Retail Media Breakfast Club

Today I dig into a major shift happening in retail media: the signals we’ve relied on for years are starting to disappear. As discovery moves upstream into AI and LLM-driven experiences, the traditional browsing journey is shrinking, and with it, the data retailers depend on. So what does that mean for the future of retail media?
In Part 3 of this Agentic Commerce Expert Series I’m joined by Amelia VanCamp from Mirakl, and we unpack why so many AI shopping assistants are falling short, what retailers are getting wrong in the race to adopt new tech, and how to design experiences that actually earn customer engagement. We also explore the growing importance of product truth, trust, and why both retailers and brands need to rethink how they show up in this new ecosystem.

This episode is sponsored by Mirakl Ads

Timeline
[00:00] – Why shrinking customer journeys mean shrinking retail media signals
[00:55] – The real reason AI shopping assistants are failing (even when the tech works)
[02:00] – Why having a clear strategy matters more than rushing to launch
[02:45] – The “eyes bigger than stomach” problem with overbuilt retail experiences
[03:30] – How retailers can use existing customer data instead of starting from scratch
[05:00] – The rising importance of product truth, trust, and accurate information
[06:30] – How poor customer experiences can hurt AI-driven discoverability and rankings
[07:45] – Why retailers must design moments that earn engagement

Links & Resources
Part 1 of this series: Discovery Has Moved Upstream. Here's What That Means for Retailers.
Part 2 of this series: When the PDP Becomes the Homepage
Download Mirakl's agentic commerce white paper: Why marketplaces & dropship platforms win in the agentic commerce era
Follow Amelia Van Camp, Head of Agentic Commerce at Mirakl, on LinkedIn
Read my related articles:Why OpenAI's Ad Network Should Concern RMNs
‘Dark Search’ Is Making AI-Facilitated Commerce Look Smaller Than It Really Is
While We Debate What's 'Really' Agentic, Retail Media's Foundation Is Already Shifting

Atlanta-based retail media professionals: Wednesday, April 1 is the next In-Person Atlanta Happy Hour! RSVP here.
Subscribe to Retail Media Breakfast Club's daily newsletter
Follow Kiri Masters on LinkedIn

OpenAI quietly pulled the plug on Instant Checkout inside ChatGPT and the internet immediately declared agentic commerce dead. But I think that conclusion misses the bigger picture. In this episode, a summary of my recent article for The Drum, I unpack why the failure of one implementation doesn’t mean the behavior itself is going away.
I share my own real-world experience making an agentic purchase through ChatGPT (spoiler: it didn’t exactly change my life), and then we explore why OpenAI’s checkout model struggled while similar AI-driven commerce experiences are already thriving elsewhere. From China’s fully integrated AI commerce ecosystems, to the emerging moves from Amazon and Google, I break down what’s actually happening beneath the headlines, and why retailers should still be paying very close attention.

This episode is sponsored by Mirakl Ads

Timeline
[00:00] – I share my first fully agentic purchase through ChatGPT and why the experience didn’t make me come back for more.
[01:02] – OpenAI deprioritizes Instant Checkout and sends transactions back to retailer sites. What actually happened behind the scenes?
[02:15] – Why a failed checkout model doesn’t mean agentic commerce itself is dead.
[03:00] – Alibaba’s AI assistant proves agentic shopping can work: when one company controls the AI, marketplace, payments, and logistics.
[04:18] – The TikTok Shop lesson: new shopping behaviors succeed when commerce feels like a natural extension of apps people already love.
[05:07] – Why AI-driven discovery still threatens the $60B retail media industry (even without instant checkout).
[08:19] – The shopping journey is already being rewired by AI, but the real challenge is the final 10%

Links & Resources
My full post on The Drum: OpenAI is killing Instant Checkout. Don't dance on the grave of agentic shopping yet
Read my related articles:When the PDP Becomes the Homepage
‘Dark Search’ Is Making AI-Facilitated Commerce Look Smaller Than It Really Is
I Really, Really Hoped That Ads in AI Wouldn't Suck. Now We Find Out.

