Retail media networks (RMNs) are on track to capture over $128 billion in ad spend by 2028, growing nearly 25% year over year. But behind this rapid expansion, RMNs face a challenge that could slow their momentum: they lack the complete picture of their customers.
Retailers sit on a goldmine of first-party data—loyalty programs, online purchases, and in-store transactions—but their customer view is often fragmented, incomplete, or entirely anonymous. Without a strong identity foundation, RMNs struggle to:
- Scale advertiser reach beyond logged-in users
- Seamlessly match audiences across channels (CTV, programmatic, social)
- Deliver the precise targeting and measurement that advertisers demand
The reality? Data is only valuable if it’s usable. And right now, too many RMNs are leaving value on the table.
The identity challenge: If you can’t see it, you can’t monetize it
Retailers have two types of customers:
- Known customers: Logged-in or self-identified users with purchase history and identifiable attributes.
- Unknown customers: Shoppers who browse, purchase in-store, or check out as guests—leaving behind only partial or anonymous data.
Although many retailers have a loyalty program, it’s unlikely they are capturing a full view of all of their customers, especially outside of their four walls.
When retailers don’t know their customers, they can’t effectively:
- Understand what messages will resonate with what audiences
- Extend their audiences beyond their owned platforms
- Provide advertisers with the reach and addressability they demand
- Accurately measure media performance and prove ROI
But this challenge isn’t unsolvable—it’s an identity problem, and Experian is built to fix it.
The missing link: Clean, enriched, and connected data
Assuming your data is ready to activate is a costly mistake. Too often, RMN data is messy, siloed, and incomplete, making it difficult to deliver the precision and performance advertisers expect.
Experian flips the script—helping RMNs transform fragmented signals into a complete, connected picture of their audience.
Here’s how Experian helps RMNs go from fragmented to first-class
Clean and optimize
We organize messy customer data, removing duplicates and filling in gaps.
Enrich and enhance
Our insights add depth to profiles with demographics, behavior, and purchase intent signals. For example, an RMN may know a shopper recently bought a car seat—but not that they lease a luxury SUV. That auto data is critical to securing auto ad dollars, and it’s exactly the kind of insight Experian provides.
Expand and connect
Using digital identifiers like hashed emails (HEMs), mobile ad IDs (MAIDs), and connected TV (CTV) IDs, we help extend audience reach across every channel advertisers care about.
The result? A complete and addressable audience picture that RMNs can activate confidently—on-site and off.
We partnered with one of the largest RMNs in the world to overhaul its first-party shopper data ahead of industry changes. By anchoring its data to stable digital IDs, addressability skyrocketed by nearly 300%. That’s the Experian difference—turning guesswork into confidence.
Retailers who master identity will win the RMN race
In an increasingly competitive RMN landscape, identity isn’t optional—it’s everything. Advertisers demand scale, accuracy, and measurable impact. Only RMNs with a robust identity foundation will rise above the competition.
RMNs that prioritize identity resolution and data enrichment will:
- Drive more revenue by increasing the size of their addressable audience
- Keep advertisers engaged with better targeting and measurement
- Capture RMN market share by offering scale and accuracy
Ready to transform? Experian will show you how
Fixing data inside the RMN ecosystem is just the beginning. In part two, we’ll cover:
- Why RMNs should be activating their enriched first-party data across CTV, programmatic, and social.
- Why off-site expansion is the future of maximizing revenue.
- How Experian’s data and identity solutions power off-site activation.
Experian isn’t just part of the RMN conversation. We’re driving it. Let’s talk.
Connect with our team
Latest posts
Partnership leverages industry-leading Tapad Device Graph™ for more effective video marketing across all connected devices NEW YORK, April 11, 2017 /PRNewswire/ – Tapad, a part of Experian, the leading provider of privacy-safe, cross-device marketing technology solutions, has announced its partnership with Innovid, the world's leading video marketing platform. This integration enables Innovid to bring cross-device personalization and a more unified viewer experience to its video marketing clients including Bank of America, L'Oréal, Microsoft and Procter & Gamble. Innovid's proprietary technology is the only platform optimized for video, enabling marketers to thrive in an ever-changing digital television landscape. Since its launch last year, Innovid's Marketing Cloud Suite has helped marketers increase message relevance and the opportunity to drive conversions, retention and acquisition through video personalization. By leveraging the Tapad Device GraphTM, Innovid's marketers can now benefit from the ability to drive consistent, personalized user experiences across all devices, creating more impactful connections with consumers and increasing ROI. "Personalization is a must for every data-driven marketer and really needs to happen across all devices to ensure a unified customer journey," says Ronnie Lavi, SVP of product at Innovid. "At Innovid, we recognize one size does not fit all when it comes to video. As an open platform, we are always looking to add best-of-breed capabilities through integrations and partnerships, and we've chosen Tapad because of its superior cross-device expertise." "Innovid has long paved the way for effective personalization in the video marketing space," says Pierre Martensson, GM of Tapad's data division. "As video continues to gain popularity across digital formats, we're excited to see how our technology empowers Innovid to bring that renowned personalization to more customers across all of their devices." Contact us today
Tracey Scheppach's new marketing and media practice leverages Tapad's device-level data to help clients achieve "marketing nirvana" NEW YORK and CHICAGO, April 5, 2017 /PRNewswire/ — Today, Tapad, now part of Experian, is the leading provider of unified, cross-screen marketing technology solutions, and Matter More, a next generation marketing and media practice with deep experience in the advanced TV space, announced a strategic partnership to bring together world class digital data and audience development expertise to help marketers improve how they connect with consumers. As consumer behavior continues to expand across multiple devices, today's marketers need robust, comprehensive data solutions to accurately engage the people who matter most to their brands. At the same time, the TV industry has reached an advertising tipping point, capitalizing on the power of device-level data. "Achieving unduplicated reach and frequency across all channels with true addressability, and the ability to measure outcomes, is marketing nirvana," says Tracey Scheppach, CEO and co-founder of Matter More, a new agency built for the modern age. "The best opportunity to deliver 'marketing nirvana,' at scale, is by partnering with Tapad and using their world-class Device Graph to help our clients simply matter more to the people they care about most." "By leveraging our access to rich TV data, we can now measure the actual performance of media across channels," says Marshall Wong, SVP, TV for Tapad. Tapad's proprietary Device Graph™ unifies consumer behavior data across all devices, uncovering the interests, passions and behaviors of the audiences who matter most. As with any data solution, privacy, transparency and trust are crucial to bringing marketers a solid offering that delivers results. "Tapad is excited to partner with Matter More to tap into their knowledge base and experience working with some of the largest brands on TV today," says Kate O'Loughlin, SVP and GM of Tapad's media division. "The time has come to truly unleash the power of device-level data at scale." Contact us today
Ensure you understand privacy compliance pitfalls with special attention on shopping cart abandonment emails.