Retail Media Breakfast Club

Amazon has always operated in contradictions. And in this episode, I dissect comments made on Christine Russo's What Just Happened podcast made by Justin Honaman, AWS's global head of retail, consumer goods, and restaurants, to unpack one of the biggest contradictions emerging in the AI commerce era. 
On one hand, Amazon is encouraging retailers and brands to embrace “off-site search” and make themselves discoverable through AI agents like ChatGPT and Perplexity. On the other hand, Amazon is actively blocking outside shopping agents from accessing its own ecosystem while simultaneously sending its own Buy For Me agent onto everyone else’s storefronts.
I break down the growing tension between agentic commerce, retail media, and platform control, including Amazon’s legal fight with Perplexity, the strategic implications of its DSP dominance, and why this all points to one core objective: owning the customer journey from discovery to checkout. I also explore why brands should pay far closer attention to Amazon’s actions than its public messaging as the next phase of commerce infrastructure takes shape.

This episode is sponsored by Mirakl Ads

Timeline
[00:00] Amazon’s long history of contradictions between customer obsession and supplier impact 
[01:15] AWS discusses “off-site search” and why retailers are being told to optimize for AI discovery 
[02:18] The core contradiction: Amazon’s agents are allowed out, but outside agents are blocked from coming in 
[03:15] Breaking down Amazon’s lawsuit against Perplexity and the real debate around shopper permission 
[04:19] How Rufus and Alexa Shopping generated billions while Amazon blocks competing AI shopping agents 
[05:15] Why retail media is really the monetization layer sitting on top of shopper behavior 
[06:30] Google’s Universal Cart signals that commerce journeys no longer need to begin on Amazon 
[07:30] The key lesson for brands: watch what Amazon does, not what it says

Links & Resources
Listen to the full Justin Honaman episode on Christine Russo's What Just Happened podcast: Justin Honaman, AWS: The Agentic Commerce Roadmap for Retailers
Subscribe to What Just Happened on Apple Podcasts
Follow Christine Russo on LinkedIn
Follow Justin Honaman on LinkedIn
Read my related articles:AI Agents & The Evolving Path to Purchase: How Brands Must Adapt
No Eyes on the Ad
Does 'Dark Search' Help or Harm Retail Media?

In Atlanta? Join the Commerce Media Happy Hour on Wednesday May 27! RSVP here
I'm sharing comedy skits about retail media on Instagram! Follow along: @retailmediabreakfastclub
Subscribe to Retail Media Breakfast Club's daily newsletter
Follow Kiri Masters on LinkedIn

Recently I joined a retail media panel at Loyalty Connect in Atlanta, surrounded by the people who’ve spent decades building and evolving loyalty programs. What became crystal clear to me is that loyalty and retail media are no longer parallel industries: they’re fundamentally intertwined. In this episode, a recap of my article for The Drum, I unpack why loyalty data has become the backbone of modern retail media networks, powering audience creation, closed-loop measurement, and advertiser confidence at scale. From Kroger Precision Marketing and Costco to CVS and Marriott, I share the examples that prove the strongest retail media businesses are built on strong loyalty ecosystems.
But the bigger shift is what happens next. As AI agents compress the shopping journey and consumers increasingly arrive at retailer websites already knowing what they want, many of today’s high-margin retail media ad surfaces are under threat. What survives? Loyalty. I explore why emotional drivers like status, belonging, and access may become retailers’ most defensible advantage in an AI-driven commerce environment. And why the future winners won’t just offer points and discounts, but experiences consumers genuinely care about.

