How RTB, Dynamic Ads and Unified Tech Platforms Will Evolve Retail Media in 2025

As we move into 2025, the retail media landscape is on the brink of a transformation. From breakthroughs in programmatic buying to the increasing importance of AI-powered personalization, the next few years promise to redefine how retailers and advertisers connect with consumers.  

In 2024, retail media networks (RMNs) made significant strides, with new players entering the market, legacy networks expanding their capabilities, and advertisers sharpening their strategies to capitalize on this rapidly evolving ecosystem. But the question on everyone's mind is: What does the future hold?

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4 Key Predictions from the Pentaleap Team

At Pentaleap, our leadership team sees a mix of familiar trends gaining momentum and new developments that will shape the market. From the consolidation of retail media tech platforms to the widespread adoption of dynamic ad placements, 2025 will be the year when more sophisticated tools and strategies drive deeper engagement and improved ROI.  

We’ve asked our internal experts to weigh in on the key trends, challenges, and opportunities that will dominate the year ahead.

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TREND: RTB will Play a Critical Role in Unlocking the Full Potential of Retail Media

"I believe the potential for RTB to scale retail media is massive. Retail media reminds me of the early days of programmatic in digital advertising, when Google and Facebook operated as closed ecosystems, and the open web had to come together around shared standards.  

Retail media faces a similar challenge today. Programmatic players like Google, Microsoft, and Criteo are in a unique position to bridge these ecosystems, making it easier to attract new demand and unlock growth.  

At Pentaleap, we believe RTB is key to building modular, open ecosystems that give retailers more control while maximizing the value of their inventory. It’s still early days but we’re excited to be part of this transformation."

- Ana Laura Zain, CMO, Pentaleap.

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TREND: The Rise of Product and Contextual Ad Serving

"We'll start seeing more emphasis on product and contextual ad serving in 2025. Too often, ads and organic don't align because of how ads have typically been targeted on search, audiences, and categories. But the rise of relevancy-based product bidding offers a chance for a much stronger ad and customer experience.

And as retail search and curation gets more sophisticated in 2025 and beyond, we will see a growing need and prevalence of industry-leading contextual ad serving."

- Mark Burton, CPO, Pentaleap.

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TREND: Consolidation of Retail Media Tech Platforms to Unified Campaign Execution

"As we enter 2025, the retail media technology sector is primed for significant consolidation, following a pattern reminiscent of the ad network consolidation wave of 2012-2015.  

While 2024 saw strategic moves like Walmart's $2.3B Vizio acquisition and Publicis' purchase of Mars United Commerce, I predict 2025 will bring an even more dramatic shift: the emergence of 2-3 major independent technology platforms that will become the backbone of retail media execution.  

Unlike the retailers themselves, who can't consolidate due to their distinct business operations, the technology platforms that power retail media networks will merge to create comprehensive, vendor-agnostic solutions.  

This consolidation will solve one of the industry's biggest pain points – the complexity of executing campaigns across multiple RMNs – while allowing these newly formed titans to defend their business against holding company-owned platforms and expand their revenue streams through simplified, unified campaign execution capabilities."

- Lars Djuvik, CRO at Pentaleap.

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TREND: Dynamic Ads and Personalization Will Lead the Market

"In 2025, RMNs that focus on AI-powered personalization will lead the market. Dynamic ad placements and tailored creative optimization will drive higher engagement and conversions by delivering relevant messages to individual shoppers.  

RMNs investing in advanced AI tools and shopper-centric strategies will attract more ad spend, deliver measurable ROI to brands, and foster stronger partnerships.  Personalization will become a cornerstone of shopper satisfaction and sustained growth."

- Emma Helsloot, Director of Sales, EMEA.

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