Driving Growth Through Customer-First Retail Media – with Tesco Media’s Stephen Shepherd

This week on Beyond the Shelf, Dave sits down with Stephen Shepherd, Head of Strategy & Consulting at Tesco Media, to explore how retail media has evolved from a tactical revenue stream into a strategic growth engine.

With nearly two decades in the space — beginning with Dunnhumby’s early retail media initiatives — Stephen brings a data-first perspective to how retailers and brands should think about customer experience, creative, and measurement.

In this episode, Dave and Stephen discuss:

• Why retail media must stay customer-first (not tech-first)
• The “win-win-win” model: retailer, brand, and customer
• How creative storytelling and data science overlap
• The importance of micro-decisions across the customer journey
• Where AI is quietly solving operational complexity
• Why ROAS may not be the right north star anymore

Connect with Stephen on LinkedIn

Follow Beyond the Shelf on LinkedIn

Learn More about It'sRapid

Get the It’sRapid Creative Automation Playbook

Take It’sRapid’s Creative Workflow Automation with AI survey

Email us at sales@itsrapid.io to find out how to get your free AI Image Audit

Theme music: "Happy" by Mixaud - https://mixaund.bandcamp.com

Producer: Jake Musiker