Retailers are increasingly leveraging customer data, artificial intelligence and retail media platforms to transform both the shopping experience and the advertising ecosystem, according to Tiberiu Dănețiu, Board Member and Director of Corporate Affairs & Retail Media at Auchan Romania.
Speaking at the Innovation Forum 2026, organized by The Diplomat-Bucharest, Dănețiu said the retail sector has become one of the most data-intensive industries, generating vast volumes of information that can be used to improve customer engagement and business performance.
“If we talk about data, we process enormous flows of information every second. We serve hundreds of thousands of customers every day and sell tens of millions of products, generating a tremendous amount of valuable data,” he said.
To better understand customer behavior and personalize interactions, Auchan launched its loyalty program more than five years ago.
“We were pleased to see a very high level of customer adoption. Today, around two million people actively use our loyalty card, and approximately 60% of our turnover passes through that program every day,” Dănețiu said.
The loyalty platform enables Auchan to personalize promotions and communications while improving customer experience.
“It allows us to help customers by delivering relevant information, personalized offers and a simpler shopping experience. At the same time, it helps us allocate resources more efficiently,” he explained.
The data collected through the program also forms the foundation of Auchan’s retail media business, a segment the company began developing several years ago.
“We were pioneers in retail media as early as 2017, but in 2020 we started building Romania’s first structured retail media network. We sell advertising across connected TVs, digital assets and physical retail locations, using audience data that can be directly linked to sales conversion,” he said.
According to Dănețiu, the value of retail media lies in its ability to connect brands with highly segmented consumer audiences and measurable business outcomes.
“The intelligence we have about consumer behavior allows us to help brands strengthen their relationship with customers. We can support marketing objectives such as increasing awareness, attracting new consumer segments and boosting purchase frequency,” he said.
He described retail media as one of the most significant innovations currently reshaping the retail industry.
“Retail media is a genuine innovation. At the same time, AI is fundamentally changing the way we operate across logistics, information management, marketing and customer engagement,” Dănețiu said.
Artificial intelligence is now being deployed throughout the retail value chain, from supply chain operations to customer-facing services.
“We use AI across the entire chain—from logistics, warehousing and product scanning to search, checkout, marketing and personalization,” he said.
Dănețiu also pointed to the influence of Amazon, which demonstrated how customer data and traffic could be transformed into entirely new revenue streams.
“The second major revolution in retail started with Amazon. Retailers realized that if customer data and customer traffic are their most valuable assets, they should find ways to monetize them and create new business models around them,” he said.
Beyond generating new revenue, retail media is changing how brands communicate with consumers.
“For retailers, the advantage is that communication becomes much more precise, direct and relevant, strengthening customer relationships without overwhelming consumers. For manufacturers, retail media provides an ecosystem that is significantly more effective than traditional advertising channels,” he said.
Looking ahead, Dănețiu predicted that retail media will dramatically alter the global advertising landscape over the next decade.
“Let’s meet again in five or ten years and you will see that around 25% of all advertising budgets will flow into retail media ecosystems. They will challenge television, traditional digital advertising and radio because they are far more effective at driving awareness, perception and sales,” he said.
He concluded that what is currently visible in retail media represents only the early stages of a much larger transformation.
“What we see today is just the tip of the iceberg. The retail media industry is still emerging, but it will become a major force in the advertising market, with an impact far greater than most people currently imagine,” Dănețiu said.