How 11 retail media networks are trying to differentiate themselves to advertisers

Retail Media Landscape // September 8, 2026 How 11 retail media networks are trying to differentiate themselves to advertisers By Mitchell Parton Ivy Liu After the launch of many different retail media networks over the past few years, all these new divisions of various consumer-facing companies are now fighting for ad dollars.

That brought many of them to New York City last week. Advertising events company Ascendant Network on Wednesday held Showcase, a retail and commerce media upfront for commerce media networks, ad agencies and brand marketers.

It featured 15 presentations from the advertising businesses of retailers, financial companies and e-commerce platforms, from The Home Depot to Albertsons and even PayPal. Modern Retail attended the majority of the presentations, gathering how each ad business worked to differentiate itself from the crowd.

Aside from those listed below, the other attendees included grocer Ahold Delhaize USA’s AD Retail Media, Dollar General Media Network, student loan lender Sallie Mae’s Backpack Media and Ace Hardware’s RedVest Media.

Leaders at legacy retailers and banks touted their decades of internal data, while e-commerce and fintech leaders spoke about their wide reach across merchants. Specialty retailers stressed why their specific audience demographics resonate for all sorts of brands, not just those in their stores.

Arun Ramaswamy, vp of tech and product at The Home Depot, told Modern Retail he saw consistent themes throughout his and other companies’ presentations, including a focus on measurement, driving specific outcomes, interoperability through different consumer channels and advertising platforms.

“If you look at where the industry is going, [incrementality] is a key ask: Prove that the investment truly works,” he said. Peter Giordano, GM of ads platform and growth services for DoorDash, said he noticed all the different retail media networks are focused on aggregating different signals about the consumer to anticipate their behavior.

“That’s what we’re doubling down on: truly understanding people’s life moments and different occasions and different purchase behaviors for how all our brands, and retail and merchant partners, can interact with them at different points in that customer journey,” Giordano said.

DoorDash’s Katie Daleo, GM of CPG ads, added that another common theme was how retail media networks have realized they can do more upper-funnel campaigns. Some of the presentations included new kinds of video campaigns or in-store screens.

“You can influence [consumers] from the early days and then get more targeted, surgical on what you serve as they go through their path to purchase,” she said.

Orange Apron Media (The Home Depot) Executives at The Home Depot and its Orange Apron Media business shared their ability to see across the entire customer journey, from when customers are browsing to when they are watching videos and asking questions to its chatbot. They also stressed the company’s long-standing relationships with both pros and consumers.

Kailey Emery, director of ad sales marketing for Orange Apron Media, said brands that show up next to The Home Depot’s brand see a 30% jump in brand trust, 70% increase in recall and 40% boost in purchase intent.

“Think about what a trip to The Home Depot can represent: a new home, a major renovation, a backyard built for entertainment, an empty nester downsizing their space, a business that’s starting to grow,” Emery said. “Those moments can tell us something powerful, not just what a customer needs today, but what they may need next.”

Albertsons Media Collective (Albertsons) Albertsons retail media svp Brian Monahan spoke about how the grocery chain is partnering with brands to create relevant content to support the shopping experience, such as the company’s Rico’s Tacos campaign, which brought a ‘micro sitcom’ to shoppers while they shopped online or on screens in stores.

“We’re evolving from just being item-and-price advertising to being a platform for content distribution that blends storytelling and shopper relevance in commerce,” Monahan said. Monahan said ad placements displayed next to the Rico’s Tacos videos online have outperformed benchmarks by 200%.

He also said a recent America 250 campaign that included in-person events and digital campaigns drove a 24% increase in units sold for participating brands.

DoorDash Ads (DoorDash) DoorDash CMO Tim Castree emphasized the company’s shift from delivering dinner to delivering everyday needs on demand, and how advertisers can tap into its now-billions-of-orders-per-year platform. He said the company can deliver data on common shopping pairings or on which days of the week people tend to place orders.

For example, people order 30% more health foods on Tuesdays t