I’m coming to you live from Shoptalk 2026 in Las Vegas, and this ep is packed with rapid-fire insights straight from the show floor. I pulled together six of the smartest voices in retail media to break down what’s actually happening right now beyond the buzzwords. From agentic commerce debates to Meta’s push into in-store data, we’re unpacking the trends that could reshape how brands and retailers work together.

We dig into the following: Is AI really going to change how we shop? Why are retailers expanding into offsite media in a more controlled way? And what role does content, especially video, play in the next phase of commerce? If you want a pulse check on where retail media is heading in 2026, this is one you don't want to miss.

This episode is sponsored by Mirakl Ads

Timeline

[00:00] – Live from Shoptalk: rapid-fire industry insights straight from the show floor

[01:00] – The agentic commerce debate: will consumers really hand shopping over to AI?

[02:30] – Meta’s new in-store data play and the shift toward full-funnel performance metrics

[04:45] – Retailers moving offsite: why controlled expansion is the new strategy

[06:45] – Innovation overload: how commerce media is evolving across industries

[07:15] – Why content, not hype, is the key to making agentic commerce actually work

[08:45] – Retail media’s identity shift: from monetization channel to growth driver

Links & Resources

• Follow Kathryn Lundstrom, Commerce and Sustainability Editor @ ADWEEK, on LinkedIn
• Follow Alex R. Arnott, Sr. Director of Retail Media Monetization @ dentsu, on LinkedIn
• Follow Tom Limongello, Host @ The Middlemen Podcast, on LinkedIn
• Follow Saket Mehta, Chief Revenue Officer @ Nift, on LinkedIn
• Follow Leah Logan, Growth Marketing @ Inmar Intellingence, on LinkedIn
• Follow Derek T. Nelson, Sr. Director, Measurement & Retail Media Consulting @ Ovative Group, on LinkedIn
• Read my related articles:
  • Five Ad Servers, Four Takeaways, and One Thread That Tied RampUp Together
  • "We're All Holding Our Breath"
  • ‘Dark Search’ Is Making AI-Facilitated Commerce Look Smaller Than It Really Is
• Atlanta-based retail media professionals: Wednesday, April 1 is the next In-Person Atlanta Happy Hour! RSVP here.
• Subscribe to Retail Media Breakfast Club's daily newsletter
• Follow Kiri Masters on LinkedIn

In Part 4 of the Agentic Commerce Expert Series, we dive into one of the biggest emerging questions in retail media right now: what happens when ads enter AI experiences? With OpenAI and other LLM platforms beginning to experiment with advertising, there’s a lot of speculation (and skepticism) about how this will impact user trust, relevance, and ultimately, performance.

I’m once again joined by Amelia Van Camp from Mirakl, and together we unpack what “agentic advertising” really means, why relevancy is about to go into overdrive, and how both retailers and brands can prepare without guessing where formats will land. We also explore how data, intent-based attributes, and orchestration will shape the winners in this next wave of commerce. If you’re wondering how to stay ahead as AI reshapes the ad landscape, this one’s for you!

This episode is sponsored by Mirakl Ads

Timeline

[00:00] – Why AI platforms must monetize and what that means for ads in LLMs
[01:13] – How OpenAI is introducing ads without breaking user trust
[02:00] – “Relevancy on steroids” aka the future of AI-powered ad targeting
[03:30] – Why advertisers, not just platforms, own the responsibility for relevance
[05:37] – Practical steps retailers should take now to prepare for agentic commerce
[08:13] – What “orchestration layer” really means in modern retail media tech
[10:00] – Why brands aren’t powerless and how they can influence AI-driven discovery

Links & Resources

• Check out the complete Agentic Commerce Expert Series:
  • Part 1: Discovery Has Moved Upstream. Here's What That Means for Retailers.
  • Part 2: When the PDP Becomes the Homepage
  • Part 3: Ecommerce Signals Are Shrinking. Why Retailers Must Earn New Ones
• Download Mirakl's agentic commerce white paper: Why marketplaces & dropship platforms win in the agentic commerce era
• Follow Amelia Van Camp, Head of Agentic Commerce at Mirakl, on LinkedIn
• Read my related articles:
  • Why OpenAI's Ad Network Should Concern RMNs
  • ‘Dark Search’ Is Making AI-Facilitated Commerce Look Smaller Than It Really Is
  • While We Debate What's 'Really' Agentic, Retail Media's Foundation Is Already Shifting
• Atlanta-based retail media professionals: Wednesday, April 1 is the next In-Person Atlanta Happy Hour! RSVP here.
• Subscribe to Retail Media Breakfast Club's daily newsletter
• Follow Kiri Masters on LinkedIn

In August 2025 I broke down why so many retail media networks keep their ad tech stacks hidden. And to be honest, the reasons weren’t exactly flattering. But what happens when a major retailer does the exact opposite? In today's episode, I share highlights from my recent livestream with Mark Williamson, AVP of Retail Media at Costco, and Jon Flugstad, Chief Business Officer at MetaRouter, and unpack a bold move from Costco that’s turning heads across the industry: full transparency.

