We spoke to Georgia Riley, Retail Media Propositions Strategy & Development Manager – Offline Channels (Waitrose and John Lewis) at John Lewis Partnership, to discuss the rapid growth of retail media, the retailer’s own strategies, and how the future of the channel is looking.
How have you seen retail media develop over your time in the industry?
Retail media has shown a significant evolution in recent years. It has evolved from a way for retailers to make a bit of extra cash on the side, to an undeniable strategic pillar, now sitting firmly alongside core functions like merchandising and marketing. We’ve witnessed a rapid professionalisation, marked by the appointment of dedicated leadership, the formation of specialised teams, and substantial investments in sophisticated technology across both online and physical environments.
The UK market has been a dynamic space. Mirroring global trends, the focus is acutely on leveraging rich shopper data to forge meaningful connections between brands and consumers. However, the intensely competitive grocery landscape in the UK has spurred retailers to aggressively innovate, often through strategic collaborations with technology providers. This has accelerated advancements in areas like precision targeting and robust measurement frameworks.
While the UK market often exhibits a strong collaborative spirit between retailers and brands, a consistent challenge, shared globally, remains the establishment of standardised measurement and transparent reporting. Furthermore, the UK’s robust data privacy regulations necessitate a particularly nuanced approach to customer consent within retail media strategies.
The tangible outcomes of this evolution are clear: the emergence of executive roles like “Head of Retail Media,” significant budgetary allocations for enabling technologies, and the elevation of retail media to boardroom discussions. The focus has expanded beyond rudimentary online advertising to encompass integrated experiences – think dynamic in-store digital displays and personalised in-app recommendations – all geared towards delivering demonstrable value for brand partners and enriching the overall customer journey.
What do you see as the main reason for its rapid growth in recent years? Why has this led to that growth?
The fundamental driver behind retail media’s rapid ascent is its inherent ability to create a ‘win-win-win’ ecosystem when executed strategically. For retailers, it unlocks a significant and increasingly vital revenue stream. For brands, it provides unparalleled access to high-intent shoppers at the critical point of purchase. And crucially, for customers, it has the potential to translate into more relevant offers and a more intuitive shopping experience. This alignment of benefits fuels a powerful engine for growth.
Compounding this is the escalating challenge brands face in cutting through the ever-growing advertising noise. Retailers sit on a wealth of first-party data, offering invaluable insights into consumer behaviour and purchase pathways. Retailers are also there at the pivotal moment of transaction. Recognising this unique advantage, brands and their agencies are strategically reallocating marketing budgets towards retail media to engage with primed audiences with contextual relevance. It’s about achieving impactful presence precisely when and where it matters most to the consumer.
This increased brand investment, in turn, empowers retailers to reinvest in cutting-edge technologies, expand their media inventory, and attract top talent, creating a positive feedback loop that propels the entire retail media landscape forward.
“The focus has expanded beyond rudimentary online advertising to encompass integrated experiences – think dynamic in-store digital displays and personalised in-app recommendations.”
Why is it important to ensure in-store retail media works in unison with online and other channels as the space continues to grow?
In today’s retail environment, the notion of distinct ‘online’ and ‘offline’ channels is increasingly obsolete from the customer’s perspective. They expect a fluid and consistent brand experience across all touchpoints, and a growing demand for personalisation underscores this expectation. Our data at John Lewis reflects this reality, with 68% of customer journeys starting online, and nearly 70% exhibiting omnichannel behaviour overall. Similarly, while Waitrose sees 94% of transactions in-store, digital touchpoints like our website and app are integral to the pre-shopping and in-store decision-making process, whether it’s checking recipes, comparing ingredients, or making dietary swaps.
For a retailer like JLP, the opportunity is there to be a consistent and relevant presence throughout the customer’s day. Consider a customer engaging with our Waitrose ‘Dish’ podcast during their commute, noticing a John Lewis window display as they pass by on the bus, browsing recipe cards in-store at Waitrose when they pop in for a meal deal at lunch, on their way home they nip into John Lewis to book a beauty treatment for the weekend, while there they spot a new perfume ad on a digital screen and bank it for a loved one’s birthday present, and finally when home placing an online Waitrose order incorporating elements from their in-store and digital interactions. This interconnected journey highlights why a siloed approach to retail media is no longer viable. To truly serve our customers and brand partners effectively, a unified, omnichannel retail media strategy is not just important – it’s essential.
