LONDON – Retail media is no longer confined to on-site placements or last-click conversions. Instead, commerce data is increasingly reshaping how brands plan and activate media across the funnel and across channels, says Nicole Kivel, managing director of Northern Europe at Criteo.
Speaking with Beet.TV contributor Robert Andrews at the Beet.TV and WPP Media Leadership Summit, Kivel said retail media and broader commerce media are now “intrinsically linked,” with retailer transaction data influencing everything from connected TV to open-web brand campaigns.
“At its simplest, retail media is anything tied to retailers’ owned assets,” Kivel said. “But what we’re seeing is that this data is now influencing broader media channels, particularly when it comes to addressability and performance.”
From demographics to buying behavior
Kivel argued that commerce data enables marketers to move beyond traditional demographic assumptions. Rather than targeting audiences based on inferred characteristics such as age or gender, brands can use transaction-level data to reach consumers based on what they actually buy.
She cited baby-care marketing as an example. A brand like Danone might historically have targeted “mothers” using demographic proxies. Commerce data, however, allows advertisers to identify shoppers purchasing nappies regularly—an approach Kivel said is far more precise and effective than demographic profiling alone.
“That buying behavior trumps any assumed demographic,” she said, adding that the same data can now be activated across video and other upper-funnel channels.
Retail media moves up the funnel
While retail media has long been associated with lower-funnel performance, Kivel said it is increasingly shaping brand-building efforts as well. Commerce data, she argued, brings greater addressability to upper-funnel campaigns and challenges the industry’s reliance on demographics as the default planning framework.
“The purchase funnel isn’t dead,” she said, “but the requirement to activate solely against demographics is starting to die. The data now empowers us to go beyond that.”
Non-endemic advertisers find value
Kivel also pointed to growing interest from non-endemic advertisers—brands that do not sell directly through a given retailer. Because commerce data can be connected across multiple retail partners, such as Tesco, Sainsbury’s and Asda, advertisers can still link exposure to outcomes.
That creates opportunities not just for consumer packaged goods brands, but also for categories like travel. An airline such as EasyJet, for example, can use retailer audience segments to reach family shoppers with relevant holiday offers, aligning creative and messaging with real purchasing behavior.
“We’re seeing higher conversion rates even for non-endemic advertisers using retailer audiences,” Kivel said, pointing to test campaigns underway in multiple markets.
Scaling across markets requires simplicity
For global brands, however, scaling commerce-driven 6386239898112media across markets remains a challenge. Kivel said success hinges on operational simplicity and accessibility, warning that highly fragmented or closed retailer “walled gardens” risk slowing adoption.
“Most buying tools are global in nature,” she said. “Retailers need to enable agencies to buy in ways that align with their operational requirements, otherwise scale becomes difficult.”
Advice for 2026: focus on execution
Looking ahead to 2026, Kivel said retailers and partners should temper enthusiasm around retail media revenue projections with a clear focus on execution.
“Everyone sees the growth forecasts and gets excited,” she said. “But what will enable—or hinder—achieving those projections comes down to making media easy to buy, easy to activate, and easy to measure against advertiser KPIs.”
Operational simplicity and measurable outcomes, she concluded, will ultimately determine which retail media players succeed as commerce data becomes embedded across the media ecosystem.
You’re watching coverage from Beet.TV’s Global Leadership Summit with WPP Media, filmed in London, presented by Criteo, Index Exchange, Seedtag & The Trade Desk. For more videos from this series, please visit this page.
