these models make sense for your business.  

Revenue share model

Opt for this model if: 

• You’re at an early stage of retail media network implementation, testing the market demand and advertiser interest. In other words, you’re unsure about the capacity of your own retail media network and its appeal to advertisers.
• You have enough traffic or unique audience segments, but don’t yet have a well-prepared marketing and PR plan. You also have limited resources for development, maintenance, or campaign management.
• You’re ready to invest in your cooperation with your AdTech provider, sharing both costs and profits. The model creates a partnership dynamic where your provider is motivated to help your retail media networks succeed. You start small, work closely together, and aim for big growth in the future.

In these cases, the revenue share model is a safe starting point. It minimizes your upfront risk, as the partner invests in your ad spaces and you don’t need to spend your own budget. But, there’s a trade-off: the partner’s profit depends on how much revenue the ads generate. The more successful your ads are, the more they make. In the long run, this could eat into your profits as the partner takes a share of the earnings.

Expert insight: 

The agreed percentage should provide a fair split of profits, compared to the resources invested. Ideally, it should scale as your network grows. Be ready to move to a fixed-cost model once your network has stabilized and you have built the internal capacity to effectively manage campaigns and advertisers. 

Fixed cost model

This option is ideal if you’re looking to scale profits, especially if you have the internal resources to manage the network and anticipate stable revenue growth. This usually means that you already have:

• Trade and marketing budgets.
• A retail media team managing advertisers.
• A revenue stream from advertising, constrained by your current platform’s functionality.

In this scenario, paying a fixed cost for unlimited functionality is more cost-effective than sharing revenue. You retain complete control over your profits, and while the initial cost may seem higher, it’s typically less expensive in the long run. 

Important:

Calculate the break-even point to make sure your revenue stream includes profitability. Evaluate your current resources, outline a project plan, and set targets within your business strategy. You may choose to start with a revenue share model and later switch to fixed costs, or vice versa.

Pay-as-you-go model

The pay-as-you-go or subscription-based model is the most suitable when:

• You’re testing the waters. It’s a logical start for companies just starting in retail media and wanting to test the channel. It offers flexibility without high upfront fixed costs, making it suitable for companies with limited initial capital that want to scale up gradually as revenue grows. But, you’ll still need to invest to implement your retail media network, such as human resources like programmers and project managers.
• Your ad inventory usage fluctuates due to seasonal demand or irregular campaigns. This model ensures you only pay for what you use.
• You want to experiment with different ad formats, targeting methods, or campaign strategies without significant financial risk. For example, some providers offer a “pay-per-ad-request” system. This means you pay for the number of times an ad is requested, even if it isn’t shown. So, you’re paying for ad requests, and you’re flexible to charge advertisers as you see fit, based on the number of people who see the ad, when people click the ad, or depending on advertisers’ goals like conversions or engagement. 

Expert insight: 

The pay-as-you-go model reduces the costs associated with unused impressions. However, without a clear marketing strategy and advertisers, you may be paying for requests without impressions. Keep a close eye on your performance metrics like click-through and conversion rates to determine whether moving to a revenue-sharing or fixed-price model may be more profitable as your retail media network matures. 

Be aware of the potential for higher long-term costs compared to other models, especially if your usage increases significantly over time. Consider the cost of implementation, too.

7. Look at their track record

Choose a partner with a proven history of success in the retail media space.

What to review:

• Case studies from similar industries or business models.
• Client testimonials or references.
• Performance metrics achieved for other retailers.

Expert insight:

Don’t be afraid to request a private presentation of implemented cases, even under NDA. Seeing the system in action will reveal much more than a polished PDF ever could. 

During the demo, think of your metrics and set up a goal for yourself and your partner before you begin. This will make it easier to implement the project and coordinate the teams.

Loadstone has over a decade of experience helping retail businesses build and manage digital properties within top retail media networks. Take Danone, a food & beverage company, for example. They achieved a 422% return on marketing investment (ROMI) through Loadstone targeted product displays within marketplaces. There’s also Shopstar.pe, a product marketplace that saw sales increase 5–7 times.

Book a demo to learn how Loadstone retail media networks can drive impressive results for you.

8. Test the partnership

Before committing, consider running a pilot program to assess the platform’s capabilities and compatibility. 

It’s a strong indicator of a good partner if they say “yes” to such initiatives and are willing to prove their capabilities through actions. Typically, pilot programs are low-cost and can be included as a fixed-price component within your retail media strategy design. 

Here’s a checklist you can follow during the pilot to ensure everything in your potential retail media networks meets your standards:

• Set clear success criteria and hypotheses. For example, you could set success criteria to be specific KPI achievement, like a 20% increase in click-through rate. And the hypothesis could be that a targeted ad format will lead to higher engagement and more sales. Then, after the pilot, you can assess whether these goals were achieved.
• Measure key results such as the advertiser’s target KPIs and how they are achieved. Check if you have access to real-time statistics like impressions, conversions, ROAS and ACOS.
• Run as many campaigns as possible across multiple targetings to assess your retail media capacity, capabilities and fill rates.
• Evaluate advertisers’ feedback regarding UI/ UX and their satisfaction with the web interface during the pilot.
• Assess the system’s reliability and fill it with realistic site loads. Try out key features such as ad placements, targeting and reporting, ad moderation and space management.

