Highlights & Key Trends to Follow
The Horizon Commerce team was in full force covering all the key events, keynotes, panels, roundtables, fireside chats, exhibits, announcements, happy hours, VIP dinners, and impactful meetings. For marketers, we had a few overarching highlights to be aware of as you navigate the complexity of retail and commerce to wherever, whenever and however consumers browse, shop and buy – what we call the pervasive store.
Retail media will become a critical piece of the full-funnel, omnichannel media mix
Retail media is at an inflection point. It has grown from a niche advertising channel into a critical pillar of the broader media ecosystem. As retail media matures, we’ll see a holistic, cohesive approach to driving growth across offsite, onsite, social, traditional search and even alignment with offline, traditional shopper marketing spend. For consumers, this means consistency across all touchpoints—whether they’re browsing online, exploring a physical store, or engaging through social media. For brands, it’s an opportunity to streamline efforts and deliver a unified, impactful message.
“The days of siloed retail media strategies are numbered. The best retail media strategies will seamlessly integrate in-store, on-site, and off-site channels to create unified, omnichannel experiences for consumers.”
Ryu Yokoi Chief Media and Marketing Capability Officer, Unilever NA
Omnichannel measurement will take center stage in commerce
Retail media networks (RMNs) have grown more sophisticated yet fragmented. Measurement and transparency have been persistent challenges in retail media. In a recent Path to Purchase study, 48% of marketers griped that there aren’t sufficient solutions to measure the incremental sales effect from commerce media. This hampers CMOs’ ability to keep cross-functional stakeholders excited about the investments they’re making. Brands will demand more comprehensive and standardized measurement and attribution solutions that track customer journeys across all touchpoints, including online, in-store, and across different retailers. RMNs will need to be more interoperable, so marketers can have a much fuller view.
“Without independent, third-party measurement of RMNs, advertisers will continue to struggle to understand how effective their retail media campaigns are in the context of their larger media plans.”
Sabrina Sirhal, Senior Director, Digital Media, Monster Energy
Advertisers will align retail media measurement with business objectives beyond ROAS
Despite each RMN having different advantages, the overwhelming majority prioritize ROAS, specifically generated from conversion as the most critical metric. While it’s an important metric, it should not be the only one. Effective advertising and experiences should demonstrate attributable conversion, but also longitudinal engagement and value over time. More specifically, the factors contributing to success must be paired with suitable metrics that can best be measured against those factors. Purchase cycle, frequency, household penetration and audience propensity are among the many available metrics that should be considered and modeled in a longer-term, lifetime value measurement KPI that may be better suited for brands looking at sustainable growth vs. short-term share shifting.
“Success for CMOs today is predicated on showing the short term and long-term measurable effects from marketing.”
Olga Suvorova, CMO of Samsung Mobile Experience
AI will enable quality consumer experiences
Of course, there was no shortage of talk about AI at CES. AI and ML are becoming foundational to retail and commerce strategies, particularly as brands and retailers seek ways to provide personalized, proactive experiences at each touchpoint to boost engagement and ROI. Success will increasingly depend on bespoke strategies—blending the precision of AI with the artistry of human creativity to craft meaningful experiences. Two key quotes stood out for why AI will be a power for good but also cause some turbulence in 2025.
“AI is an enabler for both consumers and marketers to be more productive and live better lives.”
Allison Robl Stransky, CMO of Samsung Electronics America
“At the end of the day, people are looking for information in an accessible, and human way…AI can help with some of that.”
Molly Battin , CMO of The Home Depot
Rise of commerce media
As the RMN space matures and it becomes easier for brands to launch RMNs, more non-retail brands (like Chase, United Airlines, Expedia, Paypal, Intuit, Re/Max) will get in on the act. Terms like “commerce media” and “connected commerce” will gain wider acceptance to include these non-traditional retail brands. These companies possess vast troves of valuable first-party data and consumer interactions — spanning purchase behaviors, travel habits, and lifestyle preferences — that can be used to reach consumers beyond traditional retail environments, opening up new avenues for advertisers, including non-endemic advertisers who typically avoid retail media.
