Catherine Rex

Last week at the Ascendant Network conference in London, Florian Clemens, from Tesco Media and Insight Platform Media asked a deceptively simple question to the audience: “𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘶𝘮𝘱𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨?” It stuck with me for a whole load of reasons. Because once you start looking, you realise just how many unexamined assumptions impact how retail media is viewed. And assumptions count. What underpins our assumptions? Biases often drive assumptions. I believe the two of the most important factors to be successful in retail media and in our business careers in general are -> Being an expert in our own specific domain, for example, retail media, adtech, selling, marketing- whatever our job is. -> Being an expert in understanding our own cognitive biases. The two big biases that matter, in my opinion, are ‘cognitive bias’ and the ‘availability heuristic’. In my latest InternetRetailing Retail Media column, I go into some detail about Retail Media assumptions that should be questioned - and that you should question. [The full column is in the comments.] So, let’s actually look at some of those assumptions and see where they are leading us. => Assumption 1: “Retail media is purely lower funnel” If you’re a classic brand marketer, this assumption is pretty common. The logic goes like this:   -> Retail media is based on search + is close to the point of purchase.   -> Therefore it must be “performance media”.   -> Therefore it can’t be “real” brand building. => Assumption 2: “In-store screens don’t build brands” => Assumption 3: “Agentic commerce will replace everything” [Agentic hype is classic example of recency bias in action.] => Assumption 4 – “Broad reach media good, targeted reach media bad” and its subset - 'Retail Media cannot build brands! Steve Gray addresses this one perfectly: ‘Retail media is the only marketing channel that delivers both mental and physical availability — the two scientifically proven drivers of brand growth. Penetration grows when presence grows. Presence grows through retail media.’ =>Assumption 5 – “Measurement in retail media is a problem” The real risk isn’t that retail media doesn’t work but that our assumptions are faulty. In an age of hot takes & AI-driven LinkedIn posts, it’s never been easier to offer a point of view that looks solid at first glance but falls apart under when you see the assumptions underpinning the statement. For retail media in particular, it’s worth asking yourself regularly:   -> What am I assuming about “brand” vs “performance”?   -> What am I assuming about screens in-store vs screens anywhere else?   -> What am I assuming about what counts as “real” reach?   -> Where am I using “measurement” as a stick to beat people with? As a practical test: write down your three biggest beliefs about retail media and ask, “𝘞𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘥𝘪𝘥 𝘐 𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘶𝘱𝘥𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 – 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘪𝘵 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦 𝘮𝘺 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘥?”

40

10 Comments

I attended eBay’s Seller Roundtable in London with Mark Monte-Colombo, Simon Mayhew, Wahaaj Shabbir and Alice Marsden to align on the next phase of growth for our branded FMCG stores. eBay remains one of the UK’s largest marketplaces. Alongside strong buyer intent and meaningful scale in FMCG, it has built one of the most loyal customer bases in UK ecommerce — with particular strength in value and circular categories such as refurbished. That combination of recurring customers and sustainability-led demand makes it commercially significant for all brands operating at scale.. What’s often overlooked is the strength of its customer data. Years of purchasing history, combined with a genuinely effective CRM tool, allow sellers to engage repeat buyers directly — a powerful lever in FMCG where retention and frequency drive margin. The conversation centred on unlocking further growth by simplifying complexity, improving execution and enabling brands to scale more effectively on the platform. Diversification isn’t about chasing platforms. It’s about layering them properly and building resilience into the model. This is how real, scalable growth is built. Interested to hear how others are thinking about platform layering and retention in 2026. #ecommerce #marketplaces #FMCG #eBay #retail

70

5 Comments

Excited to share my first byline for Fortune, where I reflect on how AI is reshaping the world of advertising—if we approach it thoughtfully. After two decades advising businesses across EMEA, I’ve seen technology and consumer behavior evolve at a remarkable pace, but nothing felt as rapid or transformative as AI. It’s clear it isn’t just the next big thing, it’s already shaking up how we innovate, engage, and grow. In the piece, I dig into how AI is leveling the playing field, and why the real magic happens when humans and AI team up. I also discuss how AI is unlocking more creativity, enabling smarter decisions, and making room for what truly matters. Check out the article here: https://lnkd.in/ebYf-nUe Curious—where have you seen AI make the biggest impact in your business? Drop your thoughts below! 💬

167

2 Comments

The eBay Circular Fashion Fund is back for 2026, expanding across Europe and North America to support the next generation of fashion innovators tackling waste, resale, repair and recycling. Eight businesses will receive funding and mentoring - with one global winner unlocking the opportunity for additional investment from eBay Ventures. This is how we help ideas scale, not just talk about change. Applications are now open 👇 https://lnkd.in/g3NkJ5_C  #CircularFashionFund #sustainability #ebay