We dive into what really happened when Costco revealed its entire tech stack, why that matters for brands and agencies, and whether transparency is actually influencing ad spend, or simply generating buzz. Plus, I explore what this could mean for the future of retail media.

This episode is sponsored by Mirakl Ads

Timeline

[00:00] – Why retail media networks hide their tech stacks (and the 5 real reasons behind it)
[00:24] – Survey results: 88% of brands say tech transparency impacts spend
[00:30] – Costco reveals its full tech stack live on stage — why it shocked the industry
[01:44] – What “transparency” actually means to advertisers beyond just reporting
[02:43] – Costco’s philosophy: winning trust through honesty (even with imperfections)
[03:15] – How Costco uses its tech stack to justify capabilities and limitations
[04:04] – The strict data principles guiding Costco’s retail media strategy
[07:21] – Is transparency driving real ad dollars or just curiosity?

Links & Resources

• Full replay of my livestream with Mark Williamson (Costco) and Jon Flugstad (MetaRouter): Costco Retail Media & The Commerce Media Tech Stack 2.0
• Follow Mark Williamson, AVP of Retail Media at Costco on LinkedIn
• Follow Jon Flugstad, Chief Business Officer at MetaRouter on LinkedIn
• Read my related articles:
  • Why RMNs Keep Their Tech Stacks Secret
  • Costco Is The First US RMN To Reveal Its Entire Tech Stack
  • ‘Retail Media has a PR problem’ Says CVS Media Exchange's Parbs Dhariwal
• Atlanta-based retail media professionals: Wednesday, April 1 is the next In-Person Atlanta Happy Hour! RSVP here.
• Subscribe to Retail Media Breakfast Club's daily newsletter
• Follow Kiri Masters on LinkedIn

Today I’m digging into a refreshingly honest and frankly rare take from Parbinder Dhariwal, VP, General Manager at CVS Media Exchange (CMX). Instead of the usual hype around retail media growth, he’s calling out what the industry is getting wrong… and why that could slow everything down if we don’t fix it.

By analysing audio clips with Parbs on The CPG Guys, Beyond The Shelf, and Floor 9 (links to the full episodes below), I break down why retail media may have a credibility problem, from forced ad spend to murky measurement, and what needs to change if we want to unlock bigger brand budgets. I also explore why transparency, standardized metrics, and true closed-loop attribution are becoming non-negotiable, and how CMX is positioning itself to lead in that shift.

This episode is sponsored by Mirakl Ads

Timeline

[00:21] – The bold claim: retail media has a PR problem (and why that matters)
[01:06] – Why proving ROI is critical to sustaining retail media growth
[01:31] – The transparency gap: modeling vs. real performance data
[02:15] – Rising skepticism from brands and the “money grab” perception
[03:07] – The real opportunity: unlocking national brand (CMO) budgets
[05:25] – Why transparency is a core pillar of CVS Media Exchange’s strategy
[07:00] – Slowing growth and the future: accountability as a competitive advantage

Links & Resources

• Parbs on The CPG Guys: Harnessing The Power of The Everyday Purchase with CVS Media Exchange's Parbinder Dhariwal
• Parbs on Beyond The Shelf: Bringing Joy to Your Business with CVS Media Exchange's Parbinder Dhariwal
• Parbs on Floor 9: The Evolution of Retail Media Networks (Ft. Parbinder Dariwhal from CVS Media Exchange)
• Follow Parbinder Dhariwal, VP, General Manager at CVS Media Exchange (CMX), on LinkedIn
• Subscribe to The CPG Guys
• Subscribe to Beyond The Shelf
• Subscribe to Floor 9
• Read my related articles:
  • CVS Media Exchange’s Parbinder Dhariwal gets candid about retail media’s credibility gap (The Drum)
  • Inside Mars's Retail Media Investment Matrix
  • Retail Media's Next Challenge: Proving Real Results
• Atlanta-based retail media professionals: Wednesday, April 1 is the next In-Person Atlanta Happy Hour! RSVP here.
• Subscribe to Retail Media Breakfast Club's daily newsletter
• Follow Kiri Masters on LinkedIn

Today I’m breaking down a jaw-dropping development from Google that could fundamentally reshape how we think about paid traffic, brand control, and the role of landing pages in e-commerce. After reading a standout piece from Jo Lambadjieva's AI for Ecommerce and Amazon Sellers newsletter (link to Jo's article below), I knew I had to share it with you. Because if this plays out, it changes everything.

