In the latest episode of the Remarkable Retail podcast, hosts Michael LeBlanc and Steve Dennis continue their conversation with retail media expert Andrew Lipsman, founder and chief analyst at Media, Ads and Commerce, exploring the evolution and future of retail media networks.

The episode kicks off with an in-depth news segment covering significant economic developments. The hosts discuss the recent GDP drop in the US, which they note is primarily driven by increased imports and inventory buildup as retailers front-loaded inventory ahead of tariff implementations. They analyze the recent disconnect between poor consumer confidence numbers and actual retail spending patterns. The hosts also examine tech company earnings, with most reporting strong results except for Apple, which is facing challenges related to tariffs and China exposure. Apple's response to tariffs—shifting manufacturing to India and Vietnam rather than the US—highlights unintended consequences of the trade policies. The news segment concludes with a discussion of Amazon's earnings and the surprising termination of Kohl's CEO Ashley Buchanan over an improper vendor relationship.

In the interview segment with Andrew Lipsman, the conversation centers on the mechanics of successful retail media networks and future trends. Lipsman explains his concept of the "retail media flywheel," noting that when this flywheel takes off, it produces exponential rather than linear growth. He emphasizes that while Amazon pioneered this approach, other retailers can build their own flywheels tailored to their specific assets.

A significant portion of the discussion addresses concerns about whether retail media might compromise customer experience. Lipsman acknowledges this concern but believes it can be managed with thoughtful execution and relevant advertising. He points to Trader Joe's as an interesting counterexample—a retailer explicitly rejecting retail media to focus on merchandising excellence.

For retailers considering or developing retail media networks, Lipsman advises realistic expectations, particularly for mid-size and smaller players who may benefit more from joining aggregated networks rather than building walled gardens. He cautions that many retailers overvalue their first-party data and underestimate what's needed to monetize it effectively.

Looking to the future, Lipsman predicts that while on-site search advertising will continue to drive significant revenue, the big growth opportunities lie in streaming TV advertising and in-store media. He estimates in-store advertising represents a potential $20-40 billion opportunity, noting that physical stores account for about 5% of all media time spent but currently capture only 0.1% of ad spending. While acknowledging implementation challenges, he points to successful examples outside the US, particularly in the UK and Asia, as evidence of the model's viability.

YouTube episode Photo by Nathan Cima on Unsplash

About Us

Steve Dennis is a strategic advisor and keynote speaker focused on growth and innovation, who has also been named one of the world's top retail influencers. He is the bestselling authro of two books: Leaders Leap: Transforming Your Company at the Speed of Disruption and Remarkable Retail: How To Win & Keep Customers in the Age of Disruption. Steve regularly shares his insights in his role as a Forbes senior retail contributor and on social media.

Michael LeBlanc is the president and founder of M.E. LeBlanc & Company Inc, a senior retail advisor, keynote speaker and now, media entrepreneur. He has been on the front lines of retail industry change for his entire career.

Michael has delivered keynotes, hosted fire-side discussions and participated worldwide in thought leadership panels, most recently on the main stage in Toronto at Retail Council of Canada’s Retail Marketing conference with leaders from Walmart & Google. He brings 25+ years of brand/retail/marketing & eCommerce leadership experience with Levi's, Black & Decker, Hudson's Bay, CanWest Media, Pandora Jewellery, The Shopping Channel and Retail Council of Canada to his advisory, speaking and media practice.

Michael produces and hosts a network of leading retail trade podcasts, including the award-winning No.1 independent retail industry podcast in America, Remarkable Retail with his partner, Dallas-based best-selling author Steve Dennis; Canada's top retail industry podcast The Voice of Retail and Canada's top food industry and one of the top Canadian-produced management independent podcasts in the country, The Food Professor with Dr. Sylvain Charlebois from Dalhousie University in Halifax.

Rethink Retail has recognized Michael as one of the top global retail experts for the fourth year in a row, Thinkers 360 has named him on of the Top 50 global thought leaders in retail, RTIH has named him a top 100 global though leader in retail technology and Coresight Research has named Michael a Retail AI Influencer. If you are a BBQ fan, you can tune into Michael’s cooking show, Last Request BBQ, on YouTube, Instagram, X and yes, TikTok.

Michael is available for keynote presentations helping retailers, brands and retail industry insiders explaining the current state and future of the retail industry in North America and around the world.

Pauline Menczer