37

What do #Rosalía, #ASOS, #Outcast, #NewLook, and #Topshop all have in common? They’re each proving that in 2025, attention is currency and the brands that can turn moments into momentum will win. In this new episode of The Retail Podcast, Simone Oloman and I break down five moments every retail leader should have on their radar: 1. Rosalía’s “Berghain” when culture becomes commerce. Her latest release blends fashion, art, and music into a masterclass in brand gravity. 2. ASOS on Carnaby Street, a ten-day pop-up testing the limits of physical retail for a digital-native brand. 3. Outcast Clothing, localising speed, service, and influence with its new UK hub and app. 4. New Look’s “Club New Look”, loyalty as infrastructure, not marketing; over 500k members already on board. 5. Topshop’s #CaraDelevingne comeback, nostalgia meets Gen Z in a play to rebuild emotional equity. Across these stories runs a single question: what really holds a customer’s attention now—price, access, or belonging? Watch or listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or YouTube Link in the comments. #RetailPodcast #FashionBusiness #RetailTrends #Rosalia #ASOS #OutcastClothing #NewLook #Topshop #Loyalty #ExperientialRetail #CulturalCommerce #GenZ #RetailStrategy #UKRetail

11

1 Comment

One of the fascinating bits of working at Google is being able to get an insight into Search trends - what are people searching for in their daily lives. It can hold a mirror up to the preoccupations, concerns and curiosity of a nation. I wanted to highlight some interesting trends we’ve seen this summer in some of the markets I work with... 🇳🇬 In Nigeria ⭐ how to make money with ai ⭐ increased by +40% over the past 12 months - people are thinking about the opportunity there, so that’s encouraging 🇦🇪 In the UAE, Search interest in ⭐ AI + Learning ⭐ has increased +110% June-August 2025 vs the same period the prior year 🇮🇱 And in Israel, Search interest in ⭐ AI + Budget ⭐ has increased +170% in the past 12 months - with the cost of living occupying people’s thoughts Clearly, AI is on our minds — but interesting to see the local nuances... #AI #Google #SearchTrends

39

4 Comments

I receive a lot of queries from online retailers and CPG companies regarding what they should be doing to better optimise their products for LLM Platforms. As consumers shift from typing queries into search engines to asking questions of AI assistants and LLM-powered platforms, online retailers and CPG brands must rethink digital visibility. Unlike traditional SEO, AI search relies on large language models (LLMs) that surface answers based on context, authority, and structured data. Take a look at this 2 pager regarding what retailers and CPG companies should be addressing.

6

At Zalando, we aren't using AI to replace creativity. We are using it to solve the industry’s biggest bottleneck: scaling high-quality storytelling. Traditionally, you couldn't give every SKU the editorial treatment. It was too expensive and too slow. Today, we can turn standard product imagery into inspiring, video-like content in hours. The result? • We can react to microtrends in under 24 hours. • Engagement increases by up to 10% on elevated pages. • Return rates drop because customers can see how products actually move. I sat down with Elena Ermishina to discuss how we are developing content-driven commerce at Zalando. You can watch the full conversation here. 👇

347

20 Comments

Existential crises, or once-in-a-generation-opportunity? 🚀 vs ⚠️ Thanks Victoria M. and Alex Angelakis for hosting me at the Charity Retail Association ecomm meet up this week. My main message was 'ecommerce as we know it is over'. In the new world of AI-powered shopping we're going to see enormous disruption to 'business as usual'. For two main reason: ➤ 1. Personalised Shopping. AI is giving shoppers the ability to access hyper customised and unique shopping experiences. Picture a world where every product page loads differently depending on who's looking at it. Or having the ability to 'speak' to an AI stylist while you browse. Businesses that aren't set up and ready for the huge changes that are coming to how people shop will be left behind and see their traffic collapse. ➤ 2. Stock Selection. AI has enabled organisations with large volumes of used goods to know exactly what to pick, when to pick it, how much to sell it for and when to discount. Imagine an always on business intelligence analyst who proactively tells you about trending opportunities, storage optimisation in your warehouse and much more. Even small organisations can now access very affordable, high-powered data computing; businesses that do this will leapfrog others who operate based on instinct. Recently, I was speaking to some friends about how to convince senior leadership of the need to get ready for this new future. To borrow their line: "Today, I’m presenting this as a growth opportunity. But tomorrow, I’ll be presenting it as a recovery plan.” The shift is already happening, not next year, right now. Charity retailers, preloved sellers, and ecom leaders who embrace AI today will not just survive, they’ll lead the future of sustainable commerce. Let’s talk if you’re exploring what this could look like in your organisation 🚀⚠️

