Retail media networks (RMNs) are on the brink of a major shift. While they are poised to capture over 20% of ad spend in 2025, on-site monetization won’t be the growth driver it once was. With advertisers consolidating spend among just six or seven RMNs on average, including giants like Amazon and Walmart, it’s hard for smaller RMNs to compete.
Off-site retail media ad spend is projected to grow 42.1% in 2025 – nearly three times the rate of on-site growth (15.1%), according to eMarketer’s November 2024 forecast. This dramatic shift underscores that while on-site placements are maturing, off-site is where the momentum (and money) is heading.
To remain competitive, RMNs must move beyond traditional, on-site placements and embrace a broader, more integrated approach to media activation. The future of retail media is about utilizing enriched first-party data to drive performance across the open web, connected TV (CTV), and other digital channels.
Break free from your owned and operated properties
Historically, RMNs have limited ad placements to their own digital properties. While this approach has delivered high-margin returns – on-site ad margins can reach 70-90%, compared to 20-40% for off-site – it’s also inherently limiting. Retailers only have so much owned inventory to sell, and advertisers demand greater scale and flexibility. As brands push for more reach, RMNs must extend their impact beyond owned-and-operated (O&O) properties.
Omnichannel retail media ad spending is forecast to hit $61.2 billion in 2025. Brands are looking beyond retail sites to build integrated, multi-channel strategies that drive results across the funnel.
eMarketer
Off-site doesn’t just mean digital. Walmart’s recent expansion of its Fuel and Convenience stations – planning to open or remodel 45 in 2025, bringing the total to 450 – shows how physical spaces are also becoming extensions of a retailer’s media network. These locations create new touchpoints where advertisers can engage shoppers with timely, context-aware messaging while they fuel up or grab a snack.
These quick-stop environments are ideal for limited-time offers or impulse-triggering messages – especially since 68% of U.S. adults say discounts contribute to their latest in-store impulse purchase.
Maximize the value of first-party data
One of retail media’s biggest promises is the power of first-party data for precision targeting. While on-site ads are inherently lower-funnel, off-site activation allows advertisers to move up the funnel and apply retailer customer data holistically across the open web.
For example, DoorDash and Macy’s now offer self-service audience data to advertisers via The Trade Desk, allowing brands to target consumers programmatically. Meanwhile, Walmart is taking a different approach – cloning The Trade Desk’s technology to maintain its walled garden. These moves demonstrate how retailers are rethinking data monetization strategies to scale beyond O&O limitations.
Drive new revenue streams with off-site activation
Off-site activation enables RMNs to drive incremental reach on channels where audiences are actively engaging, including CTV, programmatic display, and social media. This expansion allows brands to connect with consumers beyond retail websites.
Retailers are also utilizing non-endemic advertising opportunities in environments like gas stations and kiosks. Unlike traditional grocery or apparel aisles, these spaces are brand-neutral, allowing advertisers who don’t sell products in-store to still activate campaigns using retailer data. In fact, 53% of brands have already partnered with a retailer that doesn’t carry their product, and that number is expected to grow as advertisers seek new ways to tap into retail media’s rich targeting capabilities.
Retailers looking to extend the value of their data beyond O&O inventory have two primary off-site opportunities:
First, they can use an identity graph to resolve customer identifiers into addressable IDs that can be enriched with additional attributes and activated across channels like the open web and CTV. This allows retailers to find and reach known customers with relevant messaging outside of their owned platforms. For example, a grocery RMN can identify lapsed snack buyers and deliver streaming TV ads that reengage them on CTV platforms. CTV retail media ad spending alone is expected to grow 43.1% this year, reaching $4.86 billion, highlighting the appetite for video-based upper-funnel strategies.
Second, RMNs can broaden reach by activating first-party audiences, syndicated segments, or custom-built audiences through onboarding capabilities. These audiences can be sent to a variety of programmatic and CTV destinations, enabling advertisers to engage shoppers in high-impact environments. For example, a home improvement retailer can send its audience segments to programmatic ad exchanges, ensuring DIY shoppers see relevant offers even while browsing unrelated sites.
Together, these approaches allow retailers to monetize their data more effectively while giving brands the ability to reach consumers in moments that matter beyond just retail websites and apps.
Scale and measure success with data partnerships
For smaller RMNs to compete with larger players, they need more than just inventory – they need the ability to scale campaigns and prove performance. Data partnerships play a critical role in both expansion and measurement.
