# Ep 40: Sparkling Sips - Retail Media, Rewarded with Ariel Bishop, Downtime

An episode of [SHeCOMMERCE](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1846250420), 15 Sep 2026, 19 min.

Audio: https://www.buzzsprout.com/2538720/episodes/19807873-ep-40-sparkling-sips-retail-media-rewarded-with-ariel-bishop-downtime.mp3

What if the future of retail media isn’t about getting people to click more — but making their attention worth something? In this Sparkling Sips episode, Cristina and Jacqui sit down with Ariel Bishop, Co-Founder of Downtime, to talk retail media, AI, loyalty, in-store engagement, and what happens when brands actually reward consumers for their attention. Downtime is building a rewarded media model designed to help retailers, publishers, brands, and agencies turn customer attention into measurable growth and new revenue. Through interactive engagement, rewards, zero-party data, retail media strategy, and measurement, the company is rethinking the traditional ad model: instead of simply buying impressions, brands can give shoppers something meaningful in return for engaging. Ariel also shares the personal story behind the business. Her career has moved through traditional ad sales, measurement, analytics, publishing, technology, and now entrepreneurship. She opens up about trusting herself enough to make the founder leap, navigating male-dominated rooms, building a company while raising twins, and discovering an unexpected — and powerful — sisterhood of women founders, investors, leaders, and advocates along the way. Key Takeaways: • Attention has value. Retail media shouldn’t just sell impressions; rewarding shoppers for genuine engagement can create stronger connections for brands, retailers, and consumers. • Loyalty needs a new reason to matter. As AI and LLMs make it easier for shoppers to ask what to buy and where to buy it, retailers have to work harder to give consumers a reason to come back. • Digital can drive physical behavior. Rewards, coupons, and loyalty incentives can connect media exposure to real-world store visits and product trial. • AI should accelerate the work — not replace the thinking. Ariel’s approach is to use AI to move faster through segmentation, execution, and platform workflows while keeping human judgment and authentic creative at the center. • Trust yourself before you feel completely ready. Ariel’s founder story is a reminder that experience compounds — and sometimes the biggest career move comes when you finally decide you’ve earned the right to bet on yourself. • Sisterhood is a business advantage. One of Ariel’s biggest surprises in entrepreneurship has been finding women who actively want other women to win, learn, grow, and lead. Smart commerce strategy, founder real talk, and a powerful reminder that the future of business still comes down to people. Bold Brands. Fierce Women. One Sisterhood. SHeCOMMERCE: Website: https://shecommercepodcast.com/ LinkedIN: https://www.linkedin.com/company/shecommercepodcast/ YouTube: www.youtube.com/@SHeCOMMERCEPodcast DISCLAIMER: The content in this podcast episode is provided for general informational purposes only. By listening to our episode, you understand that no information contained in this episode should be construed as advice from SHeCOMMERCE Podcast or the individual author, hosts, or guests, nor is it intended to be a substitute for research on any subject matter. Reference to any specific product or entity does not constitute an endorsement or recommendation by SHeCOMMERCE Podcast. The views expressed by guests are their own and their appearance on the program does not imply an endorsement of them or any entity they represent. SHeCOMMERCE Podcast expressly disclaims any and all liability or responsibility for any direct, indirect, incidental, special, consequential or other damages arising out of any individual’s use of, reference to, or inability to use this podcast or the information we presented in this podcast.

