The CPG View

Most brand leaders think they need more tactics, but…… They actually need “better perspective”. The Big Question: When was the last time you stepped outside your own business to see it clearly? By the Numbers: 🔥 2 days → Time spent at Park City EAF 🔥 1 clear outcome → Sharper marketplace + D2C strategy 🔥 Multiple gaps identified → Amazon, fulfillment, and channel mix 🔥 0 sales pitches → Pure operator-to-operator learning Why It Matters: 1️⃣ Most brands operate too close to the problem. Internal bias clouds decision-making 2️⃣ External perspective surfaces blind spots faster than internal iteration 3️⃣ The best operators don’t just execute. They step back, reassess, and refocus Jessica Schneider from Evereden put it simply: • The value wasn’t in tactics • It was in seeing the business differently From Amazon gaps to fulfillment inefficiencies, the biggest unlock came from clarity, not complexity (never about selling…all about solving). What I Would Do If I Were a Brand Leader: → Pressure test your marketplace strategy with an external lens → Audit your channel mix. Amazon, D2C, retail should not operate in silos → Identify 1–2 structural gaps in fulfillment or operations and fix those first → Surround yourself with operators who challenge your thinking, not vendors selling services → Work with Pattern to connect marketplace, retail media, and operations into one system Final Thought: The fastest way to grow is not doing more…it’s seeing better. Ways to Reach Us: Pattern® (eCommerce accelerator) The Retail eCommerce Club (community) The CPG View (podcast) The Retail Media View (newsletter) Subscribe to The Retail Media View 👇🏼 https://lnkd.in/etsfcm-S #ecommerce #digital #omnichannel #strategy #cmo #cdo #ceo #cro #leadership #retailecommerceclub #cpg #privateequity #playtowin

Retail media didn’t become a $140B market, it became a "winner-take-most game". The Big Question: If retail media is growing 20%+ a year…why are most brands not gaining share? Spoiler alert -- many are playing the wrong game (yes, I said it). Most teams are optimizing ROAS (wrong move). The best teams are buying the shelf (optimizing organic 1st followed by paid). This week’s Retail Media View breaks it down using new Pentaleap data. Across beauty, electronics, and more: The same pattern shows up. A small group of brands is scaling visibility aggressively. Everyone else is trying to be efficient, but that gap is widening. What’s actually happening: • Impressions are concentrating at the top • Visibility is becoming harder to win late • Efficiency thinking is capping growth • Retail media is behaving like physical shelf space always has (finite, highly competitive and uneven). The shift: Retail media is no longer a performance channel. It’s the front door to conversion and it compounds (easy visual below): Impressions → visibility Visibility → conversion Conversion → rank Rank → more visibility If you’re still treating this like paid media optimization… You’re already behind (don't worry, you can get back in the game 🙏🏼)...reach out if you have any questions. Subscribe to The Retail Media View: https://lnkd.in/e78VpkMY Ways to Reach Us: Pattern® (eCommerce accelerator) The Retail eCommerce Club (community) The CPG View (podcast) The Retail Media View (newsletter) #ecommerce #digital #omnichannel #strategy #cmo #cdo #ceo #cro #leadership #retailecommerceclub #cpg #privateequity #playtowin

Amazon is still #1, but the model is shifting. The Big Question: Is Amazon still winning… or are marketplaces like TikTok Shop changing the rules of engagement? By the Numbers: 🔥 69% → Share of GMV held by top 10 marketplaces in 2025 (up from 66%) 🔥 14% → Amazon’s share of global top 100 marketplace GMV (down from 16%) 🔥 14% → Buyer growth CAGR for Amazon challengers vs. 4% for Amazon 🔥 23x → Annual purchases per shopper on challengers vs. 13x on Amazon 🔥 $578 → GMV per buyer for both Amazon and challengers, but challengers growing faster Why It Matters: 1️⃣ The top marketplaces are pulling further ahead and the landscape is moving. 2️⃣ Higher frequency and faster buyer growth show something deeper than price. It’s a bit of behavior change (avg user on TikTok for 2.5 hrs per day). 3️⃣ Many challengers are mobile-native platforms. They’re built for discovery, not just for search. What I Would Do If I Were a Brand Leader: → Diversify beyond Amazon. Not as a hedge, but as a growth play → Build platform-specific strategies. TikTok ≠ Amazon ≠ Temu → Prioritize frequency and engagement, not just conversion → Invest in creator + social commerce infrastructure early → Use Pattern® (eCommerce accelerator) to scale across marketplaces (ie - TikTok, Amazon, Walmart, Coupang, etc.) globally with a unified operating model Final Thought: Amazon won the first era of eCommerce (search, logistics, and scale). The next era is being won on a modified playbook by the likes of TikTok, Amazon and others (engagement, frequency, and discovery). Ways to Reach Us: Pattern® (eCommerce accelerator) The Retail eCommerce Club (community) The CPG View (podcast) The Retail Media View (newsletter) Subscribe to The Retail Media View 👇🏼 https://lnkd.in/etsfcm-S Source: ECDB Link to more about ECDB: 👇🏼 https://lnkd.in/ewPJH_ZG #ecommerce #digital #omnichannel #strategy #cmo #cdo #ceo #cro #leadership #retailecommerceclub #cpg #privateequity #playtowin