“It’s clear retail media is evolving into the much broader commerce media where consumer transaction data of all kinds are being used to improve personalization and precision of ads.”
Luke Kigel, VP Digital Marketing & Media, Kimberly-Clark North America
RMN fragmentation will drive consolidation
There are approximately 250 RMNs available (globally) and they came out in droves this year at CES ––with the biggest ones making announcements to further enhance their offerings, like Albertson’s new API. Other RMNs were also there to highlight their unique advantages. However, marketers we spoke want standardization, transparency, scale, accuracy, and seamless integration into broader omnichannel strategies. We are reaching a tipping point with an endless amount of networks available with inconsistent capabilities across them, which we believe will ultimately drive consolidation (of longer-tail RMNs) and standardization in the space.
“The complexity and increasingly resource-intensive of managing numerous RMNs will see brand pushing for consolidation to get fewer, more robust partnerships that deliver the scale, ROI, and efficiency…the focus will shift toward fewer, larger networks that, while leveraging technology and automation to manage mid-tier and smaller networks.”
Laura Knebusch, Senior Vice President, CPG Marketing and CX, Georgia-Pacific LLC
In-store media will become a vital part of the broader retail media ecosystem
Retail media is moving beyond digital platforms and entering physical spaces, creating a powerful new channel: in-store retail media. The physical store still dominates sales across nearly all categories at more than 85% share. Physical store environments will see a significant increase in targeted advertising through digital displays, mobile apps, and interactive elements/media hubs (ex. digital screens, dynamic shelving, personalized checkout displays, informative kiosks), leveraging location data for precise targeting. As more and more digital screens continue to be installed in physical locations, there is a massive monetization opportunity to expand first-party data that retailers will start to capitalize on – and brands will lean-in because of the potential scale.
“Brands will be able to engage customers in the critical last mile of decision-making, using tools like real-time promotions or hyper-localized messaging to make every moment count.”
Frank Amorese,VP of Media, Partnerships, and Creative at Heineken USA
Consumer loyalty will continue to fragment and decline
“Loyalty no longer exists…our world is in a trust deficit across media, business, and leaders. Brands have to focus on building trust to win.”
Raja Rajamannar, Chief Marketing & Communications Officer at Mastercard
That elusive consumer trust was on display in how other major brands are thinking about combatting this trend in 2025.
“Value creation for consumers is the only lens we should be focused on for brand growth and loyalty.”
Gulen Bengi, CMO at Mars
“We (marketers) have to authentically and sustainably rally behind our brand cause to inspire customer adoption.”
Randi Stipes, CMO of The Weather Company
Decline of third-party (3P) cookies shifts focus to first-party (1P) and zero-party (0P) data
1P data, derived from consumer interactions, is essential, but 0P data (both quantitative and qualitative)—shared voluntarily by consumers—adds a layer of trust and depth to insights. Retailers have a wealth of actionable data from loyalty programs, purchase histories, buying behaviors, site interactions, email engagement, mobile app usage, surveys, and reviews. For advertisers, the challenge is clear: use this data ethically and strategically to anticipate consumer needs, build loyalty, and deliver real value.
“Using first-party and zero-party data is no longer a nice to have, it’s a must, to deliver dynamic personalization, better experiences and drive meaningful results.”
Mairi Fogle, Performance Media Lead, Kimberly-Clarke
Commerce media will become more integrated with social commerce and influencers
Social media platforms will increasingly integrate with retail media strategies, making it easier for brands to advertise directly on social commerce platforms (e.g., Instagram, TikTok, Meta, etc.) while leveraging the same data-driven, targeted approach used in retail media. Brands will leverage commerce media’s precision and influencer (both real-like and virtual) marketing’s authenticity to create robust, full-funnel strategies that deepen consumer connections, drive better engagement and boost incremental sales.
“Retail media and social commerce are becoming increasingly intertwined. Leveraging content creators that are aligned with your brand and customers has been very successful for us.”
John Solomon, CMO at Therabody
Don’t hesitate to reach out to find out how you can maximize your commerce efforts!