Top 10 Retail Media Mistakes Brands Will Make This Holiday Season

Retail media is absolutely booming right now. Brands are rushing into it faster than shoppers storming the doors for a Black Friday TV deal. Everyone wants to cash in on the surge—or at least keep their demanding retail buyers happy.

But with that wild rush comes a whole lot of stumbling. We are seeing a massive wave of missteps, with brands doing everything from overbidding on their own name to wasting money by overlapping with their other DSP (Demand-Side Platform) campaigns.

At Swell Media, we have more experience with retail media than any other agency out there. We’ve been in the trenches with direct retailer platforms like Amazon, Walmart, Target, Home Depot, Lowe’s, Kroger, and Aldi, plus “supporting” engines like Instacart and DoorDash. Because we work with them all, we know exactly what wins and what fails.

Here are the Top 10 key missteps we’ll be breaking down in our upcoming webinar:

Treating all platforms the same: What works on Amazon might flop on Walmart. They definitely aren’t created equal.
Wasteful brand spending: Stop paying for clicks from people who were already going to buy your product anyway.
Skipping REO (Retail Engine Optimization): You need to get your organic house in order before a single dime is spent on ads.
Not understanding how platforms rank products: You have to know exactly how retail engines show results and navigation.
Spending just to appease the buyer: Your ad budget is for growth, not an apology gift to a retail buyer.
Using Retailer DSPs that overlap other spend: Without the right strategy, it’s just throwing good money away.
Duplicating “Retailer Direct” efforts: Understand what the retailer is already spending to promote you (and don’t duplicate it).
Poor Conquesting: Learn exactly who your competitors are, who to target, and when to strike.
Hating on 3rd party sellers: Don’t fight them. Learn to love them (and leverage them) instead!
Letting AI hurt you: AI is great, but without a human touch, here is why it might actually backfire on you this year.

The Big Picture: A Complete Digital Footprint

Fixing these 10 mistakes is a great start, but to truly win the holiday season, businesses need to step back and look at their overall digital footprint.

Retail media doesn’t live in a bubble! Your online ads need to overlay perfectly with your retailer specific content, off platform marketing campaigns, and overall marketing schedule. Think about it: if you’re running a massive in-store holiday promo or a local pop-up event to drive foot traffic, your digital ads on Target or Kroger should match that exact same energy and messaging. Your customers are walking the physical aisles while simultaneously searching for deals on their phones. If your online footprint and offline marketing aren’t talking to each other, you’re just confusing the shopper. You need a seamless experience that bridges the gap between the screen and the physical shelf.