9. Consider long-term partnership potential

Your AdTech provider should be more than a vendor—they should be a long-term, strategic partner.

Ask yourself:

• Do they have a clear vision for innovation and growth?
• Are they committed to supporting your current and future business needs?
• Can they help you stay competitive?

A serious and trustworthy partner will collaborate with you to develop a retail media strategy that aligns perfectly with your business. This strategy should be grounded in market trends, demand, technology usage and your unique business goals.

Real-world examples of scoring retail media networks partners

Here are two examples based on real-world scenarios to demonstrate how the right AdTech partner can transform your retail media networks.

Case 1:  Enterprise health & beauty retailer breaks even in 1 month

Challenge:

A retailer with over 1,000 retail stores and a high-traffic app and website realized they had enough traffic to monetize. The only thing stopping them from activating additional revenue streams was a limited, non-automated internal retail media solution. They were running static banners without personalization and had no mechanism to effectively track ad performance. The goal was to automate sales and media buying and break even within six months of implementation.

Scoring approach:

The retailer evaluated three AdTech providers based on the following criteria:

• Targeting precision: The ability to segment audiences and target ads based on behavioral data, with unlimited advertisers onboard.
• Ease of use: An easy-to-use interface for both internal teams and advertisers.
• Integration capabilities: Compatibility with their existing e-commerce platforms and not conflicting with trade budgets. 
• Revenue model alignment: A pricing structure that fits their budget.
• Support services: Responsiveness and expertise of the partner’s support team.

Outcome:

They chose a provider based on its targeting capabilities and real-time analytics. On top of that, they developed a detailed implementation roadmap and helped execute the plan. The platform integrated with the retailer’s existing systems and offered a simple-to-use self-service dashboard for advertisers.

Results:

• Achieved break-even within one month of launching the platform.
• Advertisers reported an outstanding ACOS below 5%.
• Expanded their advertiser base by 20% through better campaign management and targeting options.

Case 2: Omnichannel DIY Retailer Unlocks Quick ROI

Challenge:

A DIY retailer with over 100 retail stores, a website and a mobile app wanted to monetize their visitors’ traffic across online, mobile and offline channels. They also wanted to use ad personalization to improve customer loyalty and engagement. With a complex setup spanning multiple retail media networks and platforms, the retailer faced challenges in managing ad operations while ensuring high returns. They needed a single system that could handle everything from ad placement and targeting to reporting across all touchpoints. 

Scoring approach:

• Multi-channel integration: The top priority was to unify campaigns across their website, mobile app and physical stores. They needed a solution to help them create a consistent and engaging experience for customers wherever they interacted.
• Revenue generation potential: They evaluated solutions based on expected ROI and monetization capacity.
• Efficient real-time bidding: Flexibility and efficiency in ad placement were critical. The goal was to ensure organic cost per thousand impressions (CPM) grew naturally as the number of advertisers increased. 
• Actionable data & analytics: Understanding customer behavior and having the tools to influence their decisions was key. The retailer needed real-time dashboards with insights into shopper behavior to optimize ongoing campaigns.

Outcome:

They chose a provider with omnichannel capabilities and a transparent licensing fee model. The partner also offers an expert team, the creation of a personalized retail media strategy, training of teams and advertisers and an outstanding tech stack. They also offer analytics tools that help the retailer optimize digital ad placements in real time.

Results:

• A 40% increase in ROAS in six months, from adding rotation based on targeting to the banners and product ads, and implementing statistics for engagement analysis for the advertisers.
• Ad personalization also improved the customers’ LTV.
• 25% improvement in operational efficiency, reducing campaign setup time from hours to minutes.

Build and scale your retail media networks with confidence

Selecting the right AdTech partner is a strategic decision that impacts your business success. The right partner can help you increase revenue streams, improve campaign effectiveness, and position your retail media network as a competitive force in the market.

By following this guide and using the scoring framework like the one showcased here, you can make this decision confidently and find the platform that meets your business needs.

If you’re looking for a solution that delivers targeted ads based on customer behavior, reaches them across online and offline channels and offers expert support with the flexibility to upgrade your systems as your needs change, Loadstone is the perfect fit.

Book a call with Loadstone to build and scale your superior retail media networks.

FAQs

What are retail media networks?

Retail media networks are platforms retailers use to sell ad placements on their digital channels, like websites and apps, and physical places, e.g., in-store displays and kiosks.

What are the top retail media networks?

The most popular retail media networks include Amazon Ads, Walmart Connect and eBay Advertising.

How big is the RMN market?

According to Grand View Research, the global RMN market size was USD 31.29 billion in 2024 and is expected to reach USD 34.58 billion in 2025.

Does Amazon have a retail media network?

Yes, Amazon has a retail media network—Amazon Ads.

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