Criteo’s Sherry Smith: Retail Media’s Evolution From Trade Marketing to Media Signals a New Era
CANNES, France — Retail media has crossed a threshold, shifting from trade marketing budgets toward media buying frameworks that demand publisher-grade capabilities from retailers — a transformation that is redefining how the entire ecosystem operates.
“It is becoming more and more about media and less about trade marketing. And that is an important distinction because when you are thinking more about media, you’re thinking more about how an advertiser wants to buy? How does an agency want to buy?” Sherry Smith, president, retail media at Criteo, told Beet.TV contributor David Kaplan at Cannes Lions. “What do I need within my own organization to make that easy and efficient, not just across my trade, but across media in general?”
This evolution accelerated dramatically in 2020 and continues reshaping retailer operating models as AI-driven discovery fundamentally changes how consumers arrive at purchase decisions.
Conversational discovery replaces keyword search
Consumer shopping behavior is shifting from specific keyword searches toward intent-rich conversational queries that require retailers to serve up organic and paid media responses that address complex, multi-part requests.
“No longer are we searching on a keyword. A consumer saying, ‘Hey, I’m going to Cannes. The weather’s going to be this. Help me find the best attire, but also I want to shop for the end-to-end. What should I pack?’ — that’s a lot within a message,” Smith said. “It is no longer about just personalization. It is such intent personalization as well as awareness around what is that customer really even asking.”
This shift requires retailers to think beyond controlling the shopping experience toward capturing moments wherever consumers land after AI-assisted research.
Albertsons alliance pioneers sponsored products in AI chat
Criteo’s integration with Albertsons Media Collective as the first retailer to bring sponsored products into an AI-powered shopping system demonstrates practical retail media infrastructure built for AI activation rather than retrofitted for it.
“We were already built for AI. We were already built for this technology. It actually is just enabling,” Smith said. “What we are learning right now together is when is the right time to put that sponsored ad unit within there? And then over time, when’s the right time to offer a sponsored prompt and maybe help them on that next part of the journey?”
The partnership combines Albertsons’ deep customer knowledge with Criteo’s media and technology expertise in a test-and-learn framework that prioritizes progress over perfection.
Capturing inbound traffic
Consumers arriving from LLM research come more educated and more decisive than traditional search traffic — creating both opportunity and challenge for retailers whose infrastructure must be prepared to meet them wherever they land.
“Traffic coming in from LLMs — they were coming in much more educated, much more with one in mind. But how do you think about AI in the world now? How do you help them discover what’s next?” Smith posited.
Retailers that move quickly and learn from experimentation will establish advantages as AI-driven discovery continues reshaping purchase journeys across categories.
“Retailers that are jumping in and learning fast or failing fast — fast progress over perfection,” she said..” Let’s go and let’s figure it out.”
CANNES, France — Retail media has crossed a threshold, shifting from trade marketing budgets toward media buying frameworks that demand publisher-grade capabilities from retailers — a transformation that is redefining how the entire ecosystem operates.
“It is becoming more and more about media and less about trade marketing. And that is an important distinction because when you are thinking more about media, you’re thinking more about how an advertiser wants to buy? How does an agency want to buy?” Sherry Smith, president, retail media at Criteo, told Beet.TV contributor David Kaplan at Cannes Lions. “What do I need within my own organization to make that easy and efficient, not just across my trade, but across media in general?”
This evolution accelerated dramatically in 2020 and continues reshaping retailer operating models as AI-driven discovery fundamentally changes how consumers arrive at purchase decisions.
Conversational discovery replaces keyword search
Consumer shopping behavior is shifting from specific keyword searches toward intent-rich conversational queries that require retailers to serve up organic and paid media responses that address complex, multi-part requests.
“No longer are we searching on a keyword. A consumer saying, ‘Hey, I’m going to Cannes. The weather’s going to be this. Help me find the best attire, but also I want to shop for the end-to-end. What should I pack?’ — that’s a lot within a message,” Smith said. “It is no longer about just personalization. It is such intent personalization as well as awareness around what is that customer really even asking.”
This shift requires retailers to think beyond controlling the shopping experience toward capturing moments wherever consumers land after AI-assisted research.
Albertsons alliance pioneers sponsored products in AI chat
Criteo’s integration with Albertsons Media Collective as the first retailer to bring sponsored products into an AI-powered shopping system demonstrates practical retail media infrastructure built for AI activation rather than retrofitted for it.
“We were already built for AI. We were already built for this technology. It actually is just enabling,” Smith said. “What we are learning right now together is when is the right time to put that sponsored ad unit within there? And then over time, when’s the right time to offer a sponsored prompt and maybe help them on that next part of the journey?”
The partnership combines Albertsons’ deep customer knowledge with Criteo’s media and technology expertise in a test-and-learn framework that prioritizes progress over perfection.
Capturing inbound traffic
Consumers arriving from LLM research come more educated and more decisive than traditional search traffic — creating both opportunity and challenge for retailers whose infrastructure must be prepared to meet them wherever they land.
“Traffic coming in from LLMs — they were coming in much more educated, much more with one in mind. But how do you think about AI in the world now? How do you help them discover what’s next?” Smith posited.
Retailers that move quickly and learn from experimentation will establish advantages as AI-driven discovery continues reshaping purchase journeys across categories.
“Retailers that are jumping in and learning fast or failing fast — fast progress over perfection,” she said..” Let’s go and let’s figure it out.”
