Retail media is now a core part of the integrated campaign mix. Clients expect their agencies to activate across retail media networks, prove incremental sales lift, and scale offsite execution — without adding operational overhead.
The problem is that most agencies are spending too many hours stitching together the performance data clients expect in real time. That cost is coming out of your margin.
This guide breaks down where operational drag is hitting agencies hardest and what leading shops are doing differently.
The Agencies Winning Retail Media Have Solved the Infrastructure Problem
Retail media spend is scaling rapidly and brands are expecting their agency partners to navigate growing complexity on their behalf. The agencies winning more of this business are not the ones with the biggest teams. They are the ones that have eliminated the manual work underneath the work.
Problem 1: Platform Lock-In Is Eating Analyst Hours
Most agencies are forced to transact through DSP-specific buying tools tied to individual retail media networks. The result is a patchwork of logins, contracts, and workflows — not because of performance reasons, but because of platform requirements. Every new RMN adds another set of manual steps.
A DSP-agnostic buying layer lets you access inventory across networks without being locked into a specific platform path. PubMatic’s solutions for targeting commerce audiences and managing onsite retailer inventory are built to work alongside existing DSPs rather than replace them, reducing the coordination overhead your team absorbs today.
Problem 2: Data Reconciliation Is Delaying Optimization
Promotional data sits in one system. Media activation runs through another. Attribution comes back through a third. By the time your team reconciles it, the campaign window may have passed — and your analysts have spent hours on work that should be automated.
PromoSync closes the gap between retailer promotions and digital media activation, uniting the commercial/sales team and media buying team so always-on, localized promotions can be amplified through programmatic media in real time.
Problem 3: Scaling Offsite Without Scaling Headcount
Brands are asking agencies to extend retail media into CTV, display, and offsite environments at the same time budgets and team sizes are under pressure. Offsite execution at scale typically means more managed service overhead and more operational complexity — unless the infrastructure handles execution automatically.
PubMatic’s AgenticOS reduces campaign setup time by 87% and cuts troubleshooting time by 70% compared to standard workflows, with 30+ autonomous campaigns already live. Your team scales output without scaling headcount.
What Leading Agencies Are Doing Differently
The agencies gaining share in retail media are not winning because they have more resources. They are winning because better infrastructure lets them move faster, prove results more easily, and protect margin at scale.
See how agencies are winning more retail media business with PubMatic.
