Liftoff with Jeanniey Walden · Retail & Commerce Media
Kylissa Ward on Non-Endemic Retail Media and Loyalty at DICK’S Media Network
Who’s on this episode
Hosted by Jeanniey Walden, founder and host of Liftoff with Jeanniey Walden.
What you’ll learn
- Why retail media has not yet caught up to how people actually shop, which is omni and increasingly shaped by AI.
- How non-endemic partners can build customer relationships instead of feeling like an intrusion.
- What the GameChanger app shows about non-endemic sponsorship done well.
- Why the checkout moment is the hardest and most valuable place to earn a shopper’s attention.
- Where commerce and loyalty intersect, from new customers to bigger carts and repeat visits.
- How DICK’S measures a partner like Fluent, with customer experience first and revenue as the bonus.
Episode highlights
- 00:00Meet Kylissa Ward and DICK’S Media Network
- 00:49Retail media meets omni shopping and AI
- 01:20Non-endemic and the GameChanger app
- 02:59Surprise and delight: the restaurant sponsor example
- 03:30Checkout, the moment that matters most in store
- 04:48Where commerce and loyalty intersect
- 05:30Tech that does not always talk to itself
- 05:50What DICK’S looks for in a partner like Fluent
- 06:25Experience first, revenue as the bonus
Episode summary
Kylissa Ward starts where she thinks the whole category should start: with the customer. People shop in an omni way now, in the store and online at the same time, and their behavior keeps shifting as AI reshapes it. Retail media, she argues, has not fully caught up to that reality, and the gap is the opportunity.
Her sharpest point is about non-endemic. Bringing in partners from outside the retailer’s own shelves can feel like an intrusion, or it can build a relationship, and the difference is whether it is additive. She uses GameChanger, the DICK’S Sporting Goods youth sports app, as the example. When a restaurant sponsors a tournament so a team can celebrate a win together, the sponsorship becomes a surprise and delight moment rather than an ad.
That same discipline carries into the store, and especially to checkout, the moment shoppers are most focused on finishing. Anything served there has to feel personalized or higher value so it reads as rewarding, not disruptive. It is also where loyalty enters, and Ward sees a real intersection of commerce and loyalty: not just acquiring new customers, but building bigger carts and earning the return visit.
On partners, she is clear about the scorecard. DICK’S watches NPS and customer experience first, and will pause or evolve a message that is not landing. Interaction rate and the more familiar digital metrics come next, and revenue comes last, as the bonus that follows a good experience rather than the thing chased at its expense.
Key takeaways
- 00:49 Consumers shop omni, in-store and online at once, but retail media has not caught up to how behavior has evolved with AI.
- 01:20 Non-endemic is a big opportunity; the GameChanger app already brings non-endemic sponsors into DICK’S properties.
- 02:59 Non-endemic done right creates surprise and delight, like a restaurant sponsoring a youth tournament, so it feels additive, not intrusive.
- 03:30 Checkout is the highest-attention in-store moment, so anything served there must feel personalized and rewarding.
- 04:48 Commerce and loyalty intersect: retail media can move past acquisition to bigger carts and repeat visits.
- 05:50 DICK’S measures partners like Fluent on NPS and customer experience first, then interaction rate, then revenue.
- 06:25 Experience first, revenue as the added bonus, is the operating principle.
Questions people ask
Who is Kylissa Ward?
Kylissa Ward leads Monetization and Go-To-Market at DICK’S Media, the retail media network of DICK’S Sporting Goods. She focuses on building retail and commerce media experiences that keep the customer at the center.
What is DICK’S Media Network?
DICK’S Media Network is the retail media network of DICK’S Sporting Goods. It connects brands with shoppers across in-store and online touchpoints, including endemic and non-endemic partners, and properties like the GameChanger youth sports app.
What is the difference between endemic and non-endemic advertising?
Endemic advertising promotes products a retailer already sells. Non-endemic advertising brings in partners from outside the retailer’s own catalog. Ward argues non-endemic can build customer relationships when it is additive, such as a restaurant sponsoring a youth tournament so a team can celebrate after a game.
What is GameChanger?
GameChanger is DICK’S Sporting Goods’s youth sports app, where families stream and follow games. Ward describes it as a canvas where non-endemic partners and sponsors already collaborate to create surprise and delight moments.
How does DICK’S measure a retail media partner like Fluent?
Experience first. Ward says DICK’S watches NPS and customer experience most closely, pausing or evolving a message if it is not working, then looks at interaction rate and the more typical digital metrics, and treats revenue as the added bonus rather than the starting point.
Why does the checkout moment matter in retail media?
