Navigating the Build vs. Buy Decision for Retail Media:
Key Considerations and Strategic Insights
Retail media has quickly become a core strategy for many retailers looking to monetize their customer data and digital channels. As more retailers embark on the journey to build their Retail Media Network (RMN), they face a critical decision: should they build their own infrastructure or buy into existing solutions?
Walk, Run, Fly: The Evolution of RMNs
Retailers adopting retail media often go through phases of growth—starting with the “walk” phase, where understanding and simple execution are key, moving into the “run” phase as strategies become more advanced, and ultimately reaching the “fly” phase where scalability and sophisticated technology come into play. With each phase, the level of internal expertise, resources, and technology sophistication needed increases. The question of whether to build or buy becomes even more critical as teams evolve.
In the early stages, it might seem easier to outsource much of the work to a third-party provider. But as the retailer’s ambitions grow, the case for owning more of the RMN operation becomes compelling. Deciding when to build in-house capabilities versus when to buy solutions depends on several factors, including strategy, financial flexibility, internal expertise, and the scale of ambition.
The Case for Buying into an RMN Platform
For retailers in the “walk” phase, buying into an existing retail media platform may seem like the most straightforward solution. This approach offers speed to market and scalability, allowing retailers to tap into third-party expertise and established infrastructure. Outsourcing can help you hit the ground running, especially if you’re launching a program for the first time or need to ramp up quickly with minimal risk.
Many third-party platforms offer full-service capabilities, from ad sales to performance analytics, which are critical for retailers who don’t yet have the internal structure to manage these elements themselves. The benefits of buying into an existing platform include:
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- Speed to Market: Quickly launching campaigns and generating revenue with minimal setup.
- Outsourced Expertise: Access to experienced ad sales and operations teams.
- Scalability: Easier expansion without having to build out the infrastructure yourself.
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However, this approach also comes with trade-offs. Retailers risk relying too heavily on external partners, which can limit their control over customer data, insights, and the overall strategic direction of their RMN.
Building Your Own RMN
For retailers further along in their RMN journey—those in the “run” or “fly” phases—building in-house capabilities can provide greater control and long-term profitability. Owning the infrastructure allows retailers to have tighter integration with their e-commerce and in-store systems, as well as greater flexibility in how they sell ad inventory and manage relationships with advertisers.
The decision to build your own RMN infrastructure becomes more feasible as your internal team gains confidence and expertise. At this point, bringing elements like ad serving, targeting, and analytics in-house allows for:
- Data Ownership: Full control over your audience data and how it’s monetized.
- Customization: Tailored solutions that align with your business objectives and customer experience.
- Profit Margins: Higher profit margins since you’re cutting out middlemen and managing more of the operations internally.
Salesforce as a Core Foundation for Your RMN
Retailers may overlook that many of the necessary technologies to power a full-scale RMN already exist within Salesforce. Between Media Cloud, Data Cloud, Marketing Cloud Intelligence, and integration capabilities through MuleSoft, retailers can manage much of their RMN infrastructure on a single platform.
Using Salesforce as the backbone for your RMN offers the advantage of:
- Unified Data Management: Salesforce Data Cloud ensures that all customer interactions—across marketing, sales, and service—are centralized and accessible, making audience segmentation and targeting more efficient.
- Seamless Campaign Management: Media Cloud enables retailers to manage ad inventory, serve ads across multiple channels (in-store, on-site, and off-site), and integrate directly with external ad servers like Xandr or Criteo, if needed.
- Integrated Analytics: With Marketing Cloud Intelligence, retailers can leverage advanced analytics to measure ad performance, optimize campaigns, and ensure that insights are shared across teams through dashboards and reports in Tableau.
By integrating Salesforce solutions into your RMN strategy, retailers can streamline workflows, simplify reporting, and improve cross-team collaboration, all while maintaining control over critical data and processes. Retailers in the “walk” phase may not need to manage everything in-house immediately, but leveraging Salesforce can provide a gradual path toward in-house ownership as your RMN evolves.
Key Considerations for Retailers
Whether building or buying, each approach has unique challenges and advantages, and the right choice depends on the retailer’s phase of RMN maturity:
- In-House Leadership: Keep strategic roles, such as RMN leadership and proposition management, in-house to ensure alignment with overall business goals and customer experience.
- Outsourcing for Efficiency: Outsource certain operational roles—ad sales, client management, and execution—to accelerate growth, but avoid relying entirely on external partners for core strategy and data.
- Hybrid Models: Consider hybrid models that combine both in-house capabilities and third-party services. For instance, retailers like Tesco and Sainsbury’s initially outsourced large parts of their RMN operations before bringing them back in-house over time
Strategic Next Steps for Retailers
Ultimately, whether to build or buy your retail media network will depend on your specific goals, resources, and phase of RMN development. Retailers must strike a balance between maintaining control over key operations and leveraging external expertise to scale efficiently. At V2 Strategic Advisors, we’ve helped guide clients through every stage of this journey, tailoring our approach based on the retailer’s growth phase and existing tech stack.
For many retailers, Salesforce provides an ideal foundation for managing RMN operations efficiently, while still allowing for flexibility as the network scales. By utilizing existing technology investments, retailers can avoid costly, redundant infrastructure and instead focus on building an RMN that is both profitable and aligned with long-term business objectives.
Building Trust Starts With A Conversation.
If you’re unsure whether building or buying a retail media network is the best option for your business and would like to consult with specialists who can guide you through the decision-making process, we encourage you to reach out to us. Our team at V2 Strategic Advisors can help conduct a comprehensive assessment, ensuring you’ve considered all the relevant factors for your unique situation. We’re here to help you make the most informed decision possible. We look forward to hearing from you!
