The year ahead will test the resilience of retail media networks, thanks in large part to AI.

Retail media is a relatively new marketing channel that sprung up with the rise of Amazon’s ads platform in 2012, and changed the game for digital advertising on retail websites. However, agentic AI is expected to push regular digital advertising on retail sites out of the spotlight.

Lately, the retail media conversation has shifted—brands are rethinking where to spend ad dollars and how to show up when AI agents shop without ever visiting retailers’ websites. So where does the on-site ad inventory sitting with retailers go? This uncertainty makes scaling retail media—deciding where to invest in new ad space and how to grow ad revenue—a major challenge for retailers.

Keep reading here.—VC

With key shipping routes such as the Strait of Hormuz facing disruptions as the Iran war continues, retailers are in the midst of yet another supply chain challenge.

But while brands across the globe are bracing for rising energy and freight costs, retailers within the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC)—countries such as the UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Bahrain—are facing another disruption.

In places like Dubai, one of the Middle East’s largest retail hubs, heightened security concerns and geopolitical uncertainty have forced some global brands to temporarily close stores or operate with reduced staffing in major shopping districts and malls. And unlike in many parts of the West, physical stores are a major driver of sales.

Keep reading here.—JS

In 2023, fast-fashion company Shein invited a group of creators to tour its manufacturing facilities in Guangzhou, China, in response to allegations of employees dealing with long hours, low wages, and other potential labor abuses.

“I went in there not expecting the best conditions for the workers,” Destene Sudduth, a lifestyle influencer, said in a video Shein posted to its brand channels. “But I was pleasantly surprised by how clean it was. Some of the workers were waving at us and smiling.”

Audiences were…not convinced. The behind-the-scenes testimonies and footage from creators on the all-expenses-paid trip led to further backlash and plenty of parodies online, and some creators from the trip ultimately deleted content from their trip or terminated partnerships with the brand.

Keep reading here on Marketing Brew.—KH

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