Dennis Gesumaria is a seasoned media and technology executive with a strong background in ad-tech and sales gain in the US market - working with Walmart's Retail Media offering Walmart Connect. After relocating to Melbourne last year, Dennis shares his insights on the evolution of retail media in Australia, offering a unique perspective.

How would you describe "Retail Media"?

Retail media is often misunderstood as something entirely new, when in fact it’s a convergence of many technologies developed by the adtech industry over the years  - enhanced by retailers’ first-party data and closed-loop measurement. This combination creates a unique and powerful proposition for advertisers across channels like programmatic, search, social, and digital out-of-home. It’s where commerce and mediaintersect in a highly targetable, measurable and impactful way.

What’s the key difference you see between the state of Retail Media in Australia

compared to the US?

The biggest difference I can see is in maturity and scale of the market. In the United States, retail media is highly advanced and built out. Players like Amazon, Walmart, and Target offer full funnel solutions that have been around for years and continue to be enhanced with new features and capabilities. In contrast, Australia is still in an early growth phase, with retailers like Coles, Woolworths and Bunnings building out their offerings, but capabilities are more limited.

Working with a big retailer like Walmart, how was Retail Media structured across the

different brands?

Given the size of a retailer like Walmart, the retail media division (called Walmart Connect) was complex. Partner managers were assigned to the various supplier accounts and organised based on store category (Personal Care, Food and Beverage, Apparel, etc.). The partner management teams were expected to educate suppliers around retail media offerings, negotiate Joint Business Plans (JBPs) and ensure retail media marketing dollars were being spent in a way that achieved the goals of the brand

and ensured their products were top of mind - and in the shopping carts - of the Walmart customer.

How close was the relationship between the Retail Media division and the Trade area?

Partner managers work very closely with the Walmart merchant teams. Walmart merchants are the buyer and category managers responsible for sourcing and managingproducts sold at Walmart. The retail media team, retail advertising/in-store team, and the merchant team work as a cohesive unit to meet the marketing needs of the advertiser and ensure all goals are being met - especially for new product releases or products the team wants to emphasise that season.

What do you think it takes to build a successful career in this space?

As retail media continues to gain momentum in Australia, success in this space requires a unique blend of skills drawn from adtech, data, and commerce. Professionals need a strong grasp of programmatic advertising, search, first-party data, and closed-loop measurement to navigate the evolving landscape. It’s essential to understand how media channels like display, search, social, and digital out-of-home can be strategically leveraged to drive commerce outcomes. Equally important are data literacy, client

management, and the ability to connect media performance to business results.

Familiarity with retail operations, tools like CDPs and CRM systems, and an understanding of the Australian retail ecosystem are also beneficial. As the sector matures, innovative thinkers who can collaborate across commercial, marketing, and tech teams will be well-positioned to lead.

What has been the biggest technological innovation you have seen in the industry?

I would say the use of AI in optimisation of sponsored search campaigns is a huge innovation. So much work goes into optimising campaigns and reaching ROI goals - and I was happy to see the huge progress made by ‘Auto’ campaign settings at Walmart, eliminating the need for many of the manual optimisations.

What are your predictions for the growth in this industry?

The retail media industry is forecasted to growth exponentially  - both in Australia and globally. Some of the biggest growth areas I think we are going to see are in AI and automation, expansion of off-site capabilities, increased reporting capabilities, and smaller, more focused retail networks appearing (and subsequently most likely consolidating  - which is always a trend in adtech). 

For the Australian market in particular, I am expecting to see the emergence of more sponsored search and offsite capabilities, as well as non-endemic advertisers making use of the plethora of data options available from retail networks.