Retail media networks became the world's third major advertising channel, after search and social. In 2025 the global market surpassed US$140 billion and projections take it to US$200 billion before 2028. But those numbers are concentrated in North America, Europe and Asia. In LatAm, retail media still doesn't reach even 1% of what it could be.
LatAm has the traffic, the transactional data and the brands that want to invest. What it lacks is the structure to monetize it at scale. That's the opportunity.
What a retail media network is
A retail media network is the business that emerges when a retailer — or any platform with recurring traffic and first-party data — sells its digital inventory as advertising space to brands that want to reach its customers. It's not just another banner on the homepage: it's a complete system that includes ad serving, real-time decisioning models, sponsored formats, incrementality measurement and a commercial team that sells the inventory to brands.
- The retailer has the data of what the customer bought, when, for how much and in which category.
- That first-party data allows advertising to be relevant.
- It's measured in real sales and not in clicks.
- The advertiser pays for results and not for impressions.
- North America: US$88 billion in retail media in 2025 — mature market.
- Asia-Pacific: US$35 billion — high growth.
- Europe: US$15 billion — consolidating.
- LatAm: less than US$2 billion — emerging, but with traffic and data already in place.
LatAm has the highest e-commerce traffic per capita in the world, but monetizes that traffic at less than 0.5%. The gap between what's there and what's captured is the business.
Why LatAm is the next big retail media market
Three factors converge. First, the region's digital commerce grew at double digits annually for the last five years and already represents a significant portion of total retail in countries like Brazil, Mexico, Chile and Colombia. Second, users are logged in: unlike markets where browsing is anonymous, in LatAm most digital transactions happen with a created account, which gives identity, history and first-party data. Third, brands are already allocating budget to global retail media and looking to replicate that spend in the region.
Not all retail media formats perform equally. The ones that generate measurable and sustained return are those that connect directly with the user's purchase intent. These are the ones a well-built retail media network activates first.
- Sponsored Products: the sponsored product appears in the search result or category page, at the exact moment the customer is looking to buy.
- Sponsored Brands: the brand takes a prominent space on the home page or category, with its logo and a mini product showcase.
- Display ads: banners and rich media within the property, segmented by behavior and category.
- Offsite: the retailer's inventory extends to external channels (social, search) using first-party data to target.
The obstacle: it's not technology, it's operations
The technology to run a retail media network exists and is accessible. The real obstacle in LatAm is operational. A retail media network needs an ad ops team that configures and monitors campaigns, a commercial team that sells the inventory to brands, a data science team that trains and adjusts the decisioning models, and a measurement team that reports incrementality. That team doesn't come together in a month, and talent with retail media experience is scarce in the region.
A retail media network isn't a marketing project: it's a business unit with its own P&L, its own KPIs and its own team. If you treat it as a module, it doesn't scale.
The shortest path to start isn't building everything from scratch. It's bringing in a partner that provides the technology platform, the operating model and the team that runs it, and does it on your traffic with your brands. In weeks, not years, the first campaigns can be live, generating the data that then gives brands the confidence to renew and the retailer to raise rates.
Every month that passes without monetizing your digital inventory is a month of revenue left on the table. And in a market growing at double digits, the table keeps getting bigger.
The first 90 days: from zero to first dollar
The launch of a well-built retail media network isn't measured in months: it's measured in weeks. In the first 30 days the platform is mounted on existing traffic, placements are configured and priority formats are integrated — usually Sponsored Products and Sponsored Brands, which generate return fastest. From days 30 to 60 the first brands are onboarded, configurations are corrected and performance data starts being generated. By day 90, the first campaigns are live and the first incrementality report can be shown.
- Days 0–30: mount the platform, configure placements and integrate priority formats.
- Days 30–60: onboard first brands, correct and generate performance data.
- Days 60–90: campaigns live and first incrementality report.
A retail media network has a compounding effect: the first campaigns generate data, the data improves the decisioning models, better models generate more return for brands, and more return generates more renewals and more brands. It's a **flywheel** that accelerates on its own once it starts.
The conversation that changes: from cost to margin
The moment the retail media network starts generating consistent revenue, the internal conversation changes. What was a cost — the platform, the team, the measurement — becomes a margin line. And it's not just any margin: it's advertising revenue that carries no cost of goods, no warehousing, no last mile. It's the highest margin a retailer can add without changing its logistics operation. That's the moment the project stops being defended and starts funding itself.
A retail media network in LatAm isn't a question of if, it's a question of when and with whom. The market is here. The traffic is here. The brands are here. The only thing missing is the decision to start.