Measurement remains one of the biggest challenges for RMNs moving off-site. On-site retail media offers closed-loop attribution, but off-site activations introduce complexity. Retailers can work with an identity resolution partner like Experian to connect ad exposures to actual retail outcomes, such as store visits or purchases, across digital and physical environments. Whether it’s through pixels placed on campaign ads or TV impression logs, these connections help RMNs demonstrate real impact.
This approach helps unify disparate data – such as a CTV ad exposure and a subsequent online or in-store purchase – into a clear, measurable outcome. These insights not only show what’s working, but help RMNs optimize future campaigns and provide advertisers with transparent, third-party-validated reporting.
As retailers like Walmart integrate loyalty programs like Walmart+ into their physical extensions, they gain valuable behavioral insights into how customers shop across formats – from fueling up to filling carts. These data signals help refine identity graphs and improve measurement across increasingly hybrid consumer journeys.
Beyond ads: The data monetization opportunity
Smaller RMNs may struggle to scale ad-supported revenue, but there’s another path forward: Data-as-a-Service (DaaS). Providing anonymized, privacy-compliant audience insights to brands offers a high-margin, scalable revenue stream. In fact, some retailers are already embracing this model by licensing their data to programmatic platforms.
A playbook for smaller RMNs to win off-site
The future of retail media belongs to those who harness data to influence consumer behavior across all digital marketing channels. To succeed, RMNs should focus on:
- Moving beyond owned inventory: Activate first-party data across CTV, social, and programmatic channels to meet advertisers where their audiences are.
- Expanding reach through partnerships: Collaborate with identity resolution providers to maximize match rates and campaign effectiveness.
- Building a full-funnel offering: Position off-site retail media as a brand-building play, tapping into ad budgets that traditionally fund upper-funnel campaigns.
- Monetizing data, not just ads: Explore DaaS models to generate passive revenue.
The time to move off-site is now
Retailers that wait too long to embrace off-site activation risk falling behind. Those that expand beyond their owned inventory, invest in off-site data strategies, and build strategic partnerships will be the ones that shape the future of retail media.
Experian isn’t just part of the RMN conversation. We’re driving it. Let’s talk.
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In our Ask the Expert series, we interview leaders from our partner organizations who are helping lead their brands to new heights in AdTech. Today’s interview is with Samantha Zhang, Senior Data Scientist, and Jim Meyer, General Manager of the DASH TV Universe Study at the Advertising Research Foundation (ARF). DASH is an annual tracking study conducted by the ARF to define and better understand TV audience behavior and household dynamics. What does DASH measure, and how does it help the industry understand TV consumption today? By capturing hundreds of individual- and household-level data points from each respondent in a rigorous and nationally projectable sample, DASH creates a comprehensive picture of U.S. consumer TV “infrastructure” – how America watches. Core elements in DASHElements that create context in DASHTV setsLocation | brand | smartness | service modes | sources DemographicsConnected devices Game consoles |video players | streaming devicesYesterday viewing Daypart | TV/device genre | Out-of-home viewingMobile devicesOwners | sharing usersShoppingOnline and in-store | Exposure to major RMNsInternet serviceModes | ISPs | connectivity by device Streaming audio Streaming TVSVOD/AVOD tiers and sharing | FAST Email accounts and apps Live TV Modes of access | including casting from devices Social media For example, DASH gathers: Data on every TV set, including brand, room location, age, “smartness,” and connection devices and modes Household connectivity and video service data, even in homes with no TV set Internet Service Providers (ISP) and TV service usage, including Multichannel Video Programming Distributors (MVPDs), virtual vMVPDs, streamers (ad-supported and premium), and Free Ad-Supported Television (FAST) channels Person-level ownership and usage of video-capable mobile devices, including smartphones, tablets, and laptops Measures of viewing and co-viewing across dayparts, devices, and services Additional modules covering shopping and retail media networks, streaming audio, social media, email, and apps Broad coverage and granularity make DASH a uniquely robust source of truth for practitioners across the industry, including measurement experts and ad programming strategists. DASH also reports regularly (and publicly) on key industry dynamics. DASH identified a growing segment of device-only viewers – now nearly 9 million households that watch TV, but do not own a TV set – and highlighted the implications of that trend for traditional ratings systems based only on households with TV sets. Households (HHs – million)2025 