• by Ray Schultz , Columnist, Yesterday

New tech offerings are already being unveiled at CES 2026. Among them is Datalytica, an intelligence platform designed to support retail media networks as they scale. 

The need for this platform lies in the fact that retail media inventory -- including in-store, out-of-home and mobile channels and digital media like email and websites -- is managed across disconnected tools, spreadsheets and legacy systems not designed for retail media.  

But retail media networks and network operators are seeking to monetize owned media and provide clearer performance accountability to brands. This is happening as the global retail media spend is expected to reach $300 billion in 2030, up from $180 billion in 2025, Datalytica says.

The new Datalytica platform is intended to work for systems operator by retailers or managed by third-party operators. 

Another benefit is that it manage retail media inventory across both physical and digital retail environments, the company says in its announcement.  

According to Datalytica, the new solution provides:

• Inventory management, planning and operations
• Consumer and audience context, using census, audience and mobile movement data. 
• Performance and iROAS Visibility, connectingmedia exposure to measurable outcomes like store visits and other actions. 
• Closed loop attribution when retailer or partner data is available. 
• Closed loop attribution when retailer or partner data is available.  
• AI-driven clarity on trends anomalies and performance drivers for use by operators, sales teams, and analysts.

Retailers sending email might well sell some inventory.