Join me and Jordan Witmer from Salt XC at 11am ET Tuesday March 17, for our next LinkedIn Live on Sponsored Product Ads: shelf space or ad space?. We'll be answering questions LIVE -- join us!
Atlanta-based retail media professionals: Wednesday, April 1 is the next In-Person Atlanta Happy Hour! RSVP here.
Subscribe to Retail Media Breakfast Club's daily newsletter
Follow Kiri Masters on LinkedIn

Last week I shared some of the hallway chatter from the RampUp conference. And in this episode, I’m emptying the rest of my notebook. One theme kept surfacing everywhere I turned: data collaboration. It wasn’t just a buzzword on stage; it was the real factor determining which retail media networks are winning brand budgets, which ones are falling behind, and who gets invited back next year.
I walk through five of the most interesting insights — from how major CPG brands are scoring retail media networks against Google and Meta, to why platforms like DoorDash are climbing rapidly in media investment priority. I also unpack the growing push for self-service tools, the surprising complexity behind ad serving infrastructure, and what makes a customer event like RampUp genuinely impactful.
If you work in retail media, brand marketing, or commerce media strategy, these observations offer a behind-the-scenes look at how the industry is evolving right now (and where the next wave of investment is headed).

This episode is sponsored by Mirakl Ads

Timeline
[00:12] – Why data collaboration was the defining theme across sessions, panels, and hallway conversations at RampUp.
[00:43] – How major CPG brands are using structured scorecards and investment matrices to rank retail media networks.
[02:37] – Inside the panel I moderated: how DoorDash moved from a small test budget to a priority media channel for brands.
[05:45] – Why CPG brands are pushing retailers toward self-service media platforms and how data access is driving that demand.
[07:30] – The hidden operational complexity of retail media networks, including why some organizations run multiple ad servers.
[09:03] – What LiveRamp’s RampUp event gets right—and why it’s becoming a blueprint for industry customer events.

Links & Resources
My RampUp hallway convo recap from last week: "We're All Holding Our Breath"
Read my related articles:Inside Mars's Retail Media Investment Matrix
Retail Media's Next Challenge: Proving Real Results
Dark Search, Broken Signals, and What Comes Next for Retail Media

Join me and Jordan Witmer from Salt XC at 11am ET Tuesday March 17, for our next LinkedIn Live on Sponsored Product Ads: shelf space or ad space?. We'll be answering questions LIVE -- join us!
Atlanta-based retail media professionals: Wednesday, April 1 is the next In-Person Atlanta Happy Hour! RSVP here.
Subscribe to Retail Media Breakfast Club's daily newsletter
Follow Kiri Masters on LinkedIn

Last week at the LiveRamp RampUp conference, I moderated a panel with DoorDash Ads’ Peter Giordano and Nestlé’s Nicole Lesinski. The conversation revealed something that a lot of retail media networks have been wondering about: how big CPG brands actually decide where their retail media dollars go.

In this episode, I break down Nicole’s candid explanation of how Nestlé ranks and evaluates retail media networks (using a structured grid that compares retailers not only to each other but also to giants like Google and Meta). I also unpack why measurement and incrementality are still major hurdles internally at even the largest brands, and how new testing approaches are helping teams make the case for more commerce media investment.

This episode is sponsored by Mirakl Ads

Timeline
[00:00] – I recap a panel I moderated at LiveRamp’s RampUp conference with DoorDash Ads and Nestlé’s frozen division.
[01:05] – Nestlé’s “rank and stack” approach: how the company evaluates retail media networks using a capability and scale grid.
[01:32] – Why retail media networks are actually competing with Google and Meta for budget (not just other retailers).
[02:15] – The pressure inside large CPGs to justify every media dollar with clear sales attribution.
[03:09] – DoorDash’s “ghost ads” incrementality testing method and why it matters for internal credibility.
[04:48] – How DoorDash moved from “pennies” in Nestlé’s budget to becoming a leader in their retail media investment.

