Beyond the Shelf: How Retail Media and Marketplaces Are Driving Smarter, Stickier Growth

Retail media and marketplace strategy used to sit on the sidelines of core brand planning. At CommerceNext, it became clear that’s no longer the case. From Walmart’s growing DTC footprint to TUMI’s luxury price-point wins on Amazon, and the big-picture rethink from BCG,the sessions offered a roadmap for profitable growth in an omnichannel, AI-powered, first-party-data world.

Here’s what stood out across the track.

1. Marketplace maturity is here and it’s personal

Stephanie Pankuch of Walmart Marketplace made one thing clear: Walmart’s marketplace is no longer a secondary channel. It’s a full-fledged growth engine with 270M weekly customers across online, store, and Sam’s Club platforms, 4,600 physical locations, and a seller infrastructure now optimized for hybrid fulfillment and hands-on support.

Walmart’s marketplace now attracts high-income, urban, and Gen Z shoppers disproving the idea that the platform only serves value-driven buyers. What sets Walmart apart, said Pankuch, is its people-led approach: real account managers, not faceless portals, working side-by-side with sellers to improve site experience, content quality, and holiday readiness.

From WFS (Walmart Fulfillment Services) to multi-channel logistics and a growing advertising platform (delivering 5:1 ROAS for sellers), the message was clear: Walmart’s reach is no longer just about stores it’s about omnichannel fluency.

2. Brand control on marketplaces is possible with the right model

In a joint session, Kristen Keesee (TUMI) and John LeBaron (Pattern) unpacked how premium brands can win on marketplaces without losing brand equity. For TUMI, Amazon is both a sales engine and a brand stage. With Pattern acting as an embedded partner, not just a 3P seller, they’ve maintained control over creative, pricing, and conversion strategy.

The session revealed real tactics from a decade-long partnership:

• Digital shelf mapping to rank competitively across 2,000+ keywords

• Streaming TV tests that boosted branded Amazon search by 12%

• AI-powered content testing to reduce returns and improve conversion

• Customized Amazon storefronts that mimic DTC UX while adapting to search and seasonality

A standout insight: TUMI’s $600 backpacks consistently outperform Amazon Basics, and rank higher in ratings, because of strategic content, pre-purchase clarity, and post-purchase satisfaction. “Once they get into TUMI,” said Keesee, “they don’t leave.”

3. Commerce media is the future of media, full stop

In a fast-paced strategy session, Leora Kelman of BCG took the room beyond retail media networks and into commerce media: a broader view of how brands can engage shoppers across the entire journey, not just at the bottom of the funnel.

She laid out three big shifts:

• Funnels are collapsing into influence maps – shopping, scrolling, and searching now happen simultaneously

• Commerce media isn’t just for retailers anymore non-endemic advertisers are moving in, seeking audience access and contextual placements across travel, finance, and delivery platforms

• Measurement remains the biggest barrier and the biggest unlock. As Kelman put it, “Commerce media has the data. Now it needs belief in the data.”

Her call to action: stop thinking like a category, and start thinking like a lifestyle. The best retail media programs will evolve into ecosystem-level partnerships that help advertisers meet consumers wherever they are with relevance, trust, and measurable return.

What the smartest brands are doing right now

Across all three sessions, a few consistent themes emerged:

• Don’t just play defense on marketplaces, play to win with smart segmentation, content, and test-and-learn cycles

• Own the data layer, whether through partnerships (like Pattern), platform tools (like WFS), or direct access via commerce media ecosystems

• Invest in performance-backed creative. Pretesting, A/B storefronts, and platform-native video make a difference

• Treat marketplace and media teams as revenue drivers, not operational add-ons

The future of retail media and marketplaces isn’t about channels, it’s about alignment. When platforms, product, media, and marketplace teams work as one, brands grow faster. And smarter.

ClickZ is a ClickZ Media publication