Criteo’s bold play to challenge Google’s grip on retail media, John Lewis extending its data footprint from homepage to the open web, 7-Eleven turning convenience into conversion - and at Mad//Fest, retail media wasn’t a sideshow, it was the strategy.

This month’s edition is less about evolution and more about escalation. From media buying models to creative formats, the retail media landscape is being reengineered in real time. It's not just about being present on the shelf, it's about owning the signal that gets shoppers there in the first place.

As platforms, planners and publishers sharpen their strategies, retail media is becoming the connective tissue between brand, channel, and commerce. And the smartest players? They're not just scaling spend - they're scaling value.

1. Criteo's ambitious push: A challenger to Google’s grip

Criteo has launched a new way to buy retail media programmatically, aiming squarely at Google’s dominance in the space. The development signals growing tension between retail networks and major tech platforms.

Criteo’s solution enables brands to buy across multiple retailers in a unified platform, eliminating the fragmentation of buying across individual networks.
The focus is on identity-resolved targeting and transparent attribution, offering brands more control than the walled gardens often allow.
With 87% of shoppers beginning their journey on retail or search platforms, Criteo’s move addresses the need for audience-first, not platform-first, planning.
As budgets continue to shift towards commerce media, interoperability and accountability are becoming non-negotiables.
For retail media buyers and planners, the message is clear: the infrastructure is changing, and more competitive, open ecosystems are emerging.

Find out more here.

2. Convenience retailers eye retail media expansion

As retail media networks continue to reshape the marketing landscape, convenience retailers are now stepping into the arena with increased confidence and strategic intent. Traditionally focused on speed and proximity, the convenience sector is discovering new ways to monetise shopper attention and location-based behaviours.

7-Eleven is leading the charge, announcing the expansion of its retail media network, 7Select Media. The platform aims to connect brands with over 12 million monthly in-store customers through digital screens, app integrations, and loyalty data.
Other c-stores like Casey’s and Circle K are exploring their own media offerings, focusing on proprietary data assets and in-store media formats to deliver targeted campaigns.
Loyalty schemes and app ecosystems are central to convenience media strategies, acting as data-rich environments that provide both precision targeting and closed-loop measurement.
While the sector faces challenges like limited dwell time and smaller baskets, brands are increasingly seeing value in the hyper-local, high-frequency environment convenience stores offer.
We see this as an exciting frontier: retail media in convenience isn’t just about display, it’s about immediacy, intent, and embedding relevant moments into fast journeys. Expect partnerships with QSRs, fuel brands and even fintechs to accelerate as c-stores build out their retail media playbooks.

Find out more here.

3. John Lewis - from websites to wider web

John Lewis Partnership has taken a significant step in scaling its retail media proposition, launching offsite capabilities for brands that want to reach audiences beyond JohnLewis.com and Waitrose.com. Partnering with Epsilon, the retailer will enable brands to activate first-party data across connected TV, display, and video ads, while still retaining control and customer trust.

Until now, brand advertising was confined to John Lewis' and Waitrose's owned digital platforms, but the new offsite capabilities unlock new inventory while maintaining data integrity.
Epsilon's tech stack will allow for precise activation across multiple devices and channels, using real identity rather than third-party cookies or inferred data.
The move offers advertisers the ability to reach both fast-moving grocery shoppers and more considered, high-value buyers in a single network, thanks to the breadth of the Partnership’s proposition.
The rollout will begin as a managed service, with plans for a self-serve model to give brands greater control in future.
This marks a notable step forward in elevating retail media beyond static banners - showcasing how even non-traditional media retailers are embracing data-led, cross-channel storytelling to drive both relevance and revenue.
Find out more here.

4. Capitalising on Retail Media’s new opportunity

At Cannes Lions 2025, retail media was not only part of the conversation, it helped redefine it. During an ADWEEK House Group Chat co-hosted with Albertsons Media Collective, leaders from across the ecosystem discussed how retail media is unlocking new opportunities that go far beyond performance marketing.

