At this year’s Shoptalk, one thing was crystal clear: Retailers are no longer just competing on price or product—they’re competing on experience. And in that race, customer expectations are not just the starting line—they’re the finish line, too.
Over three days of discussions, demos, and side conversations, Shoptalk 2025 delivered a fresh look at how brands and advertisers are adapting to an increasingly blended retail environment. The show spotlighted not just what’s new in retail media and AdTech—but how the industry is rethinking the entire shopper journey.
What we heard again and again on the ground was this: there is no one-size-fits-all playbook anymore. Every retailer is navigating their own unique mix of identity, data, tech, and consumer needs. The winners will be those who stay nimble while staying connected to what customers actually want.
Experience is everything
Across sessions and show floor chats, the core message was this: customers expect more—and retailers must rise to meet that moment. Whether it’s a personalized in-store interaction or a seamless connected TV (CTV) ad experience, people want value, inspiration, and storytelling wherever they shop. That means digital and physical channels must work together effortlessly.
Retailers aren’t just “digitizing” the in-store experience anymore—they’re rethinking how to make the entire shopping journey feel easy, consistent, and enjoyable. This shift isn’t just about touchpoints. It’s about changing the way retailers think about the customer experience.
Loyalty isn’t a program, it’s every interaction
Loyalty emerged as a major theme—one that goes well beyond points and perks. Speakers from Wayfair, DSW, and Lowe’s emphasized that every customer interaction, not just formal programs, should be viewed as an opportunity to build emotional loyalty. Sarah Crockett, CMO of DSW, shared that emotional tactics resonate more deeply than transactional rewards—echoing a broader shift toward customer-centric, experience-driven engagement.
“Loyalty today isn’t just about perks. It’s about trust, connection, and knowing your customer on a deeper level. Every interaction is a chance to build that relationship.”
Sam Zahedi, Sr. Enterprise Partnerships Manager
Retail media gets real
Retail media networks (RMNs) took center stage, but the tone is changing. With so many players flooding the space, retailers and advertisers alike are asking tougher questions: How do you stand out? How do you prove value? And perhaps most critically—how do you build trust?
Standardization came up in several sessions, but as Harvey Ma from Sam’s Club MAP pointed out, standardization alone won’t fix what’s been lost: foundational trust and transparency. Advertisers want more than impressions—they want insights, outcomes, and measurement they can count on.
“There’s no one playbook—nor should there be. Every retailer, every RMN, and every customer is different. Success comes from building strategies as unique as the audiences they serve.”
Anne Passon, Sr. Director, Sales, Retail
Many brands came to our team asking how Experian can help extend their audiences into new environments like social and CTV. Here’s how we do it:
- We work with our RMN partners to take their organized, clean, complete, and highly usable customer records and expand them to include other digital identifiers. By adding digital IDs such as hashed emails (HEMs), mobile ad IDs (MAIDs), CTV IDs, and Universal IDs like Unified I.D. 2.0 (UID2) or ID5, we ensure that the retailer’s entire customer base can be reached.
- On their own, RMNs only know the digital identity of a portion of their customer base. With Experian’s help, they can add digital IDs to their entire customer base.
- As a result, marketers can reach all of an RMN’s customers, including those whose identities were previously unknown. They can reach these customers both onsite and offsite, thanks to the array of addressable IDs we provide. This increase in addressability leads to higher revenue for the RMN.
Moving at the speed of people
One of the most thought-provoking moments came from Nikki Laughlin from McClatchy Media during a Brand Innovators session. She asked a simple but powerful question: How can we move at the speed of people if we’re always looking backward at data?
It’s a challenge we’re hearing more often—marketers want to be proactive, not just reactive. That requires faster insights, cleaner connections between signals, and a shift from static audiences to living, evolving ones.
Experian’s identity and data solutions aren’t just about better targeting—they’re about helping brands activate smarter, faster, and with more confidence across the full media ecosystem.
A marketplace of possibilities
The best part of Shoptalk? The spontaneous moments. The side conversations where ideas turned into opportunities. We had several discussions that signaled new partnerships on the horizon—some with current clients, others brand new. What united them was a desire to co-create: to build something more tailored, more agile, more customer-first.
Of course, there were also shared challenges. Retailers are navigating how to stay customer-centric while grappling with complex, sometimes controversial tech—from AI to influencers to evolving data privacy norms.
But if there was one consistent thread, it was this: retailers are hungry for clarity and collaboration.
Forget the playbook, follow the customer
Shoptalk 2025 reminded us that while tech and trends come and go, the most successful retail strategies still start with one thing: knowing your customer. That’s what fuels smarter activation, stronger measurement, and more meaningful experiences—whether online, in-store, or across emerging media channels.