## Transcript

[0:08] SPEAKER_00: What if the future of retail media isn't about getting people to click more, but actually making their attention worth something?
[0:17] SPEAKER_01: And what if digital engagement could do more than keep shoppers online?
[0:23] SPEAKER_01: What if it could actually bring people back into stores and create more value for brands, retailers, and consumers?
[0:34] SPEAKER_00: Well, it's your lucky day because that's exactly what we're digging into today with downtime.
[0:39] SPEAKER_00: Welcome to another Sparkling Sips episode from SheCommerce.
[0:43] SPEAKER_00: This is our short form series where we get straight into the ideas and the leaders shaping what's next in commerce.
[0:50] SPEAKER_00: I'm Christina.
[0:53] SPEAKER_01: And I'm Jockey.
[0:55] SPEAKER_01: And today we're talking retail media, AI, attention, and how to create the engagement consumers actually choose.
[1:06] SPEAKER_00: Our guest is Ariel Bishop, co-founder of Downtime.
[1:11] SPEAKER_00: Downtime helps retailers, publishers, brands, and agencies turn customer attention into measurable growth and new revenue through interactive engagement, rewards, zero-party data, retail media strategy, and measurement.
[1:25] SPEAKER_00: They also have a new platform launch we're going to get into today.
[1:32] SPEAKER_01: And Ariel brings a fascinating perspective to the conversation.
[1:36] SPEAKER_01: Her career has spanned sales, measurement, analytics, publishing, and now technology and entrepreneurship.
[1:45] SPEAKER_01: Entrepreneurship.
[1:47] SPEAKER_01: That is such a hard word, I swear to God.
[1:49] SPEAKER_01: All while navigating a still male-dominated, a still male-dominated industry and raising twins.
[1:57] SPEAKER_01: We're twin sisters.
[1:59] SPEAKER_01: Ariel, welcome to Sparkling Simps.
[2:03] SPEAKER_02: Thank you, thank you.
[2:04] SPEAKER_02: I didn't know we were twin sisters.
[2:06] SPEAKER_02: I love that.
[2:08] SPEAKER_02: Yes.
[2:09] SPEAKER_00: Double trouble right here.
[2:12] SPEAKER_00: So Ariel, let's get into it.
[2:14] SPEAKER_00: Retail media obviously has exploded.
[2:16] SPEAKER_00: That's that's nothing new, but consumers are are also surrounded by more advertising than ever before.
[2:24] SPEAKER_00: What do you think the industry has gotten wrong about engagement?
[2:28] SPEAKER_00: And what opportunity, what opportunity did you see ultimately that led to downtime and downtime dollars?
[2:38] SPEAKER_03: Yeah, so you know, I don't know that the industry has gotten anything wrong per se.
[2:45] SPEAKER_03: We're this moving target.
[2:46] SPEAKER_03: When I say we, I even mean us, just consumers in general.
[2:50] SPEAKER_03: And so between, you know, tech evolving decision fatigue, people have, and you know, we just want to move towards whatever makes the most sense, whether that's rewarded apps, the LLMs, anything that makes anything easier.
[3:05] SPEAKER_03: You know, so we really we we wanted to to lean in on that and create this rewarded media platform.
[3:11] SPEAKER_03: So like if you think about um the problem that retail media has is simple, but it's just really hard to fix.
[3:19] SPEAKER_03: So it's every retail media network today has uh is selling attention, right?
[3:25] SPEAKER_03: But we're the only ones that are paying shoppers back for that attention.
[3:28] SPEAKER_03: Um, you know, as an industry, I think we've spent billions of dollars building loyalty programs, but the ads inside of them um are still like every other ad.
[3:40] SPEAKER_03: Shoppers are scrolling past, brands are just paying for the impressions, nobody really remembers it.
[3:46] SPEAKER_03: And then the retailer doesn't really get any of that loyalty benefit back.
[3:50] SPEAKER_03: Um, so this format that we've built that we saw, you know, this opening for um is really where the shoppers get paid in the retailer's own loyalty currency.
[4:00] SPEAKER_03: If we're integrated, if we're not integrated with a retailer, it's coupons, it's discounts, um, it's anything that the brand wants to give this shopper for that attention and that engagement.
[4:11] SPEAKER_03: And now all of a sudden, you know, they remember the ad, they come back more often.
[4:15] SPEAKER_03: Um, and it's sort of it works no matter which brand is funding it.
[4:19] SPEAKER_03: And the retailer gets to keep this loyalty um and the brand gets the attention, but the shoppers are coming back, right?
[4:25] SPEAKER_03: Like they're we've talked a lot about um like the AI aspect of it.
[4:31] SPEAKER_03: Um, it's specifically LLMs, and they've made it dangerously easy for these shoppers um to just ask, what should I buy?
[4:39] SPEAKER_03: Where should I buy?
[4:41] SPEAKER_03: Um, what product do I even need?
[4:43] SPEAKER_03: And the the answers give zero loyalty back to that retailer.
[4:48] SPEAKER_03: Um, so it's a threat to the retail loyalty programs.
[4:52] SPEAKER_03: Um yeah, it's like the whole the whole premise of those is you know, earn points, come back, build a relationship, and that sort of gets skipped with AI.
[5:01] SPEAKER_03: Um so you know, the questions that these retailers have why should a shopper come to me specifically?
