May 8, 2025- The morning keynote presentations that started day two of the Path to Purchase Institute’s Retail Media Summit focused on digital commerce trends and 7-Eleven’s evolution as a convenience retailer.
First on the stage in Rosemont, Illinois, Andrea Leigh, founder and CEO of e-commerce consultancy Allume Group, identified AI-assisted shopping as one shift that’s impacting digital commerce.
“AI is the most transformational thing since e-commerce,” Leigh said. “We’re in a really big shopper transformation. … AI will transform every one of our jobs.”
She said that retail media will look very different going forward. “Marketers are freaking out about AI search. … Walmart is not looking at Amazon as its biggest competitor anymore. [Generative AI] search is its biggest competitor.”
Leigh said that, for brands, agility is key. Legacy brands are struggling.
For retailers, AI has to be a priority to keep the shopper in their ecosystem.
And for everyone in the industry, “retail media is about to get weird” due to AI.
A second trend/shift, according to Leigh, is the discerning shopper. It’s not all about price. It’s about both value and values. It’s both private label and second-hand products. It’s about differentiation.
“Brands and retailers need to emphasize value, emphasize values and differentiate,” Leigh said. “If you need to charge more [for your product], differentiation is key.”
Furthermore, Leigh identified content as the new commerce for brands and retailers. “Shoppers are gravitating to platforms and experiences that are more fun,” she said.
Brands are now content factories. Retailers are media platforms. And, authenticity inspires authenticity in others.
In closing, Leigh re-emphasized that these trends/shifts are the new normal, and agility is key. “We’re on a wave right now,” she said. “These are not roadblocks. They are springboards.”
Marissa Jarratt, left, and Mario Mijares, 7-Eleven
In the second keynote of the day, two 7-Eleven executives described how the convenience retailer is evolving to stay ahead of the shifting landscape.
Patrycja Malinowska, director of retail at the Path to Purchase Institute, sat down with 7-Eleven’s Marissa Jarratt, EVP, chief marketing & sustainability officer; and Mario Mijares, VP, marketing, loyalty, and monetization platforms.
The executives described how 7-Eleven is more than a retailer. It’s a portfolio of brands that operates/sells proprietary brands — brands that are in the fabric of American culture, Jarratt said.
Since adjusting to meet the needs of consumers during the COVID-19 pandemic, 7-Eleven has continued to shift its business. Delivery and food have become important parts of the convenience channel.
Jarratt said that a lot of manufacturers paused their innovation work as a result of COVID-19, but now they must realize that the convenience channel and 7-Eleven are a “hot spot for innovation.”
“We’ve been building a set of tools to help brands innovate,” Mijares said.
The retailer has built what it calls an “Immediate Consumption Ecosystem” that comprises:
- Inspiration, amplification and customer engagement (including shopper marketing and the Gulp Media Network).
- Awareness, trial and conversion (i.e., loyalty programs such as 7Rewards).
- Data, insights and measurement — namely the convenience store shoppers, The Brainfreeze Collective (a proprietary consumer research tool) and lab stores.
7-Eleven is also working to provide consumers with experiences, which is difficult considering the quick nature of convenience shopping trips.
The retailer also leverages in-store audio, which is also challenging due to quick trips.
Jarratt spent a few minutes discussing how brands can best work with 7-Eleven. “We work with brands very closely, trying to understand what they’re trying to deliver,” she said. “At the end of the day, we’re all trying to sell more units.
“A lot of the brands come to us saying, ‘I do this in mass merchandise. I do this in grocery. I do this with online retailers. I want to do the same thing [with 7-Eleven].’ And you can’t, because it’s a different format, right? A lot of it is education; a lot of it is trial and error. We know what works for us.
“One thing that distinguishes 7-Eleven in the marketplace from other retailer brands, and it’s important in terms of how we think about collaboration, is that the 7-Eleven brand does carry a different cultural relevance weight, particularly around Gen Z, young Millennials [etc.]. … Part of it also is the actual history of the brand and the legacy of different types of cultural engagements that the brand’s been a part of over the decades.”
