Retail media’s missed opportunity: Mid- to long-tail advertisers
Retail media is booming, but not for everyone.
Despite the hype, many retail media networks remain locked into a model designed for a small set of enterprise brands with big budgets and agency teams to match.
These networks were built by legacy adtech vendors, not retailers, and it shows. As such, these networks feature complex onboarding and rigid formats, making retail media feel like a gated community to their users.
Meanwhile, the vast majority of potential advertisers — mid-sized brands, marketplace sellers and emerging innovators — are left standing outside the gates.
That’s a mistake, because the real growth in retail media is in mid- to long-tail advertisers.
Retail media was supposed to be democratic. What happened?
If retail media is to live up to its promise of a scalable, high-margin revenue stream that improves shopper experience and deepens brand-retailer relationships, then it can’t be so complex that only the top 20% of advertisers have the resources to compete. Rather, it needs to work for the thousands of brands that make up the other 80% of the market.
These mid- to long-tail advertisers are agile, they’re deeply connected to niche audiences and they’re actively looking for retail media networks to work with.
In a recent Forrester study, retailers reported that these advertisers account for 28% of their retail media revenue today. For the most advanced networks, it’s more than 85%. And because they can’t rely on brand awareness to drive sales, they tend to invest a greater percentage of their GMV, fueling advanced retail media network development.
Mid- to long-tail sellers have hundreds (and sometimes thousands) of SKUs. Managing this volume of products requires sophisticated technology, but when executed well, can be a huge advantage to retailers. Activating mid- to long-tail advertisers in retail media networks leads to increased revenue, niche category fulfillment, lower seasonality and greater personalization.
Therefore, the problem retailers face in activating the mid- to long-tail isn’t demand but a lack of accessibility among advertisers.
The barriers are fixable. The upside isn’t theoretical.
The good news is, unlocking this opportunity doesn’t require a radical reinvention. It requires platforms that are actually built for accessibility.
That means:
Self-serve tools powered by AI that make campaign setup fast, intuitive and automated.
Flexible formats that support targeted campaigns across niche categories — not just best-sellers.
Instant access for marketplace sellers, ideally through the same back office they already use to manage their listings, with simplified invoicing.
Support and education that meets advertisers where they are, not where traditional demand-side platforms (DSPs) expect them to be.
Retailers who embrace this approach are being inclusive, but also strategic.
Activating the long tail creates new revenue, boosts fill rates and drives product discovery across the catalog.
It also enhances the shopper experience, making it easier to surface relevant, diverse products in every category, ultimately boosting personalization, because the more products advertised on a retailer’s site, the higher the probability is that the product will match the shopper’s needs.
The future is retail-native and built for scale.
Mid- and long-tail advertisers aren’t a “nice to have.” They’re the backbone of a scalable retail media business.
The next generation of retail media networks won’t be defined by how well they serve the top 100 brands. They’ll be defined by how well they make advertising as accessible, flexible and self-directed as selling.
Retailers who embrace that model will see returns in greater participation, higher yield and a more resilient retail media business.
Learn more about how top eCommerce businesses are unlocking growth through retail media by downloading our eBook.