Links & Resources
Follow Nicole Lesinski, Director of Ecommerce Strategy at Nestlé, on LinkedIn
Follow Peter Giordano from DoorDash Ads on LinkedIn
Read my related articles:“We’re all holding our breath” [Recap of RampUp 2026]
Brands demand retail media standards. Retailers say it's too hard. Do they kind of have a point?
Why Brands Are Building Their Own Operating Systems On Top Of Retail Media
Inside Mars's Retail Media Investment Matrix
Challenger Brands: Being Heavy On  Sponsored Products Is a Feature, Not a Bug

Join me and Jordan Witmer from Salt XC at 11am ET Tuesday March 17, for our next LinkedIn Live on Sponsored Product Ads: shelf space or ad space?. We'll be answering questions LIVE -- join us!
Atlanta-based retail media professionals: Wednesday, April 1 is the next In-Person Atlanta Happy Hour! RSVP here.
Subscribe to Retail Media Breakfast Club's daily newsletter
Follow Kiri Masters on LinkedIn

In episode 2 of this four-part Agentic Commerce Expert Series (sponsored by Mirakl Ads), we explore how AI is quietly reshaping the way consumers shop online, and why that shift could fundamentally change the role of the product detail page (PDP). As more shoppers use LLMs like ChatGPT to research products before ever visiting a retailer’s site, they’re increasingly landing directly on a single product page with their decision already made. That means fewer browsing moments, fewer signals, and potentially big implications for retail media.
I’m joined once again by Amelia Van Camp, Head of Agentic Commerce at Mirakl, to unpack what this new “AI-shaped” shopping journey means for retailers and brands. We discuss why the PDP might effectively become the new homepage, how retailers can design better onsite experiences for these shortened journeys, and why tactics like sampling, loyalty programs, and smart product adjacencies could become more important than ever.

This episode is sponsored by Mirakl Ads

Timeline
[00:00] – I introduce the idea that in an AI-driven shopping journey, the product detail page may effectively become the new homepage.
[01:00] – I share my own shopping experience researching a product in ChatGPT and going straight from research to a PDP and checkout.
[02:25] – Amelia explains why retailers should rethink PDPs as “mini homepages” when traffic comes from LLMs and AI assistants.
[03:06] – We discuss designing the ideal shopper journey when a customer lands directly on a product page.
[04:27] – I talk about opportunities like upsells, sampling, and post-purchase engagement without overloading the user experience.
[05:11] – Amelia explains how shorter journeys could disrupt traditional retail media signals and why experimentation is essential.
[06:40] – We explore why loyalty programs may be making a comeback in an AI-driven commerce environment.

Links & Resources
Part 1 of this series: Discovery Has Moved Upstream. Here's What That Means for Retailers.
Download Mirakl's agentic commerce white paper: Why marketplaces & dropship platforms win in the agentic commerce era
Follow Amelia Van Camp, Head of Agentic Commerce at Mirakl, on LinkedIn
Read my related articles:Why OpenAI's Ad Network Should Concern RMNs
‘Dark Search’ Is Making AI-Facilitated Commerce Look Smaller Than It Really Is
While We Debate What's 'Really' Agentic, Retail Media's Foundation Is Already Shifting

Join me and Jordan Witmer from Salt XC at 11am ET Tuesday March 17, for our next LinkedIn Live on Sponsored Product Ads: shelf space or ad space?. We'll be answering questions LIVE -- join us!
Atlanta-based retail media professionals: Wednesday, April 1 is the next In-Person Atlanta Happy Hour! RSVP here.
Subscribe to Retail Media Breakfast Club's daily newsletter
Follow Kiri Masters on LinkedIn