Retail Media is Fragmented. Your Search Strategy Shouldn’t Be.

In grocery and retail, sponsored search is the most competitive shelf in the store—but it's not infinite. There are only so many top slots on the shelf. And because most consumers don’t scroll past the first few results, visibility is everything—especially on a mobile device.

Consumer Behavior Is Changing—Faster Than Platforms Can Keep Up

Consumers don’t shop the way they did five years ago. Even within grocery:

• Shoppers use multiple apps to fulfill a single list, e.g., Asda for household goods, Waitrose for special occasions, Sainsbury’s and Tesco for everyday
• 72% of grocery shoppers say they begin their product discovery online—even if they plan to buy in-store
• Mobile-first search dominates, with on-site search becoming the new “homepage”

The pace of behavioral change is outstripping the ability of individual RMNs to offer consistent, optimised experiences for advertisers. This inconsistency can stifle campaign performance unless a brand can standardise, automate, and scale search execution intelligently across networks.

Managing search campaigns across five or ten different RMNs independently isn’t just inefficient, messy, and costly—it’s a strategic liability. A single-platform approach unlocks critical advantages.

Consumers don’t shop in silos. So why are brands still executing campaigns in them?

Here’s the Reality:

• Search is zero-sum—if you’re not winning impressions, someone else is
• Shoppers are multi-platform, but expect a consistent experience
• Speed, agility, and cross-retailer intelligence win the digital shelf

That’s why consolidating execution onto one platform isn’t just smart—it’s essential for:

• Unified optimisation
• Faster campaign launches
• Consistent bidding & brand presence
• Visibility into which retailers are working hardest for your media dollars

Retail media is only getting more complex. The brands that centralise now will move faster, spend smarter, and win more.

The Future Isn’t One Retailer. It’s One Platform.

Unlike Amazon, which offers a dominant (if isolated) platform, grocery and general retail search requires omnipresence. But omnipresence doesn’t mean omnimanagement.

The future of retail media lies in orchestrated execution—where insights, budgets, and creative can flow seamlessly across retailers. One platform to coordinate strategy. One brain to power a hundred shelves.

In this model, search becomes not just a paid channel, but a strategic lever for growth. And the brands that master it first—will win first.

Grocery and retail brands no longer have the luxury of choosing between performance and efficiency. They need both. Centralising search campaign execution isn’t just a tactical improvement—it’s a strategic imperative.

Because in the world of retail media, where every shelf is a battlefield and every keyword a contest, the best-organised brand wins.

One Platform, Many Shelves: Why Consolidation Wins