Preparing commerce media ad campaigns often feels like running a marathon—long, complex, and resource-intensive.

According to Insider Intelligence (eMarketer) and Forrester, most large CPG brands today manage campaigns across 8 to 12 retail media networks (RMNs), while mid-sized brands typically engage with 3 to 5. As commerce media expands beyond endemic networks, marketers are now including vertical, regional, and offsite media partners for programmatic display, video/CTV, social media, and in-store ads.

In total, over 200 commerce media networks (CMNs) exist today, including:

  • Retail media networks (Amazon, Walmart Connect, Target/Roundel)
  • Marketplaces and DTC ecosystems (Instacart, DoorDash, Shopify)
  • Vertical-specific and non-endemic platforms (travel, financial services, pharmacy media)

While this offers unprecedented reach and targeting precision, operational complexity is a major bottleneck. Many brands now dedicate full teams to individual RMNs just to keep up with varying ad specifications and approval processes.

The Challenge: Why Manual Commerce Media Management Falls Short

Manual campaign management across multiple retail media networks creates significant inefficiencies. Each platform has different creative specifications, approval processes, and optimization requirements. By the time you’ve configured everything manually, competitors using automated solutions have already launched and optimized their campaigns.

Key bottlenecks include:

  • Creative compliance chaos across different network requirements
  • Weeks-long campaign setup for multi-platform launches
  • Fragmented performance measurement without unified reporting

The Solution: AI-Powered Commerce Media Automation

That’s where AI-powered commerce media automation makes the difference.

With the right platform, brands can:

  • Streamline creative approvals across all networks, with pre-approved templates
  • Launch display and video ad campaigns in minutes, not weeks
  • Unify creative, audience targeting, media and reporting in a single workflow

Instead of running a marathon, brands can sprint through commerce media activation—with speed, scale and compliance built in.

Why Smart Brands Should Be Sprinting, Not Running Marathons

AI Automation Is Competitive Advantage

Choosing AI automation (over manual management) is choosing competitive advantage. Brands that incorporate AI and automation in their campaign workflow are more likely to launch ad campaigns with each of the RMNs faster—especially for special offerings that are time sensitive.

So, the question isn’t whether you can keep up with manual processes. It’s whether you’re ready to sprint ahead with automated solutions that deliver results in minutes, not months.