GroupM forecasts that retail media ad revenue will rise 9.9% this year to $125.7 billion. In 2028, retail media is projected to account for 15.4%. According to GroupM’s 2023 Global Mid-Year Forecast report, retail media trails only two far smaller categories—digital out of home (OOH) screens and connected TV (CTV)—among this year’s fastest-growing advertising channels.

Retailers making a big push to lure advertising dollars include Amazon, Walmart and Target. Shoppers’ stepped-up presence in digital channels raised the appeal of retail media to brands during COVID-19 lockdowns.

As the Media Leader reports, a panel of retail media experts discussed the space during a recent Future of Media conference. Jessica Chapplow, head of ecommerce at Reprise Digital, said that while retail media networks aren’t new, they’re rapidly growing more sophisticated: “especially if we think about the the last 18 months, we’re seeing a lot more refinement in terms of the data story, the propositions and also the teams that are being built out.”

Grocery chain Albertsons,as Modern Retailer reports, has been touting the strategic importance of its two-year-old retail media network, Albertsons Media Collective, which has about 200 employees. Kristi Argyilan, senior vice president of retail media at Albertsons Media Collective, said that brands “are embracing the importance of Albertsons having our own in-house built retail media network because they recognize it as an untapped growth lever for them as well.”

Meanwhile, as RIS reports, Walmart is ramping up its in-house retail media platform, Walmart Connect, while another retailer, Giant Eagle, is introducing its Leap Media Group proprietary retail media network.

Elsewhere, tech company ​​Snowflake has struck a deal to make data provider Affinity Solutions’ targeted-advertising purchase data available to advertising through Snowflake’s platform, as AdExchanger.com reports.