If malls have always sold media, what explains the explosion of the term retail media? For Conegero, the central point is the ability to measure and qualify results.

“Now you also have the chance to measure. So the hype of the moment is measurement, not retail media science itself.”

In practice, this means turning the physical space into a channel with logic similar to digital: inventory, audience, segmentation, and conversion.

Today, according to him, it is already possible to track: foot traffic through in-store counters, average ticket, qualification of who enters, promotional campaign data, and cross-referencing with receipts and consumer spending.

The data discussion inevitably touches Brazil’s LGPD, but Conegero believes the obstacle in most cases is not legal, but operational.

“Malls don’t have limitations. Today, for example, with an end-of-year campaign, mid-year campaign, a ‘buy and get’ promotion, you can collect all customer data and you can indeed cross that data with store receipts.”

In his view, the sector still underutilizes the potential of what is already available.

If the mall is already retail media, where is the real transformation? For Conegero, the most relevant point in the coming years is not malls becoming retail media—because they already are—but rather stores structuring themselves as media platforms within their own physical space.

“Normally, when we talk about large operations, we’re bringing in a very large customer flow: 10, 15, 20, 30 thousand customers a day.”

That volume turns the store into an audience asset comparable to digital channels. And, as a result, it opens space for monetization through ads and partnerships, including with brands that don’t necessarily sell there.

One example of this transformation is Galeria Magalu, at Conjunto Nacional in São Paulo. According to him, the operation is a portrait of physical retail media in its most current format: a space with traffic, experience, and inventory, where ads and activations can be sold to partners and sellers.

“It’s a store where today you have ads from all partners that sell there—or don’t.”

Conegero says he participated in the project and mentions that the store’s payback is estimated at around a year and a half, an indicator that reinforces the model’s potential when there is governance and strategy.

With the battle for attention increasingly fragmented, Conegero argues that malls cannot rely solely on rent and organic foot traffic. In his view, malls need to consolidate themselves as a complete channel for convenience and media.

From the specialist’s perspective, this does not mean malls are threatened by retailers or digital platforms, but rather that competitiveness will depend on maturity in data, metrics, and commercial offerings.

“If the mall isn’t a media platform, it can’t attract an audience.”