This episode is sponsored by Mirakl Ads

Timeline
[00:00] — Why loyalty and retail media are inseparable 
[01:18] — Kroger’s loyalty data advantage and retail KPI measurement 
[03:56] — Why measurement is the foundation of loyalty-powered media 
[04:30] — How AI shopping journeys threaten retail media revenue 
[05:18] — The emotional side of loyalty that AI can’t replicate 
[08:16] — Why AI agents may disrupt earning points, but not redemption

Links & Resources
Read my full article on The Drum: Loyalty data is becoming retail media’s strongest defense
Read my related articles:Why Agentic Shopping Poses an Existential Threat to Retail Media (Part 1)
Agentic Shopping Poses an Existential Threat to Retail Media (Part 2)
7 Ways to Break the Retail Media Doom Loop

EMARKETER is teaming up again with Bain to survey retail media network leaders for a unique insight into the forces shaping the industry. The survey is intended for people working in-house on retail media teams, and it is global this year! The survey is also double-anonymized. The survey organizers will not know, nor are they trying to determine, which specific retail media network a respondent works for. The goal is to understand broader retail media trends, not attribute responses to individual companies. Please take the survey here. 
In Atlanta? Join the Commerce Media Happy Hour on Wednesday May 27! RSVP here
I'm sharing comedy skits on Instagram about retail media! Follow along: @retailmediabreakfastclub
Subscribe to Retail Media Breakfast Club's daily newsletter
Follow Kiri Masters on LinkedIn

At Xnurta’s Signal to Scale Summit this week, I heard some of the most practical conversations yet about how brands are actually using AI in retail media. Spark Foundry’s Kris McDermott summed up the mood perfectly: “We did AI. To what end? That is not a verb.” 
From Boiron managing 50,000 keywords with a two-person team, to AI-powered creative testing that drove a 29% sales lift, this episode explores where agentic workflows are delivering real operational value, and where they still require strong human oversight.
I also break down why advanced practitioners are moving beyond ROAS as the primary metric, what Amazon Ads is building with MCP servers and Skills, and why Xnurta's new open-source AI evaluation framework could become critical infrastructure for the future of retail media automation. The biggest takeaway: AI can accelerate performance, but only when paired with clear goals, guardrails, and teams that still understand “the gears” behind the machine.

This episode is sponsored by Mirakl Ads

Timeline
[00:00] — “We did AI. To what end?” and the real theme of the summit 
[01:18] — Boiron’s AI-powered retail media workflow managing 50,000 keywords 
[02:00] — AI image scoring drives a 29% sales increase 
[03:30] — Why ROAS alone is not the goal anymore 
[04:15] — The “automatic vs stick shift” analogy for AI media buying 
[06:04] — Xnurta launches open-source AI evaluation framework for retail media

Links & Resources
If you're interested in joining the Agentic Retail Media Council, Xnurta is recruiting members: sign up link
Find all the Signal to Scale 2026 speakers here
Read my related articles:No Incentive To Sound The Alarm
Dark Search, Broken Signals, and What Comes Next for Retail Media
Why ROAS Refuses To Die
AI in real life: how retailers and brands are leveraging AI (real numbers)

EMARKETER is teaming up again with Bain to survey retail media network leaders for a unique insight into the forces shaping the industry. The survey is intended for people working in-house on retail media teams, and it is global this year! The survey is also double-anonymized. The survey organizers will not know, nor are they trying to determine, which specific retail media network a respondent works for. The goal is to understand broader retail media trends, not attribute responses to individual companies. Please take the survey here. 
In Atlanta? Join the Commerce Media Happy Hour on Wednesday May 27! RSVP here
I am sharing comedy skits on Instagram about retail media! Follow along: @retailmediabreakfastclub
Subscribe to Retail Media Breakfast Club's daily newsletter
Follow Kiri Masters on LinkedIn

In this episode, I share snippets of a recent episode of the Flywheel Commerce Collective podcast, and take you inside how Clorox has evolved its approach to data clean rooms. In short: an experimental investment just a few years ago has now become a foundational pillar of modern marketing. What’s changed? A lot. I break down how clean rooms are no longer just a “nice-to-have” piece of tech, but essential infrastructure powering personalization in a privacy-first world.
I dig into real-world examples shared by Tiffany Tan, Head of eCommerce Growth Accelerator at Clorox, including how Clorox tailors messaging based on context, behavior, and intent rather than demographics. From back-to-college campaigns, to crisis-driven demand spikes, this episode explores how brands are finally getting closer to the “why” behind consumer behavior, and what that means for the future of retail media and AI-driven marketing.