You previously mentioned that JLP is in year three of a five-year retail media strategy, what triggered the business to be an early mover in this modern retail media push?
I wouldn’t necessarily characterise JLP as an ‘early mover,’ which is a good thing, as our new strategic foresight gives us the advantage of not having to build on top of legacy retail media strategies and technologies, we’ve gained the agility to build a modern, future-proof offering from the ground up. Our current phase involves significant investment in building a robust tech stack and a sophisticated data infrastructure, alongside a deep integration of retail media into our broader marketing and commercial strategies.
Ultimately, our commitment is driven by the expectations of the supplier brands within Waitrose and John Lewis. They rightly expect us to facilitate impactful, relevant, and inspiring connections with our highly engaged customer base. This expectation forms the bedrock of our retail media strategy. We’ve established dedicated teams across all key pillars – in-store, offsite, onsite, and loyalty – working in unison to ensure a holistic and integrated offering. While synchronising progress across these pillars can present challenges in a rapidly evolving industry, we believe this comprehensive approach is the most effective way to serve our brand partners who seek to engage with our audiences across the entire JLP ecosystem.
“Our current phase involves significant investment in building a robust tech stack and a sophisticated data infrastructure, alongside a deep integration of retail media into our broader marketing and commercial strategies.”
How has your relationship developed with brand partners during that period? And what have been the key learnings so far?
Navigating the landscape as a large retailer with the distinct identities of John Lewis and Waitrose, our relationship with brand partners has been one of continuous evolution, refinement and active listening.
Initially, our need to test and learn within controlled groups meant that access for smaller and independent brands wasn’t always straightforward which, inadvertently, created barriers for these brands – who are critical to our sustainable growth – to get excited about working with us. A critical learning from this phase has been the paramount importance of inclusivity and accessibility.
In response, we’ve actively integrated our media sales teams into the strategic planning process. Their direct market engagement and understanding of brand partner needs have been instrumental in identifying a broader spectrum of opportunities for all suppliers. Furthermore, we’ve placed a strong emphasis on simplifying processes and reducing friction points. This includes actively addressing creative costs and lead times, and, particularly for our in-store media, providing clearer upfront guidance to expedite approvals and ensure impactful executions.
Our overarching goal is to cultivate an environment where all brand partners, regardless of their scale, feel valued, supported, and genuinely enthusiastic about collaborating with us as our retail media capabilities advance. We are committed to demonstrating our efforts to be more inclusive and provide greater value, fostering stronger partnerships and driving mutual success.
Where do you see further progress being made over the next two years? And how big of a part will data and storytelling play in that?
The next two years will be pivotal in the development of data-driven media planning within retail media. Our focus will be on empowering our brand partners to effectively leverage the insights we possess. This involves a two-pronged approach: firstly, equipping our media sales teams with the necessary training and tools, in collaboration with partners like dunnhumby, to translate complex data into actionable media strategies. Secondly, we recognise that data in isolation is inert. Therefore, a significant emphasis will be on helping our brand partners develop compelling narratives and activations based on JLP’s data. Many brands, particularly smaller ones, may lack the in-house resources for sophisticated data analysis and storytelling. Our role extends beyond simply offering self-serve platforms; it’s about fostering collaborative partnerships to unlock the true potential of our data assets.
Equally crucial for future growth, is ensuring our media channels work seamlessly alongside each to support the increasingly fluid customer journey. There is often a tendency among brands to concentrate budgets within familiar channels. Our focus will be on demonstrating the power of a unified, programmatic approach to media buying across our ecosystem. I was struck recently by a creative agency’s ambition to prioritise customer-focused content above sheer scale, and this resonates deeply with our philosophy. By combining rich data with compelling storytelling across integrated channels, we can create truly impactful and customer-centric retail media experiences.
