By Troy Townsend, CEO, Zitcha
Retail media has rightly earned its place in the spotlight. With brands clamoring to capitalise on retailers’ rich first-party data and shopper intent, retail media networks (RMNs) have become an attractive proposition amid tightening marketing budgets and increased scrutiny on ad performance.
Yet for all the enthusiasm, much of the current industry conversation remains lopsided: over-indexed on onsite media, meaning money is being left on the table when it comes to in-store and off-site tactics.
Yes, sponsored product listings and banner placements on retailer websites have become a staple. But the reality is that retail has become inherently fragmented, consisting of different audiences, different regional nuances, and different buying behaviours. Within this complex mix, many online and offline channels now play an important part in the way modern consumers shop.
In 2025, studies found that around 80% of UK consumers regularly shopped both online and at physical stores, while data from the Office for National Statistics shows web buys currently account for 27.5% of total sales. Similarly, McKinsey research has found that 29% have bought items from brands after discovering them on social media.
All of which highlights that today’s audiences are both highly digitally savvy, dispersed, and prone to fluctuating habits. So, retail media strategies that exclusively prioritise on-site and ignore vital off-site touchpoints risk missing valuable touchpoints across the purchase funnel.
Onsite alone doesn’t cut it
The obsession with onsite is understandable. It’s measurable. It’s programmatic. It fits neatly into familiar media planning spreadsheets. But it’s also reductive. Effective retail media must map to the entire omnichannel journey, not just the point where a customer clicks “add to cart.”
At present, most brands are over-reliant on keywords and digital shelf space, with research from IAB Europe revealing that 90% are investing at least 40% of their retail media budgets in on-site formats. As performance increasingly hinges on a brand’s ability to engage consumers offsite, where attention often begins, and reinforce that message in the store, where purchase decisions are frequently sealed, it’s becoming clear that such an approach is ill-suited for this emerging landscape, especially as generative AI changes how consumers navigate and discover products online.
As Claire Wyatt from The Trade Desk recently noted, “The reality is that outside of a few large retailers, most retailers don’t have the on-platform scale to hit those numbers that they’ve promised their businesses. So, they have to move to off-site media.” The data supports this shift: off-site retail media spend is growing at nearly triple the rate of onsite spend, according to eMarketer.
In-store: The original retail media platform
In-store media isn’t just about screens at the checkout. It’s about capturing the shopper at the “first moment of truth,” when they’re standing in front of the product, ready to decide. Done well, in-store media combines inspiration with conversion, reaching shoppers with timely, relevant messaging in a way that online placements simply can’t replicate.
And yet, despite the footfall and influence of physical stores, too many retail media strategies treat them as an afterthought. This disconnect is not just a missed opportunity; it’s a strategic flaw.
“Retail media is media”, as retail media trailblazer Cara Pratt wonderfully put it, but it’s also retail. In-store execution must be a core part of the conversation, not a siloed afterthought. In a fragmented retail environment, differentiation doesn’t come from who can sell the most impressions. It comes from who can deliver a unified, customer-centric journey across every touchpoint.
Fragmentation is not the enemy, disconnection is
When in-store, onsite, and offsite channels operate in silos, the shopper journey breaks down. A customer who discovers a product on social, researches it online, and then sees it in-store should experience one connected story. Without that alignment, the message weakens, conversion drops, and revenue is lost.
A retail-first approach follows the shopper journey, from offsite inspiration to onsite research to in-store purchase, and plans media and measurement around it. Creative, targeting, and metrics must work across channels to drive incremental sales, not just channel-level return on ad spend (ROAS).
The opportunity ahead
An uneven focus on owned inventory means retailers are failing to maximise opportunities or accommodate the true nature of multi-media buying. By giving offsite discovery and in-store conversion equal priority alongside onsite, retailers can unlock new revenue and deliver stronger outcomes for brands and shoppers.
The next evolution of retail media won’t be won by whoever sells the most search keywords. It will be won by those who understand that in the modern path to purchase, influence happens everywhere. And the brands and retailers who are brave enough to meet customers wherever they are, onsite, offsite, or in-store, will be the ones who shape the future of retail media.
