Retail Media Unplugged, Epsilon's Adam Skinner

Why It Matters

Marketers and retailers that invest in omnichannel measurement, first-party data and loyalty-driven strategies will win in a landscape where AI agents and aggregated regional networks increasingly determine purchase outcomes. Failure to adapt risks losing visibility and sales as buying shifts from humans to algorithmic proxies.

Summary

Epsilon’s Adam Skinner says retail media is returning to brick-and-mortar not as a revival of old tactics but because physical stores are finally catching up to decades of digital measurement—and most purchases still happen in store. He argues advertisers must pursue true omnichannel measurement and connect with shoppers across in-store and online touchpoints. In an emerging era of agentic commerce, AI “bots” act as proxies for humans, so brands that embed into consumers’ loyalty and preference graphs—and control rich first-party data—will be favored by agents. Skinner also sees opportunity in midtail and longtail retail media networks, which offer unique local audiences and are likely to consolidate or aggregate to make activation easier for brands.

Original Description

In this episode of Retail Media Unplugged, Senior Editor Cyndi Hitchens chats with Adam Skinner, managing director of retail media at Epsilon, and one of this year's P2PI Retail Media Award winners.

He shares his views on the "collapsing" marketing funnel, why the next phase of growth could belong to mid- and long-tail retailers, in-store finally catching up to digital media and how brands can win in the era of agentic commerce.

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