Myer has launched the Myer Media Network, an in-house retail media business built on MYER one loyalty data, hiring ex-Coles 360 executive Michael Sharlassian to run it. Retail media is the fastest growing advertising channel in Australia, and every retailer with a loyalty file and a checkout is now sitting on an ad business.
The launch of the Myer Media Network, powered by MYER one, transforms how our brand partners engage Australian customers, Sharlassian said.
Myer has launched its own retail media network. The Myer Media Network runs on MYER one loyalty data, and it is the department store's move into one of the fastest growing lines in Australian advertising.
Myer has hired Michael Sharlassian, who ran retail media at Coles 360, as general manager of retail media. The first step is an onsite digital advertising platform across myer.com.au, built with marketplace technology firm Mirakl. Chief commercial officer Amanda McVay framed it as part of Myer becoming an omnichannel retailer, not just a shopfront.
The pitch to brand partners is the loyalty file. MYER one holds millions of members and years of purchase history, and that first-party data is what lets Myer sell targeted, measurable ad placements to the brands already sitting on its shelves.
Why it matters
Retail media is the fastest growing channel in the country, and every retailer with a loyalty program and a checkout is now sitting on an ad business. For brands that means more places to spend and more walled gardens to answer to. For retailers it is high margin revenue that does not need more stock on the floor. Myer is late to this next to Coles and Woolworths, but it has something they do not. A beauty and fashion buyer who spends up and opts in.
Retail media in Australia is forecast to grow 24.4% in 2026, the fastest of any advertising channel. Source: WPP Media.
What to do about it
If you sell through Myer, treat the Media Network as part of the trading relationship, not a bolt-on. The brands that win shelf space and ad space together will out-earn the ones treating them as separate deals.
Ask for the measurement. Retail media's value is the closed loop from ad to purchase. If Myer cannot show you sales lift from its placements, you are buying impressions dressed up as performance.
Do not spread yourself thin. You cannot be present in every retail media network at once, so pick the ones where your buyer actually shops and go deep.
Watch your own first-party data. If a retailer can build an ad business on loyalty data, so can you. The question is whether you are capturing it.
The retailers who own the customer relationship are turning it into media. The brands who understand that shift will treat every retail partner as a channel, not just a shelf.