Retail media is having its moment.
Across the industry, it’s being hailed as the next great revenue stream for retailers: monetise your screens, talk to customers at the point of sale, unlock supplier budgets, create margin without touching product prices. It’s an appealing proposition especially in an environment where traditional retail margins are under constant pressure.
But somewhere along the way, retail media risks misunderstanding its own purpose.
Because retail media is not a new business objective.
It is a new media channel.
And if we treat it purely as a sales optimisation tool, we may end up undermining the very revenue streams we hope it will create.
Rory Sutherland once gave a wonderful example about hotel doormen.
On paper, their job is simple: open the door.
But nobody seriously believes that’s what they’re actually there for. The doorman welcomes guests, signals quality, offers reassurance, hails a cab, solves problems before they arise. At one of the most emotionally charged moments of a customer journey, arrival, they give the brand a human face.
Their job isn’t mechanical. It’s symbolic.
Retail media is currently in danger of being evaluated like the doorman’s job description instead of his role.
Yes, in-store media sits close to the point of purchase.
Yes, it can drive conversions.
But its real function is to shape perception. To reinforce brand trust. To signal relevance in a meaningful environment. To influence what people will buy next week, next month, or next year, not just what they put in their basket today.
If we only value retail media or advertising as a whole for the doors it opens immediately, we ignore the relationships it quietly builds over time.
This isn’t a philosophical debate about branding versus performance.
It’s a cash flow issue.
Most of the money flowing into retail media today comes from endemic brands suppliers who are already investing in trade marketing, shopper activation, or promotional support.
If retail media positions itself primarily as a performance channel and is optimised for sales uplift, conversion rates, and short-term ROI. these brands won’t create new budgets to participate.
They’ll simply move existing ones.
Money that was previously spent on:
will be reallocated to retail media.
The retailer may see impressive sales metrics on-screen — but financially, nothing has changed.
There’s more: non-endemic advertisers like telecoms, financial services, automotive brands don’t typically invest for immediate conversion. They invest to build trust, awareness, and long-term preference.
If retail media defines itself as a tactical performance environment, these advertisers won’t follow endemic brands into the space at all.
And that’s where the real strategic risk lies.
By framing retail media as a short-term sales engine, retailers may:
In the worst case, retail media ends up redistributing money that was already in the system while losing out on the budgets that make media valuable in the first place.
Retail media’s true advantage isn’t that it’s close to the checkout.
It’s that it can reach:
That’s a media proposition — not a promotional one.
But it only becomes valuable if it’s treated as such.
Retailers who allow retail media to support long-term brand investment alongside short-term activation are far more likely to retain endemic budgets, attract non-endemic advertisers, increase overall media spend, and build a sustainable new revenue stream.
Retail media will succeed massively if it behaves more like media and less like retail.
That means thinking beyond today’s basket and towards tomorrow’s brand choice. It means recognising that advertising isn’t only about immediate outcomes it’s about maintaining relevance in the minds of customers over time.
Sales will follow. They always do.
But if retail media is reduced to a conversion tool, we risk turning one of the most promising new channels in advertising into just another promotional mechanic and leaving its long-term financial potential unrealised.