.svg)
Most Retail Media Networks still feel a bit awkward when it comes to justifying their relatively high prices compared to other media
They mistakenly peddle an awareness → consideration → conversion logic — but this thinking is flawed, shoppers don’t move through funnels.
When they need or want something within a particular category, shoppers buy something that does the job, is easy to think of and easy to buy.
Brands compete on mental and physical availability, not impressions & clicks and Retail Media is a mental availability & physical availability engine
It’s the most contextually powerful channel for refreshing memory structures at the moment of category entry (“I’m cooking dinner”, “I need a drill”, “I’m upgrading my makeup”).
Ads near the point of sale reinforce brand-category links and keep brands salient when buyers are literally entering the category and deciding which brand to buy.
In-store and onsite visibility make brands easier to find and to be chosen.
So RMNs shouldn’t sell “awareness” or “impressions” or “conversion”. They should sell reach, context, salience and physical availability/presence because these are the things that deliver brand growth
Retail Media is the only media that links mental and physical availability and it does it contextually to shoppers who are in the market and entering the category – and that’s how brands grow
