Retail Media Networks (RMN) didn’t start as media businesses. They started as loyalty programs.

For decades, retailers have quietly built the most valuable asset in advertising: verified transaction data. Loyalty cards connected real people to real purchases long before digital media could. That data foundation is what ultimately made Retail Media Networks possible.

This Becausal RMN timeline traces how that backbone evolved and why the next phase of retail media won’t be defined by scale alone, but by how far that data can responsibly travel.

From Loyalty to Walled Gardens

As digital advertising matured, retailers realized their purchase data could power media. Sponsored placements, closed ecosystems, and on-platform measurement scaled quickly, especially within Amazon and large national retailers.

The model worked, but it created silos.

Retail media delivers performance inside retailer walls, since the rest of the media ecosystem is too often disconnected from the most accurate signal available: actual purchase behavior.

Outcome Measurement Raises the Stakes

By the early 2020s, retail media shifted from impressions to outcomes. Incrementality and verified sales became the new standard, elevating RMNs from media line items to board-level growth drivers.

But this shift also exposed a limitation: retail-grade data was locked inside individual platforms, even as brands continued spending heavily across the open web, CTV, and programmatic channels.

The Missing Layer: Rest of Market (ROM)

Brands don’t need another RMN. They need a way to extend RMN intelligence beyond it.

Becausal Rest of Market (ROM) insights provide RMNs with information outside owned retail ecosystems, where reach is abundant, but purchase verification is often weaker. The unique ability to see retail-level transaction data empowers RMNs to compete in smarter ways and brands to amplify outcomes. 

How Becausal Complements the RMN Stack

Becausal is a ROM solution that empowers RMN with greater understanding of how consumers transact outside of their environments. By aggregating transaction data across dozens of retailers, Becausal enables activation of retailer-grade audiences across the rest of the market, with transparency and control.

Key capabilities include:

• ExtendedAudiences™: Expands retailer-based audiences beyond individual RMNs, preserving purchase fidelity while increasing reach.
• AuditableAI™: Provides explainable, privacy-first audience creation and measurement, replacing black-box modeling with accountability.
• ROM Activation: Enables RMN-level intelligence across DSPs, CTV, and open channels, with outcomes tied back to real transactions.

What Comes Next

Retail media’s future isn’t about building bigger silos. It’s about connecting them responsibly.

As standards mature and marketers demand transparency, the next phase of retail media will favor solutions that extend purchase truth beyond retailer walls, without sacrificing trust, privacy, or measurement integrity.

Download our timeline that shows how retail media got to this point. Becausal is helping unlock where it goes next.

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