Cotswold Outdoor Group CEO says retail media strategy in store and online has driven an uplift in sales and conversions, writes Ben Sillitoe.

The introduction of retail media as a new business unit is making a significant contribution to top-line sales at Cotswold Outdoor Group, its CEO, Jamie Kristow.

In just under a year since the retail media strategy got under way at the outdoor and sports equipment retailer, it has seen a +13% uplift in sales across its stores containing screens advertising brand partner messages. A similar uplift in sales has been recorded between stores with digital screens versus those that have not deployed them, the chief exec said.

Kristow, who held senior roles at Hudson’s Bay, Target in Australia, and Woolworths in South Africa before joining Cotswold in August 2024, was talking on the first day of the Retail Technology Show 2026 at London’s ExCeL. He said online retail media activity for partners, such as running shoe brand Hoka, have resulted in participants boosting share of category by +30% compared to pre-campaign.

The group, which runs Cotswold Outdoor, Runners Need and Snow + Rock, announced in June last year it had partnered with unified retail media platform Zitcha to bring a retail media network to market. The Cotswold Outdoor Group Media Portal is part of the business’s strategy to drive a better customer experience and give its brand partners improved access to its audience.

The network combines in-store digital screens, on-site digital opportunities, including web banners and sponsored product listings, as well as off-site campaigns via social platforms such as Meta and YouTube.

Zitcha allows the group to run tailored content by store, Kristow said, adding that the retail media partner has been “fantastic” and guided Cotswold on the journey and helped with the additional tech integrations that come with running a successful retail media network. Last week, Zitcha was in the group’s offices helping educate teams about what is essentially a completely new business avenue within the wider business, Kristow explained.

The CEO, who has been leading the charge with implementing retail media strategy after experiencing its success at previous employers, said the main friction point with retail media in an organisation is accountability.

“Integrating it in normal processes is the hardest,” he said, explaining it is challenging to distinguish between trade marketing and retail media and to integrate into business-as-usual marketing activity.

Who has the ownership of it within the business is a key question that needs to be answered. Buyers are now being trained on how to sell in retail media, which doesn’t come naturally and requires education.

“As a buyer you’re selling media and have no knowledge of it let alone the hundreds of acronyms that go with it,” he commented, adding this change management within retail businesses as media networks develop requires serious thought.

Retail media is also a relatively new concept in apparel retail – it has gained most traction in grocery and FMCG. However, Kristow said his stores – where consumers often have 30-45-minute dwell times during boot fittings or equipment consultations – lend themselves well to broadcasting retail media content.

“We placed screens strategically around locations, and we can measure the associated traffic around them,” he commented.

“We’re also using the screens to talk about our services, job vacancies and promotions on who we are from a sustainability point of view. They act as an internal mechanism to engage with the consumer.”

But retail media continues to evolve.

“The next evolution is getting sharper on data and we’re upgrading our CRM system,” he revealed.

That work is intended to help with audience segmentation and give brand partners the opportunity to personalise their messaging further. Kristow is approaching two years in the top job at Cotswold Outdoor Group, and the modernisation of the business is moving at pace.