Rethinking Retail Media: Turning Experiential Marketing into Measurable Growth

The Next Frontier for Retail Media Networks

Retail media networks have transformed how brands connect with shoppers by combining rich first-party data with highly targeted ad placements. Yet, after years of rapid expansion, growth in on-site sponsored search and display has started to slow. Many network leaders are looking for the next wave of opportunity.

One promising direction lies outside the store. Brands continue to invest heavily in experiences that connect them directly with consumers, from product sampling to local community events. According to PQ Media, global spending on experiential marketing surpassed 128 billion dollars last year, representing growth of more than 10 percent. Very little of that investment currently passes through retail media networks.

If retailers can bridge this gap and provide measurable value, they can tap into entirely new brand budgets and expand their influence across the full marketing funnel.

Connecting Shopper Data to Real-World Experiences

Experiential activations have always struggled with attribution. A brand might distribute thousands of samples at a concert or sponsor a college event, but it is difficult to know who attended or whether they later bought the product at retail. That lack of visibility has kept experiential and retail media investments largely separate.

Recent advances in location intelligence and first-party data are beginning to close that gap. Retailers can now identify where their shoppers live, work, and spend their time. With these insights, they can help brands reach specific shopper segments in relevant community settings rather than relying on random event traffic.

It is similar to how off-site digital media works, except this version takes place in the physical world. Retailers can help brands engage shoppers during moments when they are naturally open to discovery, such as at fitness centers, college campuses, or coworking spaces that align with the retailer’s customer base.

From Sampling to Sales Lift

Precise targeting is only half of the opportunity. The ability to measure impact makes this approach sustainable. By connecting experiential programs to retail data, networks can show how sampling and sponsorships influence actual sales, repeat purchases, and customer lifetime value.

Dollar General’s collaboration with experiential platform Recess is an early example. The partnership identifies where Dollar General shoppers gather in their communities and activates brand experiences in those settings. By combining demographic filters, geo-targeting, and retailer audience data, brands can reach verified shoppers and track the effect of those encounters on in-store sales.

Recess reports that some campaigns have delivered more than five dollars in incremental return on ad spend, supported by measurable lift at the SKU and store level. That type of proof moves experiential marketing from the awareness column into the performance category.

A New Source of Brand Budgets

Consumer packaged goods advertisers have long viewed experiential marketing as a top-of-funnel tactic. When those experiences can be connected directly to retail sales, they become far more valuable. Retail media networks can then compete for a larger share of brand investment by offering measurable outcomes across the entire shopper journey.

For retailers, this represents a new source of incremental revenue that complements traditional search and display media. For brands, it provides a way to merge emotional engagement with transactional data, demonstrating how real-world experiences can drive purchase behavior.

Looking Ahead

The next phase of retail media growth will come from integration. Retailers that combine their shopper insights, local presence, and measurement capabilities can transform experiential marketing into a performance channel.

Rather than simply selling ad inventory, they can sell outcomes, helping brands create authentic connections that inspire trial, build trust, and lead directly to measurable sales results.

Conversations On Retail

Conversations On Retail is a gathering place and resource center for retail and CPG executives, built to make it easier to stay current, discover the technologies and solutions shaping the industry, and connect with the people driving it forward.

We publish news, views, and reviews from staff editors, contributing experts, and trusted partners. Some articles are developed internally, while others are submitted by industry contributors or adapted from interviews and recorded conversations with industry leaders.