A flurry of acquisitions has independent commerce agencies snapping up Amazon and Walmart marketplace specialists to build scale in retail media, ADWEEK reports. In May, Podean bought Walmart-focused Cartbloom (its fourth deal this year, with two more planned), and The EVOQ Group acquired Amazon shop Red View Ventures; in April, Harvest Group bought Amazon specialist Cartograph to double its Amazon team. Private equity is fueling the trend, with Mountaingate Capital backing both Podean and Harvest and opening up their buying sprees.
The deals follow a wave of bigger M&A that left the large independents absorbed by holding companies (Omnicom bought Flywheel, Publicis bought Mars United Commerce and Profitero), and the remaining independents are now pitching hands-on, cross-platform specialty across Amazon, Walmart, and TikTok Shop as their edge.
