US vs EU Retail Media: The 5 Structural Barriers Reshaping In-Store Advertising

Retail Media Breakfast Club · Mar 3, 2026 · 8m · transcript

I wasn’t expecting a transatlantic debate when I published a piece about Sam's Club’s in-store retail media success. But what followed was a lively pushback from European retail media leaders who argued that in-store has been operating at scale in their markets for years. That sparked a much bigger question: Are US retail media networks behind in physical formats, or are these markets fundamentally different?

This episode is a summary of my recent article for The Drum, in which I break down the critical structural and organizational differences between US and EU retail media operations. From…