Niche reach · high intent
High-intent specialists
High-intent specialists
Retail Media Network Matchmaker
Ninety cents of every retail-media dollar goes to Amazon and Walmart — but the network that actually pays is the one sitting where your buyer is mid-purchase, judged by incremental lift rather than the dashboard's reported ROAS. Tell the tool what you sell and what you need most, and the major networks sort into strategic quadrants and rank by fit for your brand.
There is no single best retail media network — there is the best one for your category and your goal. Amazon is the default first dollar for scale and intent; Walmart Connect is the efficient complement for grocery, CPG and value; Instacart and Kroger own the highest purchase intent for food and CPG; Target (Roundel) indexes high for beauty and home; and Criteo extends reach offsite, past the walled gardens. Pick the network for where your shopper buys, layer a complement, and judge every one of them by incrementality — incremental ROAS is often just 30–60% of the last-click number.
Retail media network matchmaker
What do you sell?
What do you need most?
Browse ← Purchase intent → Buy
Mass reach · high intent
Demand-capture giants
Demand-capture giants
Niche reach · browse
Focused / emerging
Focused / emerging
Mass reach · browse
Reach & retargeting
Reach & retargeting
Niche ← Reach / scale → Mass
Start here
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How to use this matchmaker
- Pick what you sell. Your category reweights every network toward where your shoppers actually transact — grocery and CPG pull the food RMNs up, electronics and home pull Amazon up.
- Pick what you need most. Max scale, efficiency, point-of-purchase intent, or incremental reach — the best-fit network changes with the job, not just the category.
- Read the quadrant. The six networks sort into four archetypes by reach and purchase intent; the best fit lights up in its quadrant with a check.
- Work the ranked list. The panel ranks all six by fit, with a clear “start here” pick and a “then layer” runner-up so you sequence, not scatter.
- Validate with a holdout. Whatever you pick, prove it with an incrementality test — reported ROAS over-credits sales that were already coming to your shelf.
RGM Expert Says
The instinct is to start with the biggest network and judge it by the ROAS the platform reports. Both instincts cost money. We start with the network where the client’s shopper is closest to the buy button — for a CPG brand that is often Walmart or Instacart, not Amazon — and we treat every platform’s reported ROAS as a claim to verify, never a fact to bank. The reason is simple: a sponsored-product ad frequently captures a sale that was already going to happen, so reported ROAS can run double the real, incremental figure. The brands that win retail media are not the ones spending the most on Amazon; they are the ones who matched the network to the shopper and proved the lift with a holdout before they scaled.
How the fit score works
Each network carries a profile: where it sits on reach (niche to mass) and purchase intent (browse to buy), its US market share, the categories it serves best, and the goals it is built for. When you choose a category and a goal, the tool scores every network on category match, goal match, share, and intent, then ranks them and plots each into the quadrant its reach-and-intent profile puts it in. The quadrant is the strategy view — which archetype each network is — and the ranked list is the action view — the order to consider them for your specific brand. Positions and scoring are directional, built to start the conversation, not end it; your own category data and a holdout test fine-tune the call.
Why fit beats size in retail media
Retail media is the fastest-growing major ad channel, but its concentration hides a trap: because roughly 90% of spend sits with Amazon and Walmart, brands default to the giants and judge success by a ROAS number the platform grades itself on. That produces two expensive mistakes — paying premium sponsored-product prices to “win” sales that were already coming, and ignoring smaller networks where the same dollar is more incremental because the shopper is closer to the purchase. Matching the network to where your buyer actually reaches for the shelf, then measuring incrementally, is how retail media stops being a tax on demand you already had and starts being growth you caused.