Global beauty is growing, but the channel mix is shifting even faster. Great visual by the team at Playbook of Beauty. The Big Question: Are you still allocating budget based on where beauty was sold… or where it’s going? By the Numbers: $583B → Global beauty market by 2027 26% → eCommerce share (up from 20% in 2021) 20% → Specialty retail holding strong 15% → Grocery declining as a beauty destination 13% → Duty free stabilizing post-travel rebound 9% → Pharmacies flattening 8% → Department stores continuing to compress Why It Matters: 1. eCommerce is not just growing, it’s becoming the primary battleground for discovery, conversion, and loyalty 2. Physical retail is fragmenting. Specialty wins, legacy formats lose relevance 3. Channel strategy is no longer distribution. It’s brand positioning, media strategy, and margin structure What I Would Do If I Were a Beauty Brand Leader: • Rebalance investment toward digital-first growth channels, not legacy shelf assumptions • Build a full-funnel eCommerce engine across Amazon, TikTok Shop, and owned DTC • Treat retail media as a core growth lever, not a trade add-on • Double down on specialty retail where brand storytelling and experience matter most • Partner with Pattern® to scale across marketplaces, optimize digital shelf, and connect media to conversion globally Final Thought: Beauty isn’t just shifting channels, it’s shifting control. From retailer-led distribution to brand-led ecosystems built on data, content, and commerce. The brands that win will operate like media companies with a supply chain attached. Ways to Reach Us: Pattern® (global eCommerce accelerator) The CPG View (podcast) The Retail eCommerce Club (community) The eFramework (commerce MBA for operators) Subscribe to The Retail Media View 👇🏼 https://lnkd.in/etsfcm-S #ecommerce #beauty #retailmedia #digital #omnichannel #strategy #cpg #leadership #growth #retailecommerceclub

Amazon is not a marketplace…it’s the market. The Big Question: What does the U.S. marketplace landscape actually look like when you strip it down to 3P GMV? By the Numbers: • $300B → Amazon • $39B → eBay • $22B → Temu • $15B → TikTok Shop • $15B → Walmart Marketplace • $10B → Wayfair • $6B → SHEIN • $6B → Etsy • $6B → Whatnot • $1B → Target Plus Why It Matters: The gap is not incremental. Amazon is nearly: • 8x eBay • 14x Temu • 20x TikTok Shop At the same time, the next wave is forming underneath: • TikTok Shop is compressing discovery and conversion into one motion • Temu is reshaping price perception and cross-border supply • Walmart is steadily building a scaled alternative with retail + media integration What I Would Do If I Were a Brand Leader: 1️⃣ Treat Amazon as infrastructure, not a channel. It is your baseline, not your edge. 2️⃣ Build a deliberate #2 marketplace strategy TikTok Shop for demand creation. Walmart for retail + media. Temu selectively for price-driven expansion 3️⃣ Align retail media to marketplace performance. Spend should follow contribution to revenue, not legacy budgets. 4️⃣ Focus on operational excellence Catalog, content, pricing, and inventory discipline still drive outcomes. 5️⃣ Use partners like Pattern® to scale globally across marketplaces without adding internal complexity. Final Thought: Most brands are still thinking “multi-channel.” The leaders are building intentional marketplace portfolios with clear roles for each platform. This is where the next phase of growth will come from. Subscribe to The Retail Media View: 👇🏼 https://lnkd.in/evdxNMvH Ways to Reach Us: Pattern® (global eCommerce accelerator) The CPG View (podcast) The Retail eCommerce Club (community) The eFramework (commerce MBA for operators) Source: Marketplace Pulse #ecommerce #marketplaces #amazon #tiktokshop #retailmedia #omnichannel #strategy #cpg #digital #leadership #retailecommerceclub

Retail media built the pipes and AI is starting to control the flow. Something important is happening right now. For years, retail media was about placement and performance. The playbook -- bid on keywords, win the shelf and measure ROAS (don't get me started 😂). But, that model is starting to break. AI is changing how products are discovered, how decisions are made, and ultimately… who gets seen. Important for us in the space to note...when discovery changes, everything upstream and downstream changes with it. The Big Question: Is retail media still about buying placement… or is it becoming about earning relevance inside AI-driven discovery? By the Numbers: 🔥 $70B+ → U.S. retail media spend in 2026 🔥 $140B+ → Global retail media market 🔥 20%+ CAGR → Category growth 🔥 96% → Shoppers use multiple channels before purchase 🔥 56% → Want recommendations beyond exact matches 🔥 1.5x → Higher conversion from AI-referred traffic Why It Matters: 1️⃣ Discovery is fragmenting and AI assistants, content, social, and retail platforms are all influencing how shoppers explore before they ever reach a PDP. 2️⃣ Relevance is replacing placement and it’s not just about bidding anymore. It’s about being selected by the system that filters options. 3️⃣ AI is compressing the funnel and more decisions are being made before the shopper ever reaches your product page. What I Would Do If I Were a Brand Leader: • Reframe retail media from a placement strategy to a discovery strategy • Invest in product content, data, and signals that improve AI-driven relevance • Separate visibility metrics from true influence on decision-making • Prepare for a world where you are competing not just for clicks… but for inclusion in AI-curated results • Use partners like Pattern® (marketplace acceleration) and Criteo (commerce media + AI) to connect execution to real outcomes Final Thought: Retail media isn’t going away, but the rules are changing. The winners won’t just be the ones who spend the most. They’ll be the ones who understand how decisions are made… and position themselves inside that system early. Full breakdown in this week’s Retail Media View. Ways to Reach Us: Pattern® (global eCommerce accelerator) The CPG View (podcast) The Retail eCommerce Club (community) The eFramework (commerce MBA for operators) Subscribe to The Retail Media View 👇🏼 https://lnkd.in/etsfcm-S #retailmedia #ecommerce #cpg #digital #leadership #strategy #retailecommerceclub