The consensus was clear: retail media is breaking down silos, creating shared goals across teams, and offering a unique blend of precision and scale. No longer confined to trade or shopper budgets, retail media is increasingly viewed as a strategic lever for brand building, demand generation, and full-funnel performance.

Key takeaways from the session included:

Data depth is a competitive differentiator. Brands are leaning into the rich first-party datasets offered by retailers, combining them with creative assets to target audiences with greater nuance and real-world relevance.
Retail media is catalysing cross-functional collaboration. As the lines between commerce, media, brand, and shopper teams blur, retail media acts as a common currency, bringing once-disparate disciplines together around unified KPIs.
With better attribution and retail-tied outcomes, brands are increasingly reallocating budgets from traditional digital media into retail media, especially as media effectiveness remains under pressure across social and programmatic.
The conversation also touched on creative flexibility. Retail media is no longer limited to price-led messages or product tiles. Brands are experimenting with lifestyle content, influencer tie-ins, and storytelling - meeting consumers where they are, with content that converts.

At id8 retail, we’re seeing this shift first-hand: retail media is no longer a sub-category of media, it’s becoming a strategic operating system for marketing. The retailers and brands that treat it as such will lead in agility, attribution, and audience connection.

Find out more here.

5. Mad//Fest 2025: creative intelligence and retail media’s next chapter

Retail media didn’t just show up at Mad//Fest 2025, it helped shape the festival’s broader themes of authenticity, agility, and AI. From brand panels to headline keynotes, the conversation reflected a sector now firmly embedded in the mainstream of marketing innovation.

Sir Martin Sorrell’s keynote crystallised the direction of travel. He highlighted five AI-driven shifts transforming the marketing ecosystem: from creative automation and predictive planning to mass personalisation and the convergence of commerce and content. Sorrell emphasised how retailers, agencies and platforms must treat AI not as a bolt-on but as a strategic co-pilot across media, measurement and messaging.

Meanwhile, throughout the festival, leading brands and platforms echoed similar themes:

Authenticity emerged as a critical currency, with speakers underscoring the importance of meaningful creative in retail and commerce environments where trust is directly tied to conversion.
Platforms like Pinterest, TikTok, and Snap were spotlighted for their success in blending inspiration with transaction, offering retailers new creative canvases that stretch beyond static banners or product pushes.
Discussions highlighted how retail media is increasingly influencing the creative brief itself, not just the placement plan—blurring the line between media and brand storytelling.
There was a shared call to ensure that AI-powered tools enable better creativity and cultural resonance, rather than defaulting to efficiency alone.

At id8 retail, we view this convergence of retail media, creativity, and intelligence as a defining moment. The best campaigns aren’t just visible, they’re memorable, measurable, and made for the moment. As retail media evolves, so too must our approach to content, personalisation and partnership, with AI as the enabler, not the excuse.

Read more from Mad//Fest 2025 here (note: content is behind a paywall, but a few articles can be accessed for free each month).

Explore Sir Martin Sorrell’s AI shifts here (note: content is behind a paywall, but a few articles can be accessed for free each month).

July’s stories reveal a retail media market growing up fast - and not quietly.

Criteo’s bid to unseat Google puts open access and attribution front and centre. John Lewis' offsite move shows retailers thinking beyond walled gardens. And convenience retailers are proving that high-frequency shopping equals high-impact media, if you know how to use the data.

At Cannes and Mad//Fest, retail media wasn’t discussed, it was debated, dissected, and defined. From creative briefs shaped by commerce to AI-led planning tools transforming how we work, the stakes (and expectations) have never been higher.

At id8 retail, we’re helping clients navigate this inflection point with strategy, storytelling and shopper insight. Because scale alone isn’t enough, what matters is what that scale delivers.

Retail Media Radar - July 2025: Scale, Signals and Smarter Spend

Retail Media Radar: Cannes Lions 2025 debrief