15

1 Comment

𝙄𝙙𝙚𝙖 #𝟮𝟬: 𝙈𝙚𝙖𝙨𝙪𝙧𝙚 𝙬𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙢𝙖𝙩𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙨: 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙩𝙧𝙤𝙪𝙗𝙡𝙚 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙍𝙊𝘼𝙎 A decade ago, I worked with a US retail business that was trying to optimise its paid search spend of around $30m. The team was focused on return-on-ad spend = revenue/ad spend (ROAS) as its primary performance metric.  The CEO wanted to understand whether the spend was efficient and how it could be scaled.  The core issue was the team was 𝗲𝘃𝗮𝗹𝘂𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲 at the same level as it was 𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗮𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲 – a self-fulfilling loop of sub-optimisation.  Underlying this were two interconnected challenges:  • 𝗔𝗴𝗴𝗿𝗲𝗴𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻. Performance was being managed based on a single blended ROAS.  The high-performing keywords were offsetting low-performing keywords.  • 𝗦𝘂𝗿𝗿𝗼𝗴𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻. Optimizing ROAS is never the business objective. When ROAS becomes the only objective, teams stop chasing 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘧𝘪𝘵 and start chasing 𝘦𝘧𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘺. Result: They cut high-intent growth traffic (harder to convert) and doubled down on brand searches (traffic they would have likely captured anyway).    The core diagnosis was a simple decile analysis: keywords were sorted from best to worst performing (based on ROAS) and then grouped into 10 bins of each spend (see example below). This simple descriptive insight was a critical enabler: it doesn’t tell you what to do but it allows you to frame hypotheses and know where to focus.  The key insights: • The top decile (Google “navigation tax”): These are high-volume brand terms. The key question here is about incrementality. Would we have captured this traffic anyway? • The efficient torso: These keywords are performing well. The strategy here is scaling – can we spend more? • The long inefficient tail: What is driving the poor performance here? Low intent keywords, poor landing page experience, price or availability?  𝗧𝗼 𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗿𝗼𝘃𝗲 𝗮 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗲𝘅 𝘀𝘆𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗺, 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗻𝗲𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗱𝗲𝘁𝗮𝗶𝗹. As we dug into keyword-level performance, we found a range of issues and opportunities: • Geo: Performance dropped the further the visitor was from a physical store.  • Product: ROAS plummeted when there was low stock or uncompetitive prices. • Device: High-intent searches on desktop vs. browsing behavior on mobile. • Seasonality: keywords that only became efficient at specific times of year. Key takeaways 1. Deaverage. Analyse at the most granular level where it’s possible to take action.   Deciles are a simple but powerful analytical tool to understand the distribution of performance. 2. Track a portfolio of metrics: e.g., ROAS, mROAS (marginal ROAS), and iROAS (incremental ROAS) – and use as guardrails, not targets.   3. Implement countermeasures: If you measure efficiency (ROAS), you must pair it with a volume constraint (e.g., profit $). Marketing dashboards are great but 𝗱𝗮𝘀𝗵𝗯𝗼𝗮𝗿𝗱𝘀 ≠ 𝗶𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁. 

54

3 Comments

We were lucky to be featured in this weeks Retail Media Age discussing retail media’s evolution from the monolith, the challenges, knowledge gaps and a modularised future—checkout the interview below and a snippet.. //What has been your biggest success so far? \\Solving the search problem. 43%+ of website users use onsite search, 94% of consumers say they receive irrelevant results. This costs retailers over $300 billion a year in the US alone. For years, retail search has been dominated by keyword matching and rules-based ranking. We replaced that with transformer-based (the same ‘T’ in ChatGPT) semantic search that actually understands the shopper’s intent and the product’s meaning. It’s called ATS, or “Adaptive Transformer Search.” Retailers using our approach have seen a step-change in product discovery and retail media performance – be it 20%+ lifts in engagement or the massive time savings AI offers from manual processes – we’ve validated and refined it across enterprise partners in the US, UK, EU, and Australia. It’s become the foundation for the rest of the retail media stack with downstream impacts, such as the ‘Automated Ad’Set Builder’ we announced last month, and is woven into our ML-powered hyper-personalisation capabilities for the customer experience layer. Grateful to Tyrone for inviting me to the conversation. https://lnkd.in/gRERp5Wn

21

1 Comment

The Growth Metric Most Brands Ignore Want to grow your brand? Stop obsessing over loyalty. Start playing the numbers. Kantar’s 2025 Brand Footprint report, tracking 13 years of FMCG data, reveals a clear pattern: 📈 88% of growing brands in 2024 boosted penetration - not just sales 🌍 Lay’s and OMO each added 20M new shoppers globally 📊 Market share? Up just 1% - but the impact? Massive Why it matters: Most brands chase retention, but the fastest-growing ones get in front of more people, more often. It’s not about squeezing more from your existing base - it’s about expanding the pie. The big unlock: ✅ Growth = more buyers, not better buyers ✅ Loyalty is a byproduct - not a growth lever ✅ Reach drives scale. Scale changes the game. The brands that win understand one thing: You don’t need deeper fans. You need more of them. 👇 How is your brand approaching buyer growth this year? 🔗 Explore Kantar’s full 2025 Brand Footprint rankings: https://lnkd.in/gMKSg_v6 ******* For more like this, try my free newsletter: https://lnkd.in/gBf8n27a

87

99 Comments