Checkout is the highest-attention moment in the store, and shoppers are focused on finishing. Ward says anything served there has to feel additive, personalized, or higher value, so it reads as a rewarding moment rather than a disruption.
Full transcript
Jeanniey Walden: I’m Jeanniey Walden and this is another episode of Liftoff. I’m here with Kylissa from DICK’S Media Network, and we are going to talk about all things retail media, commerce media, online, in store, and building relationships with your customers. Kylissa, thanks so much for being on the show.
Kylissa Ward: Beautiful setting, excited to be here.
Jeanniey Walden: You’re the reason we’re in this beautiful setting this morning, as a matter of fact, because you were just on a panel talking about the future of commerce media and how it’s evolving in store, in not just endemic but non-endemic ways too. Talk a little bit about that and what you do.
Kylissa Ward: When you think about how consumers interact with retail, it is omni. It’s in store, it’s online, often at the same time. But retail media hasn’t necessarily caught up to how consumers are shopping and the behaviors that have evolved with AI as well. So what I’m excited about this week is talking about the future, both now and continuing to evolve, of how we can have more of that experience with in-store opportunities and digital too. The non-endemic area is really something that at DICK’S Media Network we’ve been close to already. We have our game changer app, GameChanger, where you’re streaming baseball events, and there’s a ton of opportunity there. We’ve already had a lot of non-endemic partners collaborate with us through sponsorships. So as I think about what’s next for retail media, there’s a huge opportunity for non-endemics to play more in this space too.
Jeanniey Walden: You blew my mind on the panel, because you mentioned understanding your customer and almost building that relationship through the non-endemic assets and elements they’re excited about. So they almost see you and thank you for bringing that non-endemic side to them, and don’t see it as an annoyance or an intrusion. How do you think that plays out in store?
Kylissa Ward: Absolutely. As with online, when you keep the customer at the center of everything you’re doing, you’re able to create experiences that are additive. Using the GameChanger example again, when we partner with a restaurant that can be the sponsor of a baseball tournament, whoever wins or loses can go to that restaurant afterwards and have a great meal together as a team. It creates those surprise and delight moments and showcases how non-endemics have a big opportunity to play in these spaces.
Jeanniey Walden: We hear the term a lot in the marketing, media, and advertising world: moments that matter. And we hear that the most exciting moment for a shopper is at checkout. So now with in-store opportunities, it brings a whole new level to in-store engagement.
Kylissa Ward: It does. It’s so important to keep the customer mindset front and center. When you think about checkout, you’ve just been shopping. If anyone’s like me and has their kids along, this is a moment where I’m very focused on checking out. So anything that’s going to disrupt that moment needs to feel additive, a surprise and delight. Keeping the customer experience front and center makes sure that if I’m getting served something in that moment, whether it’s personalized or maybe a higher value, it’s going to break through and feel like a really rewarding moment, which is why I love the loyalty aspects coming into the space.
Jeanniey Walden: I was going to ask you about the intersection between commerce and loyalty. You think it’s there, right? I’m not crazy?
Kylissa Ward: It’s 100% there. You bring new customers in, which is traditionally where retail media networks had historically been, but there’s the opportunity to build bigger carts, to get them to return, and that whole loyalty piece adds a whole new exciting angle. And I’m excited about how tech is evolving to support that. We’re still in a place where tech doesn’t always speak to each other. It might be, download this other app to get this. So there are opportunities to make that smoother, and it’s exciting that we’re getting closer, creating those moments where it can feel more connected while providing loyalty moments for consumers in new ways.
Jeanniey Walden: Now you work with Fluent, correct? For partners like Fluent that help with the data, the personalization, the delivery, the technology, what’s the success criteria you look at for a partner like that?
Kylissa Ward: Several things. First we look at our NPS scores, because the customer experience is so key. We want to make sure it feels like a surprise and delight moment, that it’s additive and personalized, so we monitor that closely. We’ve had a great relationship where at times, if a message isn’t working, we’ll evolve it, or pause it for a while. Fluent has been a really great partner in understanding our athletes and what they’re interested in, and being able to evolve to that. There are some kinks to work out as you’re first getting started, to optimize to the best experience. We focus first on that, make sure it’s stabilized, and ensure NPS stays strong. Then we look at interaction rate, the more typical digital metrics. And lastly, revenue. It is a revenue opportunity, but we want to make sure it’s really focused on the customer experience first and foremost, and the revenue is the added bonus.
Jeanniey Walden: I love that you start with experience and end with revenue. They work in the same sentence, as do merchandising, marketing, non-endemic, endemic, in store, and online. You’ve got it all. Thanks so much for being on Liftoff.
Kylissa Ward: Absolutely, I appreciate it.
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