The Story of Mark Williamson

In this episode of Shopless, we sit down with Costco retail media leader Mark Williamson for a conversation that covers everything from early startup chaos and financial advising during the Great Recession to building retail media programs at Sam’s Club, Ahold Delhaize, CitrusAd, and now Costco.

We talk about entrepreneurship inside massive retail organizations, why retail media is harder than it looks, and what it actually takes to build a modern media network from the ground up — data, identity, ad tech, privacy, operations, and a whole lot of patience.

Along the way, we get into Bentonville life, moving five kids across the country, culture, conference overload, the reality of “intrapreneurship,” and why retail media teams need to stay humble in the face of the $1.50 hot dog combo.