The Retail Media Network (RMN) space is no longer dominated solely by giants. In 2025, a growing number of mid-tier retailers are proving that collaboration, not just scale, can be a powerful differentiator.
Why Collaboration Is Emerging Now
With brands increasingly seeking audience reach, targeting precision, and performance transparency, mid-tier retailers often struggle to compete with Amazon, Walmart, or Lazada on their own. But when they join forces—pooling their media inventory, customer data, and technology infrastructure—they create collaborative RMNs that rival major platforms in effectiveness.
What Collaborative RMNs Look Like
- European Retail Media (ERM) is a partnership of several mid-sized European grocers offering shared ad inventory and first-party data access to CPG brands.
- In Australia, convenience chains and petrol retailers are banding together to deliver national reach through a unified programmatic platform.
- Fashion and specialty retailers in APAC are forming category-specific media alliances, giving advertisers a targeted yet scaled audience.
Business Impact: The Results So Far
These collaborative networks have reported:
- 20–35% increase in media bookings from brands that couldn’t justify investment in individual mid-tier platforms
- Improved ROI for advertisers due to better cross-channel targeting and attribution
- Stronger negotiating power with DSPs, publishers, and tech vendors
What This Means for Retailers
If you’re a mid-tier retailer with valuable first-party data but limited scale, this model could be your growth path.
Steps to get started:
- Identify potential retail allies with complementary audiences
- Define shared standards (data privacy, reporting, pricing)
- Leverage ad tech partners that support co-branded inventory and dynamic attribution
Collaboration isn’t a compromise—it’s a strategy. And in today’s RMN landscape, it might be your biggest competitive edge.
Download the white paper now and unlock the full potential of RMNs for your brand: https://www.marketingtnt.org/the-future-of-digital-advertising-exploring-the-transformative-power-of-retail-media-networks/
Want to explore the full potential of RMNs? Join MMA Global APAC’s Retail Media Network (RMN) Ideas Lab, led by Anand Tilak, to:
🔹 Understand full-funnel RMN capabilities – from awareness to conversion
🔹 Learn best practices to optimize attribution & budget allocation
🔹 Stay connected with the industry’s top leaders & innovators
