What retailer marketers should be thinking about in 2025

“Advertisers are looking for a more full-funnel, end-to-end approach, working with a smaller set of DSP partners, thinking about how to connect all touchpoints and be more personal, how to personalize that message. All the journeys have to come together so we can have the right data, the right touchpoints, the right customer journey.”

Insights from a wide-ranging conversation about retail marketing and advertising with Sherry Smith, Managing Director, Americas, at digital advertising platform Criteo. The discussion started with the possible sale of Chrome by Google.

So what if Google sells Chrome? Any court-enforced sale of Chrome by Google is a long way off. Can marketers forget about it for now? “I think that’s a realistic challenge that we should be thinking about now,” Smith said. “The industry is changing so quickly. We’ve been discussing the potential end of cookie support for years; we have to keep an eye on Google for what might continue to change.”

Smith also talked about the rapid growth of retail media and CTV. He noted that consumers now follow non-linear paths to shopping. “At Criteo, we are constantly thinking about how this world continues to evolve and how to anticipate it. It’s better to prepare.”

However, even after the sale of Chrome, Google would likely retain its search and advertising activities. Search is already changing, not least with the entry of AI into search results. “Retailers need to think about how to make sure they get the eyeballs they need and the conversions they need,” said Smith. “I think these changes create a unique opportunity for retailers to support a more competitive and open web environment.”

If the sale goes through, Chrome would likely continue under the new owner. Any problems you face would be helped by Firefox, Microsoft Edge or Safari. But life would go on as usual. “As far as the bottom line,” Smith said, “I’m not entirely sure. I think we’re trying to look at different outcomes that our partners can think about.”

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The search and discovery process has already changed. Chrome sales would have an impact, but the space is already feeling impacts from other sources. “Social media has been on the rise in the past few years in terms of discovery,” Smith said. Another new horizon is the possibility of using LLM capabilities to search for products and services. Google may offer AI insights, but consumers can go directly to ChatGPT.

“One thing our clients are focused on,” said Smith, “is how they make their website seamless and easy to navigate and offer more predictive search. App development for retailers will be really interesting – how they will continue to offer customers in the omnichannel store.

The Rise of Retail Media. Criteo’s customers are thinking about how they can use all the data they have to work with advertisers, Smith said. “There has been an absolute rise [in retail media] and our goal is to make sure we help connect the ecosystem. It’s cumbersome to work with multiple retailers one at a time, so we’re trying to make the features work not just across multiple, but to make it work globally and at scale.”

Isn’t the term “retail media network” too narrow, since not only retailers have large first-party data sets that can be used to create relevant audiences? For example, publishers too. “We work with partners for off-premises delivery,” Smith said. “Uber is a big client of ours. How do these companies think about this valuable data and how can they monetize it and create some type of business network?

Speaking of publishers, Criteo also works with Hearst, Smith said. “It’s been interesting to see this space evolve, and I think it’s going to be saturated with those outside of the retail space.”

CTV is right around the corner. CTV is not part of Criteo’s scope today, Smith said. “That’s where we’re going tomorrow. Will we see more Criteo activity in the CTV space next year? “I think you’re going to see more Criteo in the upper funnel,” Smith said.