For more than a decade, Amazon set the rules for retail media: own the traffic, own the data, monetize shoppers at the point of sale. Onsite search and display became a cash machine, and eventually every retailer with a digital shelf rushed to copy the playbook. That model still matters, but it’s no longer enough.
Consumer attention has splintered. Shoppers aren’t hanging out on retailer sites waiting to be influenced. They’re scrolling, watching, sharing and discovering inside walled gardens, especially social and video. The average consumer now spends north of three hours a day in digital media, and most of that time lives outside retailer-owned environments.
This is where Meta enters the conversation — not as “social media,” but as offsite retail media infrastructure. Amazon may have written the first chapter of retail media, but Meta is investing big (again) and shaping the next one.
Why Meta Matters Now
DTC brands have been using Meta’s platforms as performance engines for a while now, leveraging Advantage+ Shopping, dynamic product ads and algorithmic optimization to drive outcomes. Meta’s role in commerce is nothing new, but the players tapping into that infrastructure are.
Partnerships with retailers like Kroger, Walmart and Best Buy are changing up retail media execution. Retailers are now packaging the same tools DTC brands have used for years and pairing them with their own first-party data on channels where consumers already spend time.
Social is a great example. Discovery and influence happen well before a shopper ever lands on a retailer’s site. Two in three consumers say social content sways what they buy, and more than half point to influencers as driving purchasing decisions. Meta sits squarely at the moment where you go from scrolling to purchasing.
Over the past year, Meta has shared more data and rolled out new retailer-focused tools to stay competitive, as RMNs push ads beyond their owned properties and into CTV and streaming. Retailers can now activate their data in places built for engagement, not just conversion. Meta brings the scale, creative environments and optimization engines; retailers bring shopper intelligence and closed-loop measurement. 1+1=3, if you will.
The Second Wave of Retail Media
The first wave of retail media was all about building ad businesses on retailers’ own sites. The second wave is about making retailer data actionable offsite in ways you can actually measure.
Brands are now reaching shoppers earlier and in environments that feel native to how people discover products, and Meta has become a natural home for this shift. It offers marketers the quality context, precision and measurement capabilities that they normally sacrifice when advertising in walled gardens. As budgets follow the platforms that command attention, expectations rise. In this next phase, everything is performance media.
What This Means for the Ecosystem
As retail media moves beyond owned environments, the implications ripple across the industry.
- For retailers and RMNs: Offsite execution means trading some control for reach and scale. That may look like shifting from managed services toward productized solutions that blend retailer audiences with platform delivery.
- For brands and advertisers: Social and video are no longer ‘upper funnel.’ Brands will need to see that offsite retail media drives either net-new buyers, higher shopping frequency or larger baskets at the retailer level, not cheaper conversions.
- For agencies and DSPs: This new paradigm raises questions for agencies, DSPs and brands about measurement, attribution and where incremental dollars should flow as commerce signals become more fragmented.
Rethinking Incrementality and Measurement
As retail media moves offsite, proof poses the biggest challenge. Legacy measurement models were built for linear journeys and last-touch conversions, not environments where influence, exposure and purchase are scattered across platforms and devices. ROAS is giving way to incrementality as the golden metric.
Looking Ahead
Over the next couple of years, success in offsite retail media will mean treating it as a full-funnel growth engine that activates retailer data across social, video and CTV while proving true incrementality. The key question will shift from where media runs to whether it drives net-new demand and measurable outcomes across a winding consumer journey. Meta’s trajectory offers a preview of the next phase in retail media; one less defined by where ads run and more by how seamlessly data, influence and performance come together offsite.
Robert Smolarski is Director, Global Strategy and Partnerships, Commerce at MiQ, with 17+ years of experience in brand strategy, commerce and digital media. He previously served as a global commerce lead at Omnicom and IPG, as well as working brand direct for startups, mid-market and large public and private CPGs driving full-funnel media and commerce acceleration.
