Unlocking Retail Media The Power of Customer Data Science: Lessons from the Front Lines with Michael Schuh
Mar 25, 2026
Michael Schuh, Global Head of Media at dunnhumby and former Kroger Precision Marketing leader, shares lessons from building and scaling retail media and customer data science. He discusses digitizing in-store media, keeping customer-first design, store-level personalization using shopper data, measurement and attribution challenges, and how agentic commerce and AI could reshape retail’s competitive moat.
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Retail Media Often Starts Offsite Then Moves Onsite
- Kroger's retail media journey began with off-site audience work before focusing on onsite and now circling back to digitized in-store media.
- Michael Schuh noted early LiveRamp partnerships and how e-commerce growth (especially 2020) shifted attention to onsite properties.
Design In‑Store Media Around Customer Use Cases
- Keep the customer at the center when digitizing in-store media and choose moments where media is useful, like dwell time at deli or checkout.
- Schuh recommends using media to inspire purchases, provide recipes, or assist shoppers, not just to monetize space.
Store Level Personalization Beats One Size Fits All
- Digitized in-store media enables store-level personalization by leveraging customer data, time of day, weather and local assortment differences.
- Schuh highlighted that nearby stores with different customer mixes need tailored content rather than identical screens.