How Streaming Audio, Podcasts Are Becoming Retail Media's Growth Engine
Retail media has reached an inflection point.
What was once a high-growth, highly efficient channel is now facing a familiar set of challenges: Rising costs, increasing duplication and the limits of existing formats to continue delivering incremental reach.
The next phase of retail media growth will not come from doing more of the same. It will come from adding new, complementary channels that unlock net-new audiences, and bolster measurable omnichannel performance.
Audio is quickly emerging as that channel.
Retail Media Networks Are Already Moving
Across the U.S., retailers are actively focusing on (or have recently started) integrating audio into their media offerings to fuel growth and increase sales velocity for their suppliers. Today, our organization works with the largest retailer media networks (RMNs) in North America, including those for Amazon, Walmart, Sam's Club, Costco, Kroger, The Home Depot, Ulta, CVS, Walgreens and Dollar General.
This cross-section of partners matters. It signals that audio is not a niche solution — it is being adopted across mass, grocery, club, pharmacy, specialty retail and marketplace environments. Retailers are leaning in because audio delivers on the metric that matters most right now: Incrementality.
Incrementality Is the New Currency
As brands consolidate spend within retail media ecosystems, the pressure to prove incremental value has never been higher. Audio is proving to be one of the most effective ways to deliver it.
In partnership with Amazon Ads, for example, campaigns show:
- 128% incremental reach when audio is added to existing plans;
- 471% incremental reach when layered onto streaming TV;
- 44% incremental reach alongside Prime Video; and
- 75% incremental reach overall.
These are not marginal gains. They are step-change improvements in reach — driven by audio's ability to connect with audiences that are largely unduplicated from screen-based CTV channels and social media.
A Channel Built for Moments That Matter
Audio's advantage is not just who it reaches, but when it reaches them.
Audio is embedded in daily life. Shoppers are spending more than four hours per day with digital audio like streaming audio and podcasts during commutes, at work and at home.
Consumers are increasingly shopping online and in-store as listening peaks during the day. This puts audio messages closer to the point of purchase than tactics like CTV, which tend to peak later at night when shopping declines.
Shoppers today also move through physical retail environments with earbuds in, creating a rare opportunity for brands to influence decisions in real time and all along the path to purchase, including at the point of sale.
Proven, Not Experimental
Audio’s role in retail media is not new — it has simply been underutilized. For more than six years, leading RMNs have leveraged audio to drive performance. Walmart Connect and Amazon Ads have incorporated audio into omnichannel strategies and have made audio a channel of focus for 2026.
Kroger Precision Marketing has partnered with us to deliver measurable outcomes at scale. According to a recent KPM case study measuring audio effectiveness across 43 different campaigns, audio has delivered up to $10 return on ad spend (ROAS) across verticals and an average 46% new households trial uplift, reinforcing digital audio's ability to drive both efficiency and growth.
The takeaway is straightforward: Audio is not a test channel. It is a proven performance lever that is now scaling as adoption accelerates.
Measurement Has Closed the Gap
Historically, measurement limited audio's role in performance media. That's no longer the case.
With the rise of programmatic and direct RMN integrations, audio can now be tied to: Online and in-store sales, basket size and purchase behavior, incremental lift and ROAS, new-to-brand buyer uplift and more.
This has effectively removed the last major barrier to investment, aligning audio with the accountability standards expected across retail media.
Podcasting Expands the Opportunity
Within audio, podcasting is emerging as a distinct and powerful growth vector.
Podcast listeners are highly engaged and influenced by trusted voices, making the format particularly effective for commerce. Podcasts have seen 22% immediate purchase intent, the highest across media, according to eMarketer. There is low duplication with streaming music, driving additional incremental reach. It's also a natural environment for recommendation and discovery.
With podcast inventory now integrated into retail media environments, it is more targetable and measurable than ever — positioning it as a high-impact complement to broader audio strategies.
The Future of Retail Media Sounds Different
As retail media enters its next phase, success will depend on a brand's ability to drive incremental reach (not just scale), influence shoppers across the path to purchase including the point of sale and deliver measurable business outcomes — not proxy metrics.
I think audio checks every box, especially with advancements in measurement and integration with new RMN partners.
Audio isn't new — but its role in retail media is being redefined.
And for brands looking to stay ahead, the opportunity is clear: The next big channel in commerce isn't something you see — it's something you hear.
About the Author
Adam Ross is sales director — commerce at SiriusXM Media. He focuses on the strategic adoption of digital audio advertising solutions. Ross is also a 2026 P2PI Retail Media Award winner.
