What is Retail Media Network (RMN)?

Retail media network (RMN) describes the organised advertising business a retailer runs to sell ad placements and audience access across its own properties, and sometimes beyond them, with dedicated sales, technology, data and reporting.

Also known as: RMN, retailer ad network

How it works

Retail media describes the practice of a retailer selling advertising. A retail media network is what that practice looks like once it becomes a proper business inside the retailer. It usually has its own name, its own sales team or partners, a rate card, a set of ad formats, and a way to report results to advertisers.

Most networks are built from a few common parts:

  • Inventory. Onsite placements such as sponsored products, search ads and banners, plus any offsite or in-store channels the retailer chooses to sell.
  • Audience and data. Insights drawn from shopper activity, used within the limits of the retailer's consent and privacy policies.
  • Ad technology. Systems to serve ads, manage campaigns, set prices and, often, connect to programmatic buyers.
  • Measurement. Reporting that helps advertisers understand reach, engagement and, where permitted, links to sales.
  • Demand. Relationships with brands, agencies and programmatic buyers who will actually spend.

Some retailers build most of this in-house. Others work with technology providers, agencies or representation partners for parts of it, especially sales and demand.

Why it matters

Running a network changes advertising from an occasional side deal into a repeatable revenue stream. It gives advertisers a consistent way to buy, which makes the retailer easier to include in media plans.

It also raises the bar. A network has to protect the shopper experience, keep data use transparent, offer reporting that buyers trust, and compete for budget against many other networks. For mid-size retailers in particular, the hard part is often not the inventory but the demand: getting in front of enough buyers with packages they understand.

Example

Example (illustrative): A mid-size home goods retailer has been selling a handful of sponsored listings to its suppliers by email. It decides to formalise this into a retail media network. It defines a small set of onsite formats, writes clear audience segments based on consented shopper data, sets standard pricing, and adds programmatic deal options so agencies can buy through the platforms they already use. The goal is to move from one-off deals to a steady, reportable advertising business.

IncrementX perspective

A retail media network needs advertiser demand to succeed, and that is where a media representation partner fits. IncrementX positions itself as a representation and monetization partner for retailers and retail media businesses. In conceptual terms, a partner like this can help with inventory understanding, packaging and pricing, and with connecting a network's placements to brands, agencies and programmatic buyers.

Represented inventory can be surfaced to advertisers through the Inventory Marketplace and offered as curated deals, including PMP and PG options. See retail media representation for how IncrementX approaches this area.