Retail media networks, at a glance
A quick reference for how the major networks compare on reach, intent, and what they are best for. Figures are directional — market share and ROAS vary by category and year, and the only trustworthy read of any network is your own holdout.
| Network | Type | Best for | Edge / catch |
|---|---|---|---|
| Amazon Ads | Marketplace + RMN | Most categories; scale + intent | Highest intent and reach — but most competitive and priciest |
| Walmart Connect | #2 US RMN | Grocery, CPG, home, value | Efficient complement; less saturated than Amazon |
| Instacart | Grocery RMN | Grocery, CPG, beverage | Highest purchase intent — but narrow scale |
| Kroger (KPM) | Grocery RMN | Grocery, CPG, food | Rich loyalty data — category-limited |
| Target (Roundel) | Retailer RMN | Beauty, home, fashion | High-indexing shoppers — smaller footprint |
| Criteo | Commerce-media tech | Offsite reach, retargeting | Extends past the walled gardens — measure transparency closely |
What retail media leaders emphasize
Incrementality — not reported ROAS — is now the primary KPI for retail media; the reported number over-credits demand that was already coming.
Skai
2026 retail media measurement research (paraphrase)
Start with the network where the shopper is closest to the buy button, layer a complement, and prove every one of them with a holdout before you scale.
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The four archetypes, explained
Demand-capture giants — Amazon and Walmart. Mass reach paired with high purchase intent, which is why they take roughly nine in ten retail-media dollars. This is where you capture shoppers already typing your category into a search box. The trap is paying premium sponsored-product rates for sales that were coming anyway, so the discipline here is harvesting efficiently and proving the incremental slice with a holdout rather than banking the reported number.
High-intent specialists — Instacart, Kroger, and Target’s Roundel. Narrower reach, but the shopper is closer to the buy button than almost anywhere else — Instacart shoppers are literally building a cart. For grocery, CPG, beverage, beauty and home brands these networks often deliver the most incremental dollar in the whole plan, precisely because they are less saturated than the giants. Treat them as focused, high-conviction layers, not broad reach plays.
Reach & retargeting — Criteo. The way past the walled gardens. Criteo is commerce-media technology, not a marketplace: it powers many retailers’ on-site networks and extends reach and retargeting across the open web. Use it to re-engage shoppers and reach beyond Amazon and Walmart, but insist on placement-level transparency because the offsite, lower-intent inventory is where measurement discipline matters most.
Focused / emerging. The long tail of retailer networks — regional grocers, category specialists, and new RMNs standing up media businesses. Worth a test where you hold real shelf space and the retailer’s shopper data is rich, but each one is its own platform and measurement standard, so the operational cost adds up. Prioritize the one or two tied to your biggest retail partners over a sprawl of dashboards.
The sequencing rule that ties it together: start with the best-fit network for your category and goal, prove it incremental, then layer a complement — usually a second giant for scale plus a high-intent specialist where your shopper actually buys, with Criteo for offsite reach. Spend follows proven lift, not the network with the loudest reported ROAS.
Common questions
Which retail media network should I start with?
For most brands, Amazon is the default first dollar because of its scale and high purchase intent. But the right starting network depends on your category and goal: grocery and CPG brands often find Walmart, Instacart, or Kroger more efficient, and brands needing offsite reach lean on Criteo. The matchmaker ranks all six for your exact inputs.
Is Criteo a marketplace?
No. Criteo is commerce-media technology, not a marketplace. It powers many retailers’ on-site media networks and provides offsite reach and retargeting across the open web, so it is the way to extend retail media beyond the Amazon and Walmart walled gardens.
Why does the tool emphasize incrementality over ROAS?
Retail media ROAS averages about 6.1x, but 71% of advertisers now rank incrementality above reported ROAS. Incremental ROAS is typically only 30 to 60% of last-click ROAS, because sponsored placements often capture sales that would have happened anyway. The honest read comes from a holdout, not the dashboard.
How concentrated is retail media spend?
Very. US retail media is projected around 71 billion dollars in 2026, with roughly 90% concentrated in Amazon and Walmart. The other networks are smaller but can be more efficient and higher-intent for the right category, which is why fit matters more than raw size.
Which network has the highest purchase intent?
Instacart, because shoppers are literally building a cart when they see your ad. Grocery RMNs like Kroger also index high. The trade-off is scale: these networks are narrower than Amazon or Walmart, so they work best as focused, high-incrementality layers rather than broad reach plays.
Should I run more than one retail media network?
Usually yes, in sequence: start with the best-fit network for your category and goal, then layer a complement — often a second marketplace for scale plus a high-intent grocery RMN, with Criteo for offsite reach. Prioritize the networks tied to your biggest retail partners rather than spreading thin across a dozen dashboards.