1. How does modular technology enhance flexibility and scalability in retail media networks?
Modular technology replaces the rigid, all-in-one retail media stack with a flexible architecture designed for change. Instead of locking retailers into a single solution for both sell-side and buy-side needs, modular systems decouple those layers so you can plug in a new DSP or update your ad server without rebuilding your entire tech
For example, when The Home Depot launched Orange Apron Media, they didn’t settle for an out-of-the-box platform. Instead, they built a modular retail media stack around Pentaleap’s technology prioritizing interoperability, customization, and control.
This kind of setup makes it easy to scale. Need to add a new DSP? Add a new offsite partner? You can do it, and without disrupting everything else. That’s the power of a modular approach: faster upgrades, smoother integrations, and future-proof flexibility.
2. How does this approach compare to traditional retail media platforms, and what advantages does it offer?
Traditional retail media platforms were built as closed ecosystems—bundled tools, limited interoperability, and one path to monetization. That model may have been serviceable early on, but it limits innovation and control.
A modular approach changes the equation.
• Best-in-breed components: Retailers can select the strongest tech for each part of the stack.
• Reduced lock-in: No dependency on a single vendor’s roadmap or timelines.
• Lower total cost of ownership: Competitive pressure drives down costs and keeps margins healthy.
Again, when The Home Depot launched Orange Apron Media, they didn’t buy a monolith—they built a modular platform with Pentaleap at the core. This allowed them to customize the UI, optimize for supplier experience, and scale onsite and offsite offerings at their own pace.
With modular retail media, retailers aren’t limited to a fixed toolkit they build the platform that fits their business, not the other way around.
3. How can advertisers and brands maximize their ROI through modular retail media solutions?
With modular retail media, more of a brand’s budget reaches actual media, not middlemen. Lower ad tech fees = higher media efficiency and ROI.
It also opens the door to tighter integration with a retailer’s own site; search, personalization, and AI can all feed directly into ad delivery.
That means more relevant placements, better shopper experiences, and higher conversion rates. It’s performance marketing with native intelligence built in.
4. How does this technology improve targeting, attribution, and measurement in retail media?
Retail media thrives on search—because intent is clear. Someone searching “dog food” is already halfway to checkout. That kind of context-based targeting consistently outperforms audience-based methods that guess at intent.
But targeting alone isn’t enough. What really matters is how ads are served.
Most platforms disrupt the shopper’s journey with ads that feel bolted on. Their strategy is to push more, better, above-the-fold placements, but often at the cost of relevance.
Pentaleap’s Fluid Ad Server takes a different approach.
If a sponsored product is relevant and likely to convert, it earns top placement. If it’s not, it doesn’t show. Simple as that.
Some clients have told us that this approach makes it feel like your search algorithm was built to handle ads.
And the result is a native, seamless experience where paid content feels like part of the journey—not an interruption.
And because Fluid understands both organic and paid signals, high-quality ads naturally rise to the top. Poor performers are filtered out; not just by bids, but by relevance.
This isn’t about cramming in more ads. It’s about serving the right ones, in the right places, at the right time.
That’s how retailers increase yield without compromising experience, and how brands get attribution they can trust.
5. What role will privacy-compliant data strategies play in the success of modular retail media?
Privacy is foundational. Retail media already has a major advantage here: it runs on first-party data. Add in modular infrastructure and you get even more control; particularly around how that data is used.
We double down on contextual targeting rather than relying on identity graphs or third-party cookies. That’s good for privacy, and it’s future proof by design. The result: sustainable advertising that respects the customer and scales responsibly.
6. What trends are shaping the future of retail media networks and their role in the broader digital advertising ecosystem?
As usual, the trends are predicted by the biggest obstacles. One of the biggest challenges right now for both retailers and brands is fragmentation. Many retailers build their own walled gardens, which makes it harder for brands to buy and harder for retailers to sell.
Real-Time Bidding (RTB) is a huge breakthrough trend positioned to solve fragmentation—but it’s not the RTB you remember. This isn’t about cheap remnant inventory, opaque auctions, or poor targeting.
This is a new wave of RTB, built specifically for on-site Sponsored Products with:
• Ultra-low latency (under 30ms response times)
• Cloud-native, co-located infrastructure for performance
• Relevance-first, dynamic ad serving tech
RTB is democratizing retail media in a few ways:
• Brands will access retailer inventory more easily, from platforms where they already spend.
• Retailers will unlock demand from a broader set of advertisers, including smaller brands that couldn’t access them before.
• And the entire ecosystem will move closer to a more open, standardized landscape—finally breaking through the walled garden deadlock.
Pentaleap has been RTB-native from day one. We’re already live with 17 retailers—and what we’re seeing is clear: this model works. It’s faster, fairer, and more flexible.