HHs (M) U.S. penetrationChange vs. 2024 (M)Total US134.8100%+2.7Connected TV (CTV)114.685%+2.1TV (Set)124.292.2%+1.1Device-only8.86.6%+1.6TV-Accessible133.198.7%+2.7 DASH called out the rise in app-based pay TV and proposed a new connection framework that better represents the modern TV world, in which linear and streaming overlap. DASH also defines the universes of households reachable with advertising. This graphic, for example, shows how all ad-supported linear and streaming properties in aggregate define the true scale of TV advertising. While 35 million households (and growing) are reachable only with streaming ads and 13 million (and falling) only with linear ads, most households are reachable with both, underscoring the importance of understanding the “overlap.” Who uses DASH data, and what decisions does it help inform? There are three primary users of DASH, each with its own use cases: Measurement providers, including Nielsen, use DASH to calibrate viewership data, turn household data into persons data (and vice versa) and estimate potential reached audiences–what the providers call media-related universe estimate (MRUEs)–for the calculation of ratings. Not surprisingly, measurement companies were the first to see the value that an independent TV universe study could provide. Media companies, including major broadcasters and streamers, use DASH to add context and color to their ad sales presentations – and to track the measurement providers, whose ratings play a major role in valuing ad inventory. AdTech companies, including Experian, use DASH to create high-value audience segments for activation. The recent accreditation of DASH by the Media Rating Council (MRC) and adoption by Nielsen as an input to its TV ratings have generated interest from a broad range of companies. We are actively pursuing new licensees and partners to make DASH more useful within, and even outside, the TV ecosystem. What does MRC accreditation signify, and why is it meaningful for DASH? MRC accreditation means DASH passed a rigorous audit conducted by Ernst & Young over many months, which validated our methodology, controls, and data quality. MRC accreditation establishes that DASH is an industry-standard dataset. While the service provider normally announces its own accreditation, the MRC took the unusual step of issuing its own release on DASH, announcing the accreditation of DASH for TV universe estimation and endorsing the study for broader, cross-media use. How does Experian use DASH data to build audiences? The segments combine specific TV usage habits and behaviors from DASH with Experian data on demographics, spending, and other contextual inputs to create a fuller view of consumer viewing behavior. They are designed to be valuable to advertisers in many categories and planning contexts – and to be customizable to fit advertisers’ media targets. The segments can be used to: Apply or suppress audiences to improve target coverage across a campaign Better align media and creative Reach elusive but high-value viewers, such as Ad Avoiders Drive valuable consumer behavior Achieve specific advertising objectives What are some practical use cases for DASH-based audiences? Here are some practical use cases for four different kinds of DASH segments in five different advertiser categories. Travel Co-WatchersA couples-only resort uses TV Co-Watching Households without Children to strengthen target reach and ad memory recallA big theme park destination uses TV Co-Watching Households with Children to reach families in moments of togetherness Home Entertainment TV Owners and Brand LoyalistsA premium TV manufacturer uses the overlap of Multi Brand TV Owners and Single Brand TV Loyalist Households to market its newest TV model to its most loyal consumers. Fast Food Screen Size ViewersA fast food chain with a high-impact new brand campaign uses Large Screen TV Viewers to better align the media and creativeThat same fast food chain uses Small-Screen TV Viewers to drive store traffic by increasing exposure of its retail campaign among on-the-go viewers Financial Services Cord Cutters A personal cost management app and a cash-back credit card target Streaming-First Cord Cutter Households to reach young, tech-savvy, cost-conscious consumers Thanks for the interview. Where can readers learn more about DASH? We started work on DASH seven years ago, and it’s been fun to watch it “grow up.” Our partnership with Experian is a big step toward putting DASH to work for advertisers and agencies. To learn more, visit our site at https://theARF.org/DASH or contact us at DASH@theARF.org. Contact us About our experts Samantha Zhang, Senior Data Scientist at ARF Samantha Zhang is a Senior Data Scientist at the Advertising Research Foundation working on the DASH TV Universe Study, with additional research spanning areas including attention measurement, digital privacy, and artificial intelligence. Jim Meyer, General Manager, DASH, at ARF Jim Meyer is general manager and co-founder of the ARF DASH TV Universe Study and managing partner of Golden Square, LLC, which advises media and research technology companies on growth strategy and development. Latest posts
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