Retail media networks are emerging as the third great ad channel

What retail media is, briefly

Retail media is advertising inventory sold by retailers on their own platforms — Amazon ads, Bol.com sponsored placements, Albert Heijn's in-app inventory, supermarket loyalty-app banners. The retailers know exactly what their customers buy, which makes their targeting extraordinarily precise.

Globally, retail media is now the fastest-growing digital ad category by revenue. Walmart, Amazon and large European grocers all report ad-revenue lines growing in double or triple digits.

How travel and destinations connect

Travel brands do not sell through supermarkets — but the audiences overlap. Sport-retail partners (DAKA, Decathlon, Intersport), travel retail (airports), and outdoor & camping retailers all have growing retail-media propositions. For destinations, partnerships with these retailers — combining DOOH placements, app sponsorships and product feed integrations — can produce a directly attributable audience.

Spalder's Partnerships and DOOH services already operate in this space. The shift to retail-media-style measurement makes those partnerships easier to justify financially.