Retail Media Benchmarks 2025: Insights on Sponsored Products, ROI & What’s Next.

1: How are retailers managing the trade-off between ad visibility and user experience, especially with growing ad coverage?

(Mark Burton, Chief Product Officer):
It all comes down to relevance. Ads should only be visible when they're useful to the customer—when they’re searching, browsing, or making a decision at the digital shelf edge. If the placement aligns with what they’re looking for, then it’s a good ad and a good experience. But retailers run into trouble when they prioritize coverage over relevance. That’s when ads get ignored, engagement drops, and valuable slots are wasted that could’ve gone to organic results.

(Ali Sasso, Senior Marketing Analytics Consultant):
We’re also seeing retailers break down the walls between organic and sponsored content. Instead of treating them as two separate worlds, the focus is shifting to a unified experience. When sponsored placements are vetted properly, they enhance—not interrupt—the user journey. In that case, “ad coverage” becomes a non-issue.

2 : How are retail media networks adjusting their platforms or tools to make sponsored products more accessible to smaller advertisers?

(Mark):
Retailers are focusing on automation and ease. If you're an advertiser running campaigns across 30 different platforms, what makes you choose one RMN over another isn't just performance—it’s effort. Lower the effort, raise the reward. That’s why self-service tools, better campaign management, and seamless reporting are so critical. RMNs are also leaning into partnerships with aggregators like Skai and Pacvue to remove friction and reduce ongoing effort.

(Ali):
Exactly. The key shift is toward intuitive, scalable, and automated self-serve platforms. Smaller advertisers often don’t have deep resources or teams. The more they can do with minimal manual support, the more likely they are to scale.

3 : What kind of data points or performance indicators are most useful for advertisers looking to optimize placements?

(Ali):
Grid position click-through rates (CTRs) are incredibly valuable. Knowing where a product shows up—organically vs. sponsored—and how that position impacts CTR helps advertisers develop smarter bidding strategies. It’s not just about being visible; it’s about understanding the value of where you’re visible.

(Mark):
Right, and beyond CTR, we’re seeing advertisers optimize around category-level coverage and competitive benchmarks. Understanding how your placements stack up against peers—and how different bid levels shift performance—provides a more holistic view than just chasing a single metric. It’s about actionable visibility, not vanity numbers.

4 : Are there differences in strategy or ROI when comparing large legacy advertisers with newer, smaller brands?

(Mark):
Absolutely. Larger advertisers typically have the resources to go beyond the reporting RMNs provide. They’ll ingest data from multiple networks, build custom ROI models, and even help steer roadmap priorities through close relationships with retailers. That gives them an edge—not just in performance, but in influence.

(Ali):
Smaller brands, on the other hand, have to be scrappier. Without the same budgets, they’re often priced out of top-tier inventory. But that also means they can afford to be more focused—targeting niche RMNs or specific verticals where they can compete effectively. Success for them means doing more with less.

5 : With retail media networks becoming more sophisticated, what trends should advertisers and platforms be preparing for in the next 12–18 months?

(Mark):
More automation, hands down. From bidding to flighting to campaign setup, we’re moving toward less manual work and more intelligent systems. There’s also a growing trend toward interoperability—more open access across platforms and less fragmentation in how advertisers buy across networks.

(Ali):
That’s where demand aggregation comes in. There are so many RMNs now, and advertisers can’t manage each one manually. Tools that aggregate demand across networks will be key to simplifying the ecosystem and making scale accessible—even for smaller players.

6 : How can brands or media buyers use the report to apply the insights into their media planning?

(Ali):
The benchmark report helps brands understand how the ad grid actually behaves—what positions are most competitive, where CTRs spike, and how to calibrate bids accordingly. It also gives a sense of RMN scale, so advertisers can allocate budgets strategically instead of guessing.

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