Industry Spotlight: Retail Media Networks—Unlocking New Revenue Streams by Bridging MarTech and AdTech

The Retail Media Revolution in a Cookieless World

As third-party cookies disappear and privacy regulations tighten, retailers are facing a pivotal moment. The traditional methods of digital advertising and customer targeting are being upended, but with disruption comes opportunity. Retailers are uniquely positioned to capitalize on the convergence of MarTech (marketing technology) and AdTech (advertising technology) by building and scaling retail media networks—unlocking new revenue streams, deepening customer relationships, and delivering value to brand advertisers.

Why Retailers Hold the Key

Retailers sit on a goldmine of first-party data—rich, consented information about their customers’ behaviors, preferences, and purchase histories. Unlike third-party data, this information is collected directly from customer interactions across digital and physical touchpoints, making it both privacy-compliant and highly actionable. By leveraging unified MarTech and AdTech strategies, retailers can transform this data into a powerful asset:

Monetize their audience by offering targeted advertising opportunities to brands.
Deliver personalized experiences that drive loyalty and increase customer lifetime value.
Attract brand advertisers seeking high-quality, addressable audiences in a privacy-first environment.

Bridging MarTech and AdTech: The Strategic Imperative

Historically, MarTech and AdTech have operated in silos—MarTech nurturing known customers, AdTech acquiring new ones. The cookieless future demands a unified approach. By integrating customer data platforms (CDPs), advanced identity solutions, and omnichannel activation, retailers can:

Unify customer profiles across all touchpoints, creating a 360° view.
Orchestrate cross-channel campaigns that blend owned and paid media.
Enable real-time personalization and measurement, driving both customer engagement and advertising ROI.

The Technology Stack: Salesforce CDP, Epsilon CORE ID, and Beyond

Salesforce CDP (Data Cloud): Aggregates and unifies customer data from web, mobile, CRM, commerce, and more, enabling real-time insights and activation.
Epsilon CORE ID: Provides industry-leading identity resolution, connecting online and offline touchpoints to real people, enriching first-party data, and enabling privacy-safe audience activation across the open web.
Unified Audience Accelerators: Solutions like Publicis Sapient’s Unified Audience Accelerator enable secure data collaboration and advanced segmentation, even in highly regulated environments.

Practical Framework for Retail Media Network Success

Publicis Sapient’s proven approach to building and scaling retail media networks is grounded in a holistic, outcome-driven methodology:

Establish a North Star: Define your vision for customer experience and business outcomes—such as incremental revenue, increased retention, or higher advertiser value.
Inventory and Integrate Data: Unify all customer data sources into your CDP, leveraging identity solutions for enrichment and activation.
Prioritize High-Impact Use Cases: Focus on opportunities that deliver measurable ROI, such as personalized product recommendations, dynamic audience targeting, and cross-channel journey orchestration.
Activate and Measure: Orchestrate personalized experiences and advertising across MarTech and AdTech channels, with robust metrics for engagement, conversion, and retention.
Iterate and Scale: Continuously refine your approach using analytics and AI to uncover new insights and optimize performance.

Real-World Impact: Case Studies and Outcomes

Retailers partnering with Publicis Sapient have already realized significant benefits by bridging MarTech and AdTech:

From Wholesale to D2C Powerhouse: A leading retailer leveraged a CDP to transition from a wholesale model to direct-to-consumer, using unified data to create new products and services aligned to customer needs, while opening new revenue streams through data monetization.
Data Monetization at Scale: By integrating first-party data and advanced identity solutions, another retailer enabled third-party brands to target high-value audiences within their ecosystem, driving incremental advertising revenue while maintaining customer privacy.
Omnichannel Personalization: Retailers have used unified customer profiles to deliver seamless, personalized experiences across web, mobile, and in-store, increasing conversion rates and customer satisfaction.

The Benefits of a Privacy-First, First-Party Data Strategy

Transitioning to a first-party data strategy is not just about compliance—it’s a business imperative. Retailers embracing this approach can expect:

Higher Revenues: Personalized engagement can drive up to 15% higher revenues.
Increased Retention: Relevant experiences result in up to 5x higher customer retention.
Lower Acquisition Costs: Direct channels and first-party data can reduce acquisition costs by up to 50%.
Future-Proofed Marketing: Owning and activating your own data insulates your business from ongoing changes in the digital advertising ecosystem.

Insights from Publicis Sapient’s Retail Experts

Publicis Sapient brings deep expertise at the intersection of strategy, technology, and data. Our teams help retailers:

Assess and align business objectives with data and technology investments.
Design and implement frameworks for integrating MarTech and AdTech, breaking down silos and enabling seamless activation.
Accelerate time-to-value with proven accelerators, templates, and best practices tailored to retail.
Ensure privacy, compliance, and trust through robust data governance and consent management frameworks.

Ready to Unlock New Revenue Streams?

The cookieless future is not a threat—it’s an opportunity for retailers to build stronger, more trusted relationships with customers and brand partners. By unifying MarTech and AdTech strategies, leveraging first-party data, and embracing advanced identity solutions, retailers can build and scale retail media networks that drive measurable business outcomes.

Connect with Publicis Sapient today to start your journey toward unified, privacy-first retail media networks and unlock the next wave of growth.