This episode is sponsored by Mirakl Ads

Timeline
[00:00] – Clorox’s early investment in clean rooms and the 2023 CES context
[00:51] – Tiffany Tan’s recent insights and how the conversation has evolved
[01:00] – Publicis acquires LiveRamp for $2.2B — why this validates the space
[02:00] – Clean rooms reframed as a personalization enabler, not just technology
[03:30] – Brita example: tailoring messaging for back-to-college moments
[05:12] – Crisis scenario: lead in water and high-intent consumer behavior
[08:15] – Measuring success: why personalization is cumulative over time

Links & Resources
Listen to Tiffany Tan's full appearance on The Commerce Collective Podcast: How Clorox is building toward 1:1, personalized marketing in a multi-retailer world
Subscribe to The Commerce Collective Podcast on Apple Podcasts
Follow Tiffany Tan, Head of eCommerce Growth Accelerator at The Clorox Company, on LinkedIn
Follow Emma Irwin, Brand Marketing Manager @ Flywheel & Host of The Commerce Collective Podcast, on LinkedIn
Read my related articles:LiveRamp's Acquisition: Three Hot Takes That Matter To Retail Media
Whoever Owns the Budget Determines What Retail Media Is Allowed to Be
The Retail Media Buffet Has Gotten A Lot Less Enticing

EMARKETER is teaming up again with Bain to survey retail media network leaders for a unique insight into the forces shaping the industry. The survey is intended for people working in-house on retail media teams, and it is global this year! The survey is also double-anonymized. The survey organizers will not know, nor are they trying to determine, which specific retail media network a respondent works for. The goal is to understand broader retail media trends, not attribute responses to individual companies. Please take the survey here. 
In Atlanta? Join the Commerce Media Happy Hour on Wednesday May 20! RSVP here
I am sharing comedy skits on Instagram about retail media! Follow along: @retailmediabreakfastclub
Subscribe to Retail Media Breakfast Club's daily newsletter
Follow Kiri Masters on LinkedIn

I’m coming to you from an airport lounge (because business travel is always glamorous, right?) with the breaking news that I couldn’t ignore: Publicis has acquired LiveRamp in a multi-billion dollar deal. And it has major implications for retail media.
In this episode, I unpack the biggest reactions from across the industry and what they really mean. From the bull case calling this the smartest deal of the decade, to serious concerns about neutrality, consolidation, and whether identity infrastructure can still be trusted: there’s a lot to digest. I also dig into the retailer-specific angle: are retail media networks truly owning their data, or just renting it? And why that question just became urgent.

This episode is sponsored by Mirakl Ads

Timeline
[00:00] – Recording from Atlanta Airport + why this acquisition grabbed my attention 
[00:32] – Breaking down the $2.2–$2.5B Publicis–LiveRamp deal 
[01:00] – Reflections from RampUp: the role of data collaboration and RampID 
[02:10] – Top industry reactions: “smartest deal of the decade” vs. skepticism 
[03:15] – The neutrality problem: consolidation of identity under holding companies 
[05:00] – The retailer wake-up call: who really owns your customer data? 
[06:00] – Product debate: can LiveRamp evolve, or is the model fundamentally broken? 
[07:30] – What I’m watching next for retail media networks and data ownership

Links & Resources
My full article on The Drum: LiveRamp’s new owner raises harder questions for retail media
Read my related articles:Five Ad Servers, Four Takeaways, and One Thread That Tied RampUp Together
"We're All Holding Our Breath"
The ‘Costco Velocity’ Tech Stack Is Coming Together. Here's How the Pieces Fit.

In Atlanta? Join the Commerce Media Happy Hour on Wednesday May 20! RSVP here
EMARKETER is teaming up again with Bain to survey retail media network leaders for a unique insight into the forces shaping the industry. The survey is intended for people working in-house on retail media teams, and it is global this year!
Important to know that the survey is also double-anonymized. The survey organizers will not know, nor are they trying to determine, which specific retail media network a respondent works for. The goal is to understand broader retail media trends, not attribute responses to individual companies. Please take the survey here. 
I'm sharing comedy skits about retail media on Instagram! Follow along: @retailmediabreakfastclub
Subscribe to Retail Media Breakfast Club's daily newsletter
Follow Kiri Masters on LinkedIn