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Retail Media Platform – you need this software for management

Retail Media is really taking off and, through the various marketplaces, is revolutionizing both digital advertising and e-commerce. What’s behind the “Retail Media Platforms” trend, and what does this development mean for the future?

R

etail media, also known as trade marketing, is an exciting trend in e-commerce that you’ve probably already heard about. The idea behind it is as follows: Brands run on-site ads on retailers’ websites and in their apps, enabling them to reach their target audience directly at the digital point of sale—meaning where the purchase happens. By optimizing the placement of their products in online shops, brands increase their chances of greater awareness and a significant boost in revenue.

  • Dieser Artikel wurde am 31. March 2026 aktualisiert.

Retail Media in Focus

Basics first: What types of retail media are there?

The best-known retail media format is sponsored products. These are native ads that are directly linked to the search results for a specific item. They blend into the retailer’s organic content and are also displayed on the pages of related products.

Other forms of retail media include brand shops, branded content, and Influencer Marketing, as well as video and display advertising that links directly to a brand’s landing page in the retailer’s shop.

 

Retail media platforms handle ad booking

Advertising platforms for retail media are essentially nothing more than self-service platforms and networks where brands buy advertising media at scale. These platforms control which ad types and ads are shown on retailers’ websites, and how often.

With the help of retail media platforms, brands gain valuable insights into the real-time performance of their products in retailers’ apps or online shops. At the same time, retailers can offer personalized advertising without having to rely on third-party cookies . 

These are the most popular retail media platforms

The fact that retail media is booming in e-commerce is not least shown by the large number of providers and tools. Here we show you the largest German-language retail media platforms currently on the market:

MediaMarktSaturn

In September 2022, MediaMarktSaturn announced its partnership with the commerce media company Criteo. In the future, brands will be able to place their ads on the homepage, on product pages, in category and search results, and next to the shopping cart.

More information about Retail Media at MediaMarkt.

Kaufland/Lidl

Also newly on board is the Schwarz Group with its subsidiaries Kaufland and Lidl. In addition to digital media such as advertising posters in its own stores, Schwarz will in future also lease complete cloud services and so-called colocation services.

More information about Retail Media at the Schwarz Group.

Zalando

Since 2018, Zalando has been offering a digital platform solution called Connected Retail. This enables retailers to connect their in-store inventory with Zalando, giving them access to millions of Zalando customers.

More information about retail media at Connected Retail by Zalando.

Otto

The retail portfolio of the Otto Group includes on- and offsite advertising with Sponsored Display Ads (SDA) and Sponsored Product Ads (SPA) on the otto.de marketplace.

More information about retail media at the Otto Group.

Rewe

Since 2022, the retail giant has been offering various retail media products for its online shop as well as digital advertising spaces in its stores.

More information about retail media at the Rewe Group.

How does ad placement work on these platforms? And what do Sponsored Product Ads do? Let’s make it more concrete with an example. But first, a short digression:

Digression: B2B retail media – a sleeping e-commerce giant?

So far, almost everything we talk about when we speak of retail media revolves around retailers in the B2C sector. But in the B2B sector, the potential is also enormous. Yes, really! Even if it still seems a long way off at the moment, retail media has what it takes to become a game changer in B2B marketing. The relevance of B2B e-commerce has increased in recent years. And so, sooner or later, platforms for B2B retail media will emerge. We’ll keep you up to date on this here in MatchZINE.

Retail media using Rewe as an example

Since 2022, Rewe has been using targeted display ads across the entire Rewe online shop for the first time. Magdalena Rynkiewicz, Head of REWE Customer Insights and Media, says: “For the audience-based delivery of advertising, we rely on data from our own Customer Cloud. Completely cookieless and therefore future-proof. The data is made available to industry partners for targeting without wasted reach, followed by closed-loop sales measurement. This means customers are shown individually tailored advertising throughout their entire journey through the digital supermarket.” (Source)

New in the offering: Sponsored Product Ads

In addition to onsite display ads, Rewe now also offers Sponsored Product Ads (SPA). Via SPA, selected products can be promoted in the online shop’s search results. This allows purchase-ready shoppers who are already searching for similar products to be influenced in their decision for an item. Imagine, for example, you’re searching for coffee machines—using SPA, you’ll then be shown an ad in the search results in the Rewe online shop for a fully automatic coffee machine at an unbeatable special price. Bingo—into the cart!

By the way: the SPAs work on the basis of an auction-based cost-per-click model—advertisers therefore pay only when their ads are actually clicked.

Overall, Rewe’s retail media offering includes these services:

Matchilla - Matching-Plattform und Marktplatz Targeted onsite display ads

Matchilla - Matching-Plattform und Marktplatz Sponsored Product Ads

Matchilla - Matching-Plattform und Marktplatz Brand shop

Matchilla - Matching-Plattform und Marktplatz Flagship

Matchilla - Matching-Plattform und Marktplatz Online-only price promotion

Matchilla - Matching-Plattform und Marktplatz Delivery service sampling

Matchilla - Matching-Plattform und Marktplatz Digital totems

Matchilla - Matching-Plattform und Marktplatz Rewe service point

Matchilla - Matching-Plattform und Marktplatz Wi‑Fi stage

Especially exciting for brands: Since October 2022, Rewe has been offering self-service for SPAs for the first time. Specifically, this means that Rewe partners will be able to create and optimize their ads independently in the future. Thanks to this new feature, brands benefit from maximum flexibility in campaign planning and significantly faster implementation.

Retail Media

Retail Media in e-commerce: fast-moving trend or sustainable development?

One thing is definitely certain: shopping will continue to shift further and further from brick-and-mortar retail to e-commerce—and that calls for new approaches in advertising.

The enormous market dominance of big players like Amazon & Co. means that prospective buyers no longer start their product search in search engines, but directly on retailers’ websites. In plain terms: brands must ensure they reach their target group at the point of sale without detours—in their retail partners’ online shops and apps.

Rewe is just one of many examples that show the enormous potential and rapid development of retail media. The supermarket giant now offers a whole range of retail media products that make it easier for brands to place ads in the Rewe online shop. Some of this is enabled via third-party tools; other products, such as the Wi-Fi stage or digital steles, were developed by Rewe itself. Either way: with the right software, retail media can deliver greater visibility and increased sales with very little effort.

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About the author

Till Zier is CPO at Matchilla and, as a MarTech expert, reports in the MatchZINE on news and trends in marketing, automation, analytics and data.

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