Retail media leans on creators

Retail media networks are starting to buy creator-style content themselves, not just sell ad space beside it. (modernretail.co) Modern Retail reported on April 13 that advertising units at Walmart, Best Buy and Albertsons are building creator-led campaigns for brands and using retailer sales data to decide which creators to hire. (modernretail.co) At the Consumer Electronics Show in January 2026, Omnicom Media’s creator agency Creo expanded a Walmart Connect partnership to Meta, linking Walmart purchase data with Instagram creator audiences to predict which partnerships are most likely to convert. (modernretail.co; digiday.com) Best Buy Ads said in September 2025 that it would partner with Dude Perfect through 2026, giving brands placements around the second season of Tomorrow’s Golf League, the National Football League season and the holiday period. (modernretail.co; mediapost.com) Albertsons Media Collective partnered with Linqia in September 2025 to bring creator-made assets into campaigns that can run on social media, connected television, digital out-of-home screens and in-store displays. (modernretail.co; linqia.com) In one Albertsons campaign that ran from November 2024 to January 2025 around Lunar New Year meals, creator videos delivered three times higher Instagram engagement and four times higher Facebook engagement than Albertsons benchmarks, according to the retailer and Linqia. (modernretail.co; linqia.com) The push comes as retail media keeps growing faster than most digital ad categories. The Interactive Advertising Bureau said in January 2025 that retail media spend was projected to rise 15.6% in 2025, versus 7.3% for advertising overall. (iab.com) Nielsen said in June 2025 that retail media spend in the United States was expected to reach $60 billion in 2025, and 65% of global marketers said retail media networks would play a bigger role in their media mix over the next 12 months. (nielsen.com) Retailers are also chasing a shopping market that looks more like social media than a search bar. Emarketer wrote in December 2024 that retail media networks were partnering with creator networks and social platforms to meet advertiser demands for incrementality as shopping became more social. (emarketer.com) Walmart had already been moving in that direction before this year’s data partnerships. Forbes and Walmart Creator announced in June 2024 that they would hold Creator Upfronts in Los Angeles on October 28 and 29, 2024, pitching creators directly to brands around social commerce. (forbes.com) The result is that retail media networks are acting less like digital shelf landlords and more like commissioners of branded programming. The selling point is no longer just placement near a buy button, but creator content a retailer can tie back to sales. (modernretail.co; nielsen.com)