This blog reflects a discussion between Alice Anson and Mike Nicholson on the Six Sells podcast. Listen to the full episode here: Retail Media with Alice Anson on The Six Sells Podcast.

Retail media through a customer-first lens

Retail media is often reduced to mechanics: campaigns, channels, placements. They matter, but what really counts is whether it adds value for the customer. That’s where my recent conversation with Mike Nicholson on the Six Sells podcast began. We talked about how retail media is changing, and why designing it around real customer behaviour is key to what comes next.

What does customer first mean in practice? It ranges data responsibility, emerging channels, the role of AI and what the next phase of retail media could hold. Different topics, one consistent thread:[KS1.1][KS1.2] retail media performs best when it’s grounded in genuine understanding and designed to earn its place in the shopping journey.

Retail and media work best together

Early on, Mike posed a familiar industry question: which matters more in retail media? The retail, or the media?

I tend to challenge the premise of that question. Retail and media only work when they work together.

Retail provides the understanding. It shows how customers shop, what influences them and how their needs change from one moment to the next. Media is how that insight is delivered in a way that feels relevant, engaging and useful, rather than disruptive.

Insight on its own does not land. Media without understanding risks becoming noise. The value of retail media sits in bringing the two together, rather than prioritising one over the other, so it reflects genuine behaviour and meets customers where they are.

Retail data comes with responsibility

Customers have trusted retailers with their data. Protecting it is not optional. But that doesn’t mean working in isolation. Rather than seeing retail media as a ‘walled garden’, I see it as a connector. A layer that helps translate rich customer insight into multiple media environments, while still maintaining strong safeguards.

For me, challenges arise not from safeguarding data, but when transparency or clarity around measurement is lost. Trust, for both customers and brands, depends on being clear about how insight is used and how success is measured.

In store media is more than the final step

When the conversation turned to in store media, I challenged a common assumption: that it only plays a role at the bottom of the funnel.

Customers simply don’t shop in neat, linear journeys anymore.

In store media can influence decisions in the moment. But its impact often extends further. Seeing a product or message in store can shape memory and consideration long after a shop ends.

Take Argos stores as an example. Digital screens introduce new ranges or highlight upcoming launches. A customer might not buy straight away. But when they’re ready to upgrade or make a considered purchase later, that earlier exposure influences where they look.

In store media drives both immediate conversion and longer term influence. Context, category, and timing shape its impact.

Connecting moments across the store

Building on this, I spoke about how the connected store brings different moments in the shopping journey together. In practice, this means applying proven digital retail media principles inside the physical store. Screens, apps, and handheld scanning devices are linked through customer insight to create a more joined up experience.
The goal isn’t repetition for repetition’s sake. It’s reinforcement through relevance. Customers encounter the same brand at different points in their shop, each time in a way that makes sense for what they’re doing and what they need in that moment.

How AI supports retail media today

It’s no surprise that AI came up as the conversation continued. At Nectar360, the focus is clear. AI is embedded within Nectar360 Pollen, to remove friction and simplify complexity. It supports areas that are traditionally manual and time-intensive, including audience building, creative compliance checks, and early signals on creative effectiveness.

The aim isn’t automation for its own sake. It’s about removing friction and making activation easier. So, teams can spend less time navigating process, and more time focused on decision making, creativity, and strategy.

What comes next for retail media

Looking ahead, I expect increased focus on transparency, standards and measurement – a necessary step for the industry to mature and for confidence in retail media performance to grow.

I also see richer data signals such as weather, location, and local context playing a bigger role in how campaigns appear and adapt. Showing up in ways that make sense in the moment, without disrupting the customer experience.

For me, retail media works best when insight, activation and measurement are joined up around how people actually shop.

Progress doesn’t come from chasing every new capability at speed. It comes from understanding when customers are open to influence, using data responsibly, and showing up in ways that genuinely add value to the shopping journey.

Get those fundamentals right, and performance follows.