Why the Next Era of Retail Media Networks Runs on First-Party Intelligence

Retail media is booming. In just a few short years, Retail Media Networks (RMNs)—the advertising platforms that let brands reach shoppers directly through a retailer’s digital and physical properties—have gone from a promising new revenue stream to one of the fastest-growing channels in digital advertising. But as the market matures, a hard truth emerges: without a solid data foundation, even the most ambitious RMN can’t prove actual sales.

Many retailers believe the challenge is about increasing advertiser demand. In reality, it’s about data. Most retailers sit on massive, fragmented datasets scattered across ecommerce, loyalty programs, and in-store transactions. Without a unified identity layer to bring this data together at the customer level, even the most sophisticated media platforms struggle to deliver performance and results.

A significant obstacle to RMN success is the reliance on rented, third-party data, rather than owned first-party intelligence. For next-generation RMNs, a critical shift is underway that is key to transitioning from impressions and clicks to measurable impact.

The Third-Party Era Is Over

For years, RMNs relied on data onboarders to link retailer audiences with advertiser demand. That process worked; until it didn’t. Increasing regulation, cookie deprecation, and privacy concerns have eroded the reliability and legality of third-party identity graphs.

• Delays and inefficiency: What was once a bridge between retailers and advertisers has now become a bottleneck. The process of transferring and anonymizing audience data through a third-party intermediary can take one to two weeks or longer. Campaigns lose agility, RMN managers lose visibility, and advertisers lose confidence in the data powering their investment.
• Lack of transparency: Beyond the delays, these legacy workflows obscure the customer connection that makes retail media so valuable. Onboarders typically remove person-level identifiers, preventing retailers from tying ad exposure to actual sales. It limits feedback, with data flowing out to ad platforms but little insight returning to inform future campaigns.
• Compliance risk: Onboarders rely on third-party data sources that are increasingly subject to legal and regulatory scrutiny. As governments and browsers limit how this data can be collected, shared, and applied, the approach is becoming less sustainable or noncompliant altogether.
• Cost and complexity: Finally, scaling these systems often means adding more people, not smarter automation. Managing multiple vendors, file transfers, and reconciliation processes drains time and resources that could otherwise go toward optimization and strategy.

In short, onboarders were built for an era that depended on third-party cookies and complex data exchanges. Today’s RMNs need speed, transparency, and accountability. In a performance-driven environment, the inability to measure and prove impact is a liability. Advertisers are demanding more transparency and proof of sales impact, and retailers that can’t deliver it will see budgets shift to those that can.

The Rise of First-Party Intelligence

Forward-looking RMNs are taking a different approach, powered by first-party data and real-time intelligence. Instead of relying on external onboarders, they’re turning inward to the data that already lives within their ecosystems, such as loyalty programs, e-commerce transactions, point-of-sale systems, and mobile app interactions.

By unifying this data across all channels, retailers can create durable identity graphs that provide a complete, privacy-safe view of every customer. This shift transforms how RMNs operate. When a unified identity layer is connected directly to ad networks, it enables a feedback loop that’s faster, more precise, and far more accountable.

Here’s how that plays out in practice:

• Faster activation: What once took days or weeks can now happen in hours. Same-day audience activation means brands can target in-market customers while they’re actively shopping, allowing campaigns to be responsive to changes in demand.
• Closed-loop measurement: Connecting online and offline touchpoints gives retailers the full picture from exposure to purchase. This turns campaign reporting into a genuine measure of sales impact rather than a proxy for engagement.
• In-flight optimization: With real-time visibility into performance, RMNs can continuously adjust audience segments, creative, and spend to maximize return on ad spend (ROAS) and reduce wasted impressions.
• Regulatory resilience: By building on opted-in, first-party data, RMNs can maintain precision targeting while staying compliant with evolving privacy regulations, preparing them for a future where third-party identifiers are fully obsolete.

This is an operational upgrade and a buffer against the competition. Retailers that can unify identity, activate quickly, and measure incrementality will be the ones that attract repeat brand investment.

From Media Channel to Intelligence Platform

As identity resolution becomes the backbone of retail media, the RMN itself begins to evolve. What started as a monetized media channel is quickly transforming into an intelligence platform, capable of understanding, predicting, and influencing customer behavior across the entire shopping journey.

This evolution is fueled by the growing intersection of customer data, machine learning, and ad-tech interoperability. By connecting first-party data directly into leading ad environments, retailers can activate audiences and measure outcomes without traditional onboarders or manual data transfers. The result is a faster, cleaner, and more transparent exchange of insight between retailers and advertisers.

In this new model, the RMN delivers intelligence instead of simply filling ad space. It enables brands to understand which customers are most likely to convert, which campaigns drive true incremental sales, and how to optimize spend in real time. The payoff is mutual since advertisers gain the transparency and accountability they’ve been asking for, and retailers strengthen their position as indispensable partners in driving growth.

Ultimately, the next generation of RMNs will look less like ad networks and more like data ecosystems that are agile, measurable, and built on trust. Retailers that invest in this kind of intelligence infrastructure today will define the standard for performance tomorrow.

A New Rule for Retail Media

The retail media evolution won’t slow down any time soon, but scale alone is no longer the differentiator. Success won’t be defined by who can build the biggest network. Instead, it will be about who can build the smartest one. In other words: without unified, intelligent identity, there is no RMN. In the end, clean, organized customer data is the foundation for everything. When retailers can connect that data seamlessly across systems, they drive faster activation, deeper insights, and measurable business growth for themselves and their brand partners.