I walk through Google’s newly granted patent that allows AI to replace your carefully crafted landing pages with its own personalized versions: built in real time and inserted directly into your paid ads. What does that mean for your brand, your attribution, and your ad spend? Are we heading toward a future where Google owns the entire commerce funnel? Let’s unpack the implications and what you should be doing now to stay ahead.

This episode is sponsored by Mirakl Ads

Timeline

[01:01] – Breaking down Google’s new patent and what it actually allows them to do
[02:00] – The shocking reality: you pay for the click, but Google controls the landing page
[03:07] – Why this impacts far more brands than just “bad” landing page experiences
[04:00] – Inside the AI engine: how Google dynamically builds personalized pages for users
[05:30] – The big risks: loss of brand control, murky attribution, and paying for someone else’s page
[07:16] – How this fits into Google’s broader AI commerce ecosystem (Gemini, AI Overviews, and more)
[09:30] – What e-commerce operators should do now to future-proof their business

Links & Resources

• Read the full article: Google Just Patented the Right to Replace Your Landing Page.
• Subscribe to Jo's newsletter: AI for Ecommerce and Amazon Sellers
• Follow Jo Lambadjieva on LinkedIn
• Read my related articles:
  • When the PDP Becomes the Homepage
  • Ecommerce Signals Are Shrinking. Why Retailers Must Earn New Ones
  • Retail Media 3.0
• Atlanta-based retail media professionals: Wednesday, April 1 is the next In-Person Atlanta Happy Hour! RSVP here.
• Subscribe to Retail Media Breakfast Club's daily newsletter
• Follow Kiri Masters on LinkedIn

Today I dig into a major shift happening in retail media: the signals we’ve relied on for years are starting to disappear. As discovery moves upstream into AI and LLM-driven experiences, the traditional browsing journey is shrinking, and with it, the data retailers depend on. So what does that mean for the future of retail media?

In Part 3 of this Agentic Commerce Expert Series I’m joined by Amelia VanCamp from Mirakl, and we unpack why so many AI shopping assistants are falling short, what retailers are getting wrong in the race to adopt new tech, and how to design experiences that actually earn customer engagement. We also explore the growing importance of product truth, trust, and why both retailers and brands need to rethink how they show up in this new ecosystem.

This episode is sponsored by Mirakl Ads

Timeline

[00:00] – Why shrinking customer journeys mean shrinking retail media signals
[00:55] – The real reason AI shopping assistants are failing (even when the tech works)
[02:00] – Why having a clear strategy matters more than rushing to launch
[02:45] – The “eyes bigger than stomach” problem with overbuilt retail experiences
[03:30] – How retailers can use existing customer data instead of starting from scratch
[05:00] – The rising importance of product truth, trust, and accurate information
[06:30] – How poor customer experiences can hurt AI-driven discoverability and rankings
[07:45] – Why retailers must design moments that earn engagement

Links & Resources

• Part 1 of this series: Discovery Has Moved Upstream. Here's What That Means for Retailers.
• Part 2 of this series: When the PDP Becomes the Homepage
• Download Mirakl's agentic commerce white paper: Why marketplaces & dropship platforms win in the agentic commerce era
• Follow Amelia Van Camp, Head of Agentic Commerce at Mirakl, on LinkedIn
• Read my related articles:
  • Why OpenAI's Ad Network Should Concern RMNs
  • ‘Dark Search’ Is Making AI-Facilitated Commerce Look Smaller Than It Really Is
  • While We Debate What's 'Really' Agentic, Retail Media's Foundation Is Already Shifting
• Atlanta-based retail media professionals: Wednesday, April 1 is the next In-Person Atlanta Happy Hour! RSVP here.
• Subscribe to Retail Media Breakfast Club's daily newsletter
• Follow Kiri Masters on LinkedIn

OpenAI quietly pulled the plug on Instant Checkout inside ChatGPT and the internet immediately declared agentic commerce dead. But I think that conclusion misses the bigger picture. In this episode, a summary of my recent article for The Drum, I unpack why the failure of one implementation doesn’t mean the behavior itself is going away.

