The key to retail media growth? First-party data

When it comes to retail media networks (RMNs), retailers expect easy revenue that won’t impact their shopper experience. Brands expect access to a retailer’s shoppers and the ability to accurately measure retail media campaigns.

But all too often, execution has fallen short of expectations for both parties.

In our work with major retailers around the country, we’re seeing that:

• Many brands aren’t actually reaching new and unique individuals through their investments. Instead, they’re increasing impressions and ad spend against the same individuals (reaching them over and over again).
• Many retailers aren't seeing the revenue that they expected from this business line. They're frustrated that brands aren't increasing their retail media ad spend.

The difference between those who succeed and those who struggle with retail media growth comes down to one critical factor: how well they use first-party data.

The strategic advantage: Why first-party data is your retail media goldmine

Underperforming retail media campaigns are often the product of poor identity resolution that fails to maximize the retailer’s shopper data. Disparate technology solutions also result in fragmented data and lost shopper visibility.

High-performing RMNs optimize first-party data to identify and reach unique audiences and measure impact on sales. These retailers seamlessly integrate first-party data across their solutions to provide advertisers with:

• Ad waste management. Instead of over-targeting the same shoppers with redundant messaging, ensure media dollars reach unique, in-market audiences.
• Enhanced personalization. With deep insights into customer preferences, purchase history and behavioral patterns, retailers can deliver highly relevant messaging that resonates with individual shoppers.
• Measurable outcomes. First-party data allows for closed-loop retail media measurement that connects exposure to sales.

Achieving this level of first-party data optimization requires a strategic, integrated approach.

Epsilon's 3 pillars for retail media mastery

Epsilon's proven framework for retail media mastery includes three pillars that work together to unlock the full potential of your customer data.

Pillar 1: Identity resolution for unique reach

According to IDC, “Data is key to establishing identity but, in many cases, data collected is incomplete, unclean, or irrelevant. This is especially true with customer information, where even with data enrichment solutions, the data doesn't necessarily build the identity necessary for optimal targeting.”

The average consumer has multiple email addresses, uses multiple devices, shops across various channels and visits numerous websites without logging in. These multiple touchpoints are often treated as different people instead of one individual. As a result, even the most sophisticated retailers fall into the trap of over-targeting the same few easy-to-identify shoppers. That includes people who:

• Only have one email address
• Reliably use a single device
• Consistently log into the websites they’re visiting
• Shop mostly online

Successful retail media networks are based on a strong, future-proofed identity solution that drives unique reach. Unique reach is the ability to identify and connect with all of a retailer’s individual shoppers without duplication. Without unique reach, you're monetizing only a portion of your shopper base. With it, you unlock greater scale, stronger performance and more value for both your business and your advertisers.

Epsilon helps retailers achieve unique reach by resolving all first-party data points (e.g., search data or browsing data) down to a single individual and verifying that match with transactional data. This approach allows you to identify and reach more unique shoppers across channels—including on-site, off-site and in-store.

Pillar 2: Unified activation across the omnichannel journey

Omnichannel success isn’t about being in every channel all the time. It’s about showing up in the right places with the right identity-driven intelligence to drive real results. But the challenge facing most retail media networks today is fragmentation. Piecing together different technology solutions for on-site display, off-site programmatic, email marketing and in-store activation creates identity handoffs that reduce campaign effectiveness.

Unified RMN activation solves this by orchestrating all channels through a single platform with a consistent identity, which maintains one view of all shoppers across activations. When retailers combine first-party data, identity and unified technology for activation, advertisers reach their intended audiences with better outcomes, such as:

• 2x ROAS
• 5x lower eCPM
• Attribute 80% more outcomes

Add intelligent targeting capabilities, and RMNs have a real differentiator. AI-driven audience building and targeting, trained on real shopper signals, enables advertisers to reach the right shopper at the right time with personalized messages throughout the journey. Identity connects the dots across platforms and touchpoints. And the result is campaigns optimized for measurable outcomes tied to real purchases (not generic awareness).

Pillar 3: Retail media measurement that benefits brands

In today’s market, brands don’t just want performance—they want proof that media drove real outcomes with real shoppers. That means moving beyond assumed return on ad spend (ROAS) to show:

• Incrementality
• Unique reach
• Real ROAS tied to verified transactions

Retail media is uniquely positioned to deliver this insight, but it only works with the right technology. Legacy RMN platforms were designed for demographic lookalikes and optimized to drive impressions. AI-powered solutions can build audiences optimized to drive actual purchases.

Of course, the success of these AI audiences depends on the data inputs. Identity resolution is again paramount to effective retail media measurement. It allows retailers to know exactly who they’re talking to and close the loop on whether or not each person made a purchase.

"We are the first retail media solution to pair AI with person-based identity, all with closed-loop attribution,” says Jaclyn Nix, Epsilon’s EVP of Brand Sales for Retail Media. “What does it mean for advertisers? It means less waste, better performance and verified measurement."

Real-world impact: How brands drive growth with Epsilon's pillars

The three pillars work best when implemented together. Here's how leading retailers are driving measurable growth with Epsilon's integrated approach.

Ulta Beauty connects brands with its loyal audience

With 42 million members, Ulta Beauty’s loyalty program is one of the largest in the country. Ulta relies on Epsilon’s COREid identity solution to build on this extensive first-party data, creating robust member profiles of existing and potential customers.

These customer insights allow Ulta to activate its retention and acquisition digital advertising campaigns through Epsilon Digital. The team knows not only what message to share with each individual shopper but also when to share it with them (and when not to).

“We have every generation of shopper, from a granddaughter right up to the grandmother, so it’s so important for us to curate our messaging so that it’s tailored to each beauty enthusiast, where they are on their journey,” explains Michelle Crossan-Matos, former Chief Marketing Officer of Ulta Beauty.

And Ulta isn’t the only brand benefiting. UB Media, Ulta Beauty’s retail media network powered by Epsilon, helps 600+ brand partners create full-funnel marketing campaigns. With the help of predictive AI, Ulta identifies in-market customers most likely to purchase the brand’s products and reaches them with hyper-focused advertising across channels. Of course, closed-loop brand and SKU-level reporting provides each brand with a full view of its media performance.

Walgreens maximizes retail media revenue with best-in-class identity

When Walgreens wanted to build a leading retail media network, it turned to Epsilon. By resolving its first-party data with Epsilon’s COREid identity solution, the Walgreens Advertising Group can serve each brand’s ads to real people, who are in market at the right time and in the right channel.

“Whether that be phone, desk, store, socially, digitally—we got you covered,” says Tracey D. Brown, President Retail and Chief Customer Officer at Walgreens. “We can't make the retail media network roll without the tight partnership with Epsilon. The customer gets their needs met, the brand gets their needs met and then of course, we're the connection point, and we get our needs met.”

Partnering with Epsilon for retail media growth

The retail media opportunity is undeniable, but success isn't guaranteed. The difference between programs that drive meaningful revenue growth and those that fall short comes down to execution—specifically, how effectively you leverage your first-party data.

Retailers that master all three retail media pillars will transform their networks from revenue experiments into reliable profit centers that attract and retain top brand partners.

Want to see RMN growth like Ulta and Walgreens? Connect with Epsilon today.

This article was originally published on January 23, 2025, and has since been updated.