If you’re rethinking your retail strategy or want to explore how Experian can support your goals across identity, retail media, or CTV, let’s talk.
Let’s connect and explore what’s possible
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Commerce media networks have had a strong start. Growth has been fast, demand has been strong, and brands have made it clear they want closer access to commerce-driven audiences. But as more networks mature and enter the space, many are starting to feel the same pressure point: scale. Most commerce media networks were built as managed service businesses. That model works well early on. High-touch, white-glove partnerships make sense when you’re working with a handful of strategic brands. But there’s a ceiling. There are only so many teams, only so much inventory, and only so many advertisers that model can realistically support. It’s one thing for a large retailer to build custom programs for a P&G. It’s another to do that at scale for hundreds or thousands of brands. At some point, growth slows, not because demand disappears, but because the model can’t stretch any further. The scale problem no one likes to talk about That’s where many commerce media leaders find themselves today. Pausing to assess what comes next. For a long time, growth has been measured almost entirely through media dollars. That mindset is understandable. Media is familiar, it's easy to quantify. It shows up clearly in negotiations and revenue reports. But viewing commerce media networks purely as media sales engines creates long-term risk. It can strain brand relationships, limit innovation, and distract from what commerce media networks actually do better than almost anyone else: understand consumers deeply. Signals are the real asset Commerce platforms sit close to decision-making. They see what people search for, what they consider, what they buy, and when those behaviors change. Those signals are incredibly powerful. And yet, most networks only activate them inside their own walled environments. That’s a missed opportunity. Curation represents the next area of growth for commerce media networks, and it doesn’t require replacing or diminishing existing media revenue. In fact, it complements it. No single commerce media network has all the data needed to give advertisers the scale and reach they're looking for. And no advertiser wants to recreate the same audience in dozens of disconnected platforms. That friction creates inefficiency and slows decision-making. Why collaboration supports sustainable growth The opportunity is to look beyond first-party data alone and start thinking about collaboration. Second-party data. Data partnerships. Signal sharing done responsibly and transparently. Imagine an advertiser defining an audience once and being able to understand and reach that audience across multiple commerce environments. Not through a series of disconnected buys, but through a more consistent approach built on shared understanding leading to increased reach and more impactful campaigns. That’s easier for advertisers to manage, and it creates an additional revenue stream for commerce media networks that complements media sales rather than competing with them. Curation strengthens media, it doesn't replace it Media will always play an important role. There is clear value in custom experiences tied directly to a commerce environment. Think buyouts, sponsored experiences, custom creative integrations. Those are situations where brands want to work closely with the network itself. But the signals commerce media networks hold don’t need to be limited to those moments. Those signals can be monetized independently through data products, co-ops, and partnerships that extend their value into other channels. That’s how curation adds value without undercutting existing revenue. A practical path forward for commerce media leaders For commerce media leaders thinking about their next phase of growth, the focus should be on sustainability. Building a massive media operation takes time and investment. Data-driven revenue streams can be introduced more quickly, require fewer internal resources, and provide steadier margins. It’s a practical approach. Use signal-based revenue to fund growth. Let that revenue support investment in tooling, talent, and media innovation over time. Bootstrapping, in the truest sense. Why transparency matters early There’s also a broader responsibility here. In many advertising channels, transparency followed growth, often after pressure from the market. Commerce media networks have an opportunity to do this differently. To lead with transparency from the start. To be clear with brands and consumers about how data is used, how signals are created, and how value flows through the ecosystem. Because the reality is this: commerce media networks are holding some of the most valuable intent signals in the market today. But those signals don’t retain their value in isolation. If they aren’t enhanced, combined, and made accessible in the right ways, someone else will step in to do it. And when that happens, control shifts away from the source. The bottom line The next chapter of commerce media isn’t just about selling more media alone. It’s about recognizing the value of the signals already in hand, working together to make them more useful, and building additional revenue streams that support long-term growth. That’s how commerce media networks grow without eating their own lunch. About the author Kevin Dunn Chief Revenue Officer, Experian Kevin Dunn joins Experian Marketing Services with more than 20 years of leadership experience across marketing and advertising technology, most recently serving as Senior Vice President of Brands and Agencies at LiveRamp. In that role, he led growth across retail, CPG, travel, hospitality, financial services, and healthcare, overseeing new business, account expansion, and channel partnerships. Kevin is known for building cohesive, accountable teams and leading with optimism, clarity, and a strong sense of shared purpose. His leadership philosophy centers on empowering people, driving positive outcomes for clients and fostering a culture where teams can grow, take smart risks, and succeed together. Latest posts
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