Beyond The Shelf How Regional Retailers Can Win in Retail Media — with DIGITS’ Dave Glaza
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Jan 20, 2026 
In this engaging conversation, Dave Glaza, Founder and CEO of DIGITS Agency and a pioneer in retail media, shares his insights from launching Target’s original Cartwheel app. He discusses why many retail media budgets fail and the importance of using shopper data for real outcomes. Glaza emphasizes the need for brands to balance innovative tactics with proven methods while focusing on regional grocers to maximize impact. He also forecasts how AI-driven product discovery will transform retail media in the coming years, making it essential for retailers to adapt.
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Merchant To Media: Cartwheel Beginnings
- Dave Glaza started at Target and spent about a decade as a merchant before moving into digital and launching the Cartwheel app.
- That merchant-to-media path shaped his view of retail media as a tool to drive individual shopper behavior into stores.
Curation Trumps Choice On Shelves
- Merchants must constantly curate what to say yes and no to because physical shelf space is finite.
- This curation constraint explains why brands repeatedly hit walls with buyers.
Digital Enables Rapid Shopper Influence
- Digital lets retailers influence individual shoppers quickly with targeted messages and offers.
- Glaza contrasts that immediacy with the slower, top-down tactics merchants used previously.