Retail Media vs. Merchant Teams: The Evolving Role of In-Store Screens

Within retail organizations, the legacy silos that once existed between store teams and digital teams have all but vanished in a post-pandemic reality, with one notable exception: Today’s merchant and retail media teams are locked in a tug-of-war over promotional real estate within stores.

These merchant and retail media silos can be just as counterproductive as the in-store and digital silos of the past, and the retailers that make a concerted effort to break them down have seen an instantaneous financial benefit. Let’s examine why this divide exists and how retailers can bridge the gap between these two important teams.

The Rise of In-Store Retail Media

The reason retailers’ merchant teams and retail media teams often operate in silos is simple: their objectives, functions and focuses historically have been quite disparate. It’s only now, as retailers look to expand their retail media offerings into in-store environments, that inevitable conflicts are arising.

Merchant teams have long controlled what happens inside a retailer’s stores, and a tremendous amount of trade dollars get deployed via the shelf and endcap promotions these teams represent. Those trade dollars are sacred for retailers, as they contribute directly to the bottom line with no intermediaries to lessen a retailer’s margin.

Related story: How Retail Media Networks Are Maturing in 2025

At the same time, the rise of retail media has unlocked tremendous new monetization opportunities for retailers, which are now putting their valuable first-party data to work to enable brand partners to strategically target ads across their digital properties. As these programs have matured, eyes have naturally turned to in-store environments, where more than 80 percent of spending still occurs. As more and more screens are being infused into store experiences, retail media teams are naturally asking the question: Shouldn’t we be extending our retail media offerings into our physical locations?

Merchant teams, as you might imagine, are quick to remind retail media colleagues that just because a screen is digital doesn’t mean it belongs to the digital team. In-store screens represent important opportunities to capture more trade dollars — and at a higher margin than seen with retail media.

In short, a lot of retailers today have two teams competing for real estate on in-store screens. If they want to avoid ruffled feathers and maximize revenue from these important displays, they need to iron out this conflict — and fast.

Best Practices for Breaking Down Merchant and Retail Media Silos

Realigning teams when conflicting interests become apparent is all a part of keeping pace in the dynamic retail space. Call it a growing pain. The retailers that proactively address the tension between merchant and retail media teams — and continue to foster a strong working relationship on an ongoing basis — stand to gain a competitive advantage, while simultaneously reducing internal headaches. Here are some best practices to employ:

1. Bring everyone to the table.

A lot can be accomplished by simply bringing the merchant and retail media teams together to understand and appreciate each other’s viewpoints and goals. By candidly acknowledging where conflicts might arise, and helping both sides to see which approaches maximize value for the organization in the long run, it becomes a lot easier to establish protocols and rework key performance indicators as needed.

2. Leverage the marketing team’s vantage point.

When it comes to realigning the interests of merchant and retail media teams, the marketing department represents the most logical mediator. Marketing is the glue point between in-store promotions and retail media, and it has access to the data and insights needed to balance the scales in a way that the retailer’s best interests — rather than the perceived best interests of a single team — are served. The key is to create digital signage solutions that have enough value for the retail media team to sell, while demonstrating measurable top-line sales and incremental return on ad spend.

3. Let the retail media team take the operational load.

Merchant teams often haven’t given thought to the complexities (asset creation, content management, network operations, campaign optimization, etc.) involved with executing supplier-funded retail media campaigns. Meanwhile, the retail media teams have already demonstrated their operational chops when it comes to e-commerce and have formed that beneficial working relationship with the merchant team in that area. Taking the same approach in-store, and having the retail media team offer to take the entire operational load for the digital signage solutions, creates good-will between teams and allows everyone to reach their goals quicker.

4. Respect trade dollars.

Because retail media is the shiny new revenue driver within the retail industry, it’s understandable that established merchant teams fear they’ll lose control of in-store inventory to the new digital kid on the block. However, everyone needs to appreciate just how important trade dollars are to a retailer’s bottom line and respect the merchant team’s desire to maximize them. Retailers are merchant-driven organizations, and preserving trade dollars is where the conversation should start.

5. Establish clear swim lanes.

Merchant and retail media teams need to know what they own. If an in-store screen offers 10 placements in a loop, what share of voice belongs to the merchant team? How many then go to retail media? The marketing team should assess the needs of each team and establish clear guardrails that meet those needs while maximizing revenue.

6. Encourage nimble trading.

Swim lanes are important, but so is flexibility. Once teams understand what they have to work with, they should also be encouraged to openly discuss opportunities to trade inventory in ways that can improve client relationships, campaign results, and overall monetization.

The in-store environment represents one of the most lucrative and dynamic opportunities for retail media, but its potential can only be realized when merchant and retail media teams work consistently in unison. By fearlessly dismantling silos before they calcify, retailers can foster collaboration, establish clarity, and unlock new revenue streams that benefit all stakeholders. The rewards of integration aren’t just organizational harmony, but rather measurable financial gains that can keep retailers competitive in a fast-evolving market.

Sean Cheyney is head of retail media at Vistar Media, the leading provider of technology solutions for digital-out-of-home (DOOH) advertisements.