I share my own real-world experience making an agentic purchase through ChatGPT (spoiler: it didn’t exactly change my life), and then we explore why OpenAI’s checkout model struggled while similar AI-driven commerce experiences are already thriving elsewhere. From China’s fully integrated AI commerce ecosystems, to the emerging moves from Amazon and Google, I break down what’s actually happening beneath the headlines, and why retailers should still be paying very close attention.

This episode is sponsored by Mirakl Ads

Timeline

[00:00] – I share my first fully agentic purchase through ChatGPT and why the experience didn’t make me come back for more.

[01:02] – OpenAI deprioritizes Instant Checkout and sends transactions back to retailer sites. What actually happened behind the scenes?

[02:15] – Why a failed checkout model doesn’t mean agentic commerce itself is dead.

[03:00] – Alibaba’s AI assistant proves agentic shopping can work: when one company controls the AI, marketplace, payments, and logistics.

[04:18] – The TikTok Shop lesson: new shopping behaviors succeed when commerce feels like a natural extension of apps people already love.

[05:07] – Why AI-driven discovery still threatens the $60B retail media industry (even without instant checkout).

[08:19] – The shopping journey is already being rewired by AI, but the real challenge is the final 10%

Links & Resources

• My full post on The Drum: OpenAI is killing Instant Checkout. Don't dance on the grave of agentic shopping yet
• Read my related articles:
  • When the PDP Becomes the Homepage
  • ‘Dark Search’ Is Making AI-Facilitated Commerce Look Smaller Than It Really Is
  • I Really, Really Hoped That Ads in AI Wouldn't Suck. Now We Find Out.
• Join me and Jordan Witmer from Salt XC at 11am ET Tuesday March 17, for our next LinkedIn Live on Sponsored Product Ads: shelf space or ad space?. We'll be answering questions LIVE -- join us!
• Atlanta-based retail media professionals: Wednesday, April 1 is the next In-Person Atlanta Happy Hour! RSVP here.
• Subscribe to Retail Media Breakfast Club's daily newsletter
• Follow Kiri Masters on LinkedIn

Last week I shared some of the hallway chatter from the RampUp conference. And in this episode, I’m emptying the rest of my notebook. One theme kept surfacing everywhere I turned: data collaboration. It wasn’t just a buzzword on stage; it was the real factor determining which retail media networks are winning brand budgets, which ones are falling behind, and who gets invited back next year.

I walk through five of the most interesting insights — from how major CPG brands are scoring retail media networks against Google and Meta, to why platforms like DoorDash are climbing rapidly in media investment priority. I also unpack the growing push for self-service tools, the surprising complexity behind ad serving infrastructure, and what makes a customer event like RampUp genuinely impactful.

If you work in retail media, brand marketing, or commerce media strategy, these observations offer a behind-the-scenes look at how the industry is evolving right now (and where the next wave of investment is headed).

This episode is sponsored by Mirakl Ads

Timeline

[00:12] – Why data collaboration was the defining theme across sessions, panels, and hallway conversations at RampUp.

[00:43] – How major CPG brands are using structured scorecards and investment matrices to rank retail media networks.

[02:37] – Inside the panel I moderated: how DoorDash moved from a small test budget to a priority media channel for brands.

[05:45] – Why CPG brands are pushing retailers toward self-service media platforms and how data access is driving that demand.

[07:30] – The hidden operational complexity of retail media networks, including why some organizations run multiple ad servers.

[09:03] – What LiveRamp’s RampUp event gets right—and why it’s becoming a blueprint for industry customer events.

Links & Resources

• My RampUp hallway convo recap from last week: "We're All Holding Our Breath"
• Read my related articles:
  • Inside Mars's Retail Media Investment Matrix
  • Retail Media's Next Challenge: Proving Real Results
  • Dark Search, Broken Signals, and What Comes Next for Retail Media
• Join me and Jordan Witmer from Salt XC at 11am ET Tuesday March 17, for our next LinkedIn Live on Sponsored Product Ads: shelf space or ad space?. We'll be answering questions LIVE -- join us!
• Atlanta-based retail media professionals: Wednesday, April 1 is the next In-Person Atlanta Happy Hour! RSVP here.
• Subscribe to Retail Media Breakfast Club's daily newsletter
• Follow Kiri Masters on LinkedIn