From Fragmentation to Scale: Regina Ye, CEO Topsort, on Retail Media 3.0

Christine Russo sits down to interview Regina Ye, CEO and co-founder of Topsort, on What Just Happened:Regina Ye discussed how Topsort was founded by three engineers to democratize big tech ad infrastructure for retailers and brands. She drew from her own experience as a CPG brand frustrated by ad platforms like Amazon and Meta. Topsort aims to provide scalable, privacy-conscious, product-based ad solutions for retailers.She emphasized the company’s goal to make retail media technology modular and accessible, especially for the “have-nots” who are struggling to catch up in retail media. Even the “haves,” she noted, still feel early in the game and seek smarter, more scalable solutions. Topsort provides tools that address both tech and operational pain points, allowing customization and faster iteration to achieve better ROI.Regina spoke about growing skepticism among CFOs about retail media’s profitability and the importance of understanding what a successful retail media business actually looks like financially. She noted that technical inefficiencies and a lack of agility often hinder performance.She detailed Topsort’s recent partnership with DoorDash, launching a programmatic retail media exchange focused on solving fragmentation and standardization issues across cataloging, attribution, and audience definitions—something now possible through AI. She positioned this as part of a shift into “Retail Media 3.0,” characterized by open, programmatic, and scalable infrastructure.Additionally, she introduced Topsort’s new AI-based offerings that unbundle ad intelligence—such as auto bidding, pacing, and quality scoring—so retailers can test and optimize with their own data. This includes an in-store innovation that uses existing retail hardware signals (like Bluetooth and beacons) to create ML-based predictions on in-store behavior, without needing new installations.Finally, she shared insights about Topsort’s inaugural Developer Days event, a collaborative offsite where engineers, retailers, and product leaders gathered to discuss product roadmaps, new features, and innovation in retail media beyond the typical sales and marketing focus