The Brazilian retail media market – advertising networks supported by retailer assets – is experiencing a boom in growth. The market reached R$ 3.8 billion last year, a jump of 42.3% over 2023 – advancing at a rate that is twice the global average of 20.3%. Although it accounts for about 0.6% of the global market, Brazil currently has the highest growth rate in the world in the category.
And this movement has been happening precisely because retailers and the industry are embracing this trend quickly – so much so that the expectation is that this media channel will end 2025 with significant growth compared to 2024. This demonstrates that the national retail sector is determined to become a protagonist in digital advertising, riding the "third wave" of online media – as retail media networks have been called. In other words, there is a growing consensus that retailers will become advertising powerhouses, playing a central role in connecting brands and consumers.
At least 64% of major Brazilian brands are already working with retail media, according to the 2024 Retail Media Insights survey. On the retailers' side, 55% claim to already operate their own media network – from supermarkets to pharmacies and marketplaces, various segments are creating structures to monetize their audiences.
The segmentation power of Retail
Behind the rise of retail media networks is a valuable asset for the retailer: their consumers' first-party data. Unlike other vehicles, retail holds rich information about purchasing behavior – transaction history, viewed items, visit frequency, preferences, and even loyalty program data. This information allows for extremely precise audience segmentation. Retailers can leverage their customers' purchase insights to offer highly targeted advertising solutions, reaching the right consumer with the right message at the most opportune moment.
This data-driven segmentation capability gains strategic importance in a context of increased restrictions on third-party cookies and growing privacy demands. Retailers, acting as "owners of the audience," are able to deliver qualified and targeted audiences to brands, something difficult to find in other media on the same scale.
For example, a pharmacy chain can target vitamin ads only to customers who have recently purchased health products, or an online supermarket can promote organic foods to consumers searching for fitness items. The smart use of purchase history, searches, and demographic profile makes ads much more relevant to the consumer, increasing sales and brand loyalty. Studies highlight that retail media offers exactly this possibility of mass personalization, combining reach with tailored content for each customer.
Furthermore, the quality of retail data allows for more robust performance metrics. Since retail media networks operate within the retailer's own systems, it is possible to directly attribute a campaign's results to the sales made, closing the complete measurement cycle. This "closed loop" attribution — where the ad impression can be linked to the transaction at the checkout — is a major differentiator. The richness of purchase data and the ability to directly attribute return on investment make retail media a highly valued strategy by brands.
For advertisers, this means that investing in the retail channel is not a leap in the dark: on the contrary, sales results can be quickly and accurately verified, making it easier to justify the investment and optimize campaigns in near real-time.
Integration between digital and offline: direct impact on the point of sale
An important aspect of retail media networks is the integration between the online and offline worlds. Some of the largest retailers operating in Brazil have a huge customer base both online and offline. This allows these companies to create a unique combination of channels to engage the consumer at multiple touchpoints throughout their purchasing journey.
Another example: a customer may be impacted by a product banner on the supermarket's mobile app and, when visiting the physical store, encounter a personalized offer on a digital screen on the shelf or near the checkout. This online-offline synergy takes the advertising message to the "last mile" of the decision process, literally when the consumer has the product in hand. Not for nothing, specialists see retail media as a way to influence the consumer's choice at the critical moment of purchase – a potential previously limited to traditional point-of-sale materials.
Inside the stores, in-store digital media is gaining ground as an extension of retail networks. Smart screens, interactive kiosks, electronic shelf panels (ESLs), and even monitors on shopping carts become advertising inventory. Retailers can strategically position these screens near checkouts or high-traffic aisles to encourage last-minute purchases.
It is logical that, from an operational standpoint, the integration between online and offline requires a technological effort of measurement: unifying the two channels. This has still been a challenge for retailers, whose solution has been personalization through increasingly sophisticated loyalty campaigns. Even though there are still technological issues, the direction is clear: the future of retail media lies in offering a seamless omnichannel experience, where it doesn't matter if the interaction took place in the virtual world or the physical world – both environments complement each other to engage the consumer and generate results for brands.
Paradigm shift: from sales channel to media channel
The emergence of Retail Media Networks represents a paradigm shift in how the role of retail is viewed within the marketing mix. Historically, retailers were seen only as distribution channels and points of sale, while brand building and advertising were handled by traditional media outlets or, more recently, digital platforms. With the shift to retail media, this separation is dissolving: retail is now also a mass communication channel, competing for advertising budgets that previously went to other media.
In practice, large retail chains have become truepublishersmonetizing your websites, apps, and stores just like a news portal relies on ads or a TV station sells commercial space.
For advertising brands, this represents a reconfiguration of strategies. A portion of the investment that was previously allocated to trade marketing activities at the physical point of sale is shifting to media activities on the retailer's digital properties. Another portion, which would go to generic mass media, can now be allocated more specifically through retail media, reaching the shopper precisely at the "moment of truth" of the purchase.
This convergence causes marketing and trade to come together, requiring managers to think in an integrated way: selling and communicating have become facets of the same consumer journey. As a result, major global advertisers are already reorganizing teams and budgets to accommodate this new pillar. Some refer to this movement as "mediafication" of retail – that is, retail ceasing to be just distribution and also becoming media.
Previously, supermarkets, pharmacies, and department stores were just stages for other media strategies; now they have their own spotlight. This model redefines not only investment flows but also requires new approaches from all market players. Brands need to be more data-driven and performance-oriented, agencies need to incorporate new knowledge and skills, and retailers are taking on responsibilities of media companies, also ensuring the consumer experience in terms of content and ad relevance.
The advertising ecosystem is expanding and becoming more complex – however, at the center of this transformation, there is a clear logic: those who are closest to the consumer in the purchase journey gain voice and value in the media game. Retail, with its own platforms, proved to be in the right place at the right time to capitalize on this dynamic. The other market players just need to adapt to this new paradigm, integrating retail media into their strategies so as not to fall behind in this evolution that, all indications suggest, is here to stay.
