Retail Media Leapfrog Series: Self-serve by any other name will not smell as sweet

Advertisers are demanding it.

Retailers see it as a great unlock.

But not all self-serve is created equal. And in this week’s Retail Media Leapfrog Series - a collection of thoughts designed to help retailers leapfrog incumbents by learning from the past - I’m arguing that self-serve has quietly become one of the biggest bait-and-switches in retail media.

Yes, advertisers say they want to manage their own campaigns. But the real question retailers need to ask is: how? and why?

Because if you believe the core thesis—that the rest-of-market grows only when we make retail media:

• Easier and more appealing to buy, AND
• Easier and more efficient to operate

...then today’s self-serve tools are actually doing the opposite.

They splinter the buy. They splinter the data. They splinter the customer experience. But most importantly, self-serve today often removes retailers from a seat at the table - splintering their relationship with advertisers (suppliers).

So this week, we’re defining 'self-serve in retail media' - and how retailers and advertisers (suppliers), can maintain a direct relationship while still offering self-serve capabilities.

Self-Serve-ish

If you've read this far, ask yourself; how do I define self-serve? An analytics dashboard? A tool to buy PLAs across multiple retailers? Allowing advertisers to buy in their own seat in a DSP or on Meta?

Here’s what I'm seeing the most of as it relates to “self-serve” today:

• Product Listing Bidding Portal Self-Serve: bidders that traditionally supported product listing ad buys on Amazon have expanded into other retailers allowing for network buys.
• Programmatic Onsite Self-Serve: onsite inventory made available via SSPs and DSPs for advertisers to buy onsite.
• Cleanroom Audience Share Self-Serve: advertisers can power offsite buys in their own seats leveraging retail audiences passed to DSPs.
• In-Store DooH Self-Serve: programmatic buys into in-store screens.
• Social Self-Serve: social sites allowing advertisers to buy retail-shared audiences in their own seats.
• Data Dashboard: portal for brands to log into to see their campaign performance

Retail Media as a whole is moving away from a purely managed-service powered proposition and into a more hybrid one. But that shift seems to be placing the burden of management on the advertiser.

Self-serve by any other name is just managed service, powered by the advertiser.

The result? We’re not enabling advertisers. We’re just redistributing the mess. The same operational and measurement complexity that retailers struggled with in managed service, is now in the hands of the advertiser.

Yes, advertisers can buy product listing ads across multiple retailer websites - and maybe display ads as well. Yes, that makes it easier for that tactic. But what about video? What about in-store screens? What about CTV? What about social? What about offsite programmatic? What about physical signage? What about coupons? What about non-endemic?... you catch my drift.

Everyone. Everywhere. All at Once.

There's more.

In the current construct of self-serve retail media, we're making it harder for advertisers to buy. But we're also making it harder for advertisers to choose, measure and frankly, find value in independent retail media offerings.

Imagine you're a retailer that has opened up all of these incredible self-serve opportunities - let's pick a magic number of seven different self-serve options. Now seven companies are potentially reaching out to your advertisers (suppleirs) on your behalf saying, "I can help you get ads on [retailer.com]", in addition to what I assume is your direct sales team.

And measurement? How are we measuring true performance when buys are splintered across tactic and vendor?

And value? If you're relegating your inventory to a network or programmatic buy, are your audiences and customers are simply meshed with everyone else?

Redefining Self-Serve in Retail Media

Let’s be clear on a few things:

✅ You should absolutely offer self-serve. It’s not optional—it’s expected. Advertisers want more control, and the right solution can unlock serious scale.

✅ If built thoughtfully, self-serve drives incremental value. For you and your advertisers. It can grow spend, improve margins, and enhance the customer experience—without cannibalizing your existing revenue streams. (Call me, I’ll show you how.)

✅ There’s room for a hybrid model. Direct-sold and network-based self-serve can coexist. What matters is that you stay in the driver’s seat, maintaining the relationship, the data, and the strategy.

BUT, you need to own a direct relationship with your advertiser, full stop. AND, you need to be thinking about self-serve simplification and value. How. Why.

This takes us to the point. How do I define self-serve for retail media moving forward?

Self-serve isn’t a portal. It’s a platform.

One that makes it easier for advertisers to plan, buy, measure, and optimize retail media—without splintering the retailer relationship, the customer experience, or the data.

Real self-serve in retail media is:

• Unified, not tactic-specific.
• Guided, not overwhelming.
• Connected, not fragmented.
• Retailer-led, not outsourced.

Self-serve should feel like a single front door to your retail media business, that you own. Not a choose-your-own-adventure of disconnected tools and vendors.

I asked ChatGPT to give me something pithy off the above article and it wrote something wonderful:

Self-serve in retail media shouldn’t mean do it yourself. It should mean do it better—together.

AI Mic Drop!

Would love your thoughts on this! Comment and debate away!

And check out more in the Retail Media Leapfrog Series, click the link to subscribe. #RMNLeapfrogSeries