[5:09] SPEAKER_03: Um, but their loyalty account was built for that.
[5:12] SPEAKER_03: Uh so the more you can purchase, the more money, you know, works for you.
[5:14] SPEAKER_03: And we want to add that media to do the same job for them.
[5:18] SPEAKER_03: It's the reason to engage, it's not just a checkout mechanic.
[5:22] SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
[5:23] SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
[5:23] SPEAKER_00: And it's an important distinction between brands and retailers that are buying that impression, but actually paying to earn someone's attention, like you said, and then they're they're engaging more, they're coming back, etc.
[5:37] SPEAKER_00: It's important.
[5:40] SPEAKER_03: Yeah, and uh Will, Will Cohen, who you guys know, the co-founder, his DNA is in retail media.
[5:46] SPEAKER_03: So he just he wanted to go back to those basics and actually get people into the store.
[5:51] SPEAKER_01: I love that.
[5:51] SPEAKER_01: I absolutely love that, you know.
[5:53] SPEAKER_01: And for years the commerce conversation has has focused um so much on moving that shopping journey online, right?
[6:01] SPEAKER_01: You are taking a slightly different view, which I love, and using digital engagement to help influence what happens in physical retailers, uh in physical retail too.
[6:12] SPEAKER_01: Um, so why do you think that the in-store uh experience uh matters more now?
[6:19] SPEAKER_01: And and how can retailers and brands use incentives and reward um and rewarded media differently to influence actual shopping behavior?
[6:32] SPEAKER_03: Yeah, um, I think uh every every ad executive has said this at some point, and it's you know, what's old is new, so add me to the list.
[6:43] SPEAKER_03: Um, you know, experience and experium experiential marketing were those really big line items um on brand plans back in the early 2000s.
[6:54] SPEAKER_03: Um and retail media was also sort of, yeah, they were, you know, retail media networks were forming and um the retailers were were learning how to bring planning in-house and launch their own networks um to reach these shoppers directly and incentivize um them to come in.
[7:12] SPEAKER_03: And we're sort of circling back to that.
[7:15] SPEAKER_03: Um, you know, COVID uh certainly changed the entire landscape of how we all live and how we shop.
[7:23] SPEAKER_03: Um, and then post-COVID opened up an this opportunity to connect again with people outside of these ads and you know what we're combining the incentive mechanic of the retail media with the actual reason to physically engage again.
[7:38] SPEAKER_03: Because all of this, you know, if we're a lot of the rewards that um shoppers want are coupons.
[7:45] SPEAKER_03: They want to try new products, and all of this is incentivizing them.
[7:48] SPEAKER_03: Interact with your loyalty program, but go into the store, check out what we have, see these other things.
[7:56] SPEAKER_01: I love that.
[7:56] SPEAKER_01: And you know, that connection between between media and actual shopper behavior is is really it's where it starts to get interesting.
[8:07] SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
[8:08] SPEAKER_00: And you already touched on it, Ariel, obviously, as AI is creating that entirely new layer around how engagement gets built and personalized.
[8:18] SPEAKER_00: So I think this kind of taking it back old school is really important to remember the importance of that experience as well.
[8:28] SPEAKER_00: So maybe let's jump into AI then and the new platform.
[8:32] SPEAKER_00: So we know AI is reshaping, I mean, everything, but especially advertising and and commerce.
[8:39] SPEAKER_00: But there's a real difference between just adding AI to a product and using it to create something that's genuinely better and value add for consumers.
[8:52] SPEAKER_00: So, how are you thinking about AI at downtime?
[8:55] SPEAKER_00: And how does the new platform you're launching change what brands, retailers, and consumers can do that that maybe wasn't possible before?
[9:06] SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
[9:07] SPEAKER_03: Um, I think I heard um one of your guests recently say um that, you know, AI is not new.
[9:16] SPEAKER_03: Machine learning and algorithms have always been part of specifically commerce, you know, with retargeting a D2C.
[9:22] SPEAKER_03: And every advertising uh or ad tech partner you guys talk to probably has their own proprietary tech, you know, similar to what we're building.
[9:33] SPEAKER_03: And when I say similar, I just mean using these these learnings to do all this.
[9:38] SPEAKER_03: But the difference um I think we see with AI is to move and to ship faster.
[9:45] SPEAKER_03: It's not really to replace the actual judgment and the work behind these brands and the retailers, because they're they're trusting you with what to do.
[9:54] SPEAKER_03: So we're using it to really accelerate what we build, not to be what we build.
[10:00] SPEAKER_03: Um, you know, there's still a very large creative aspect to what we're doing because it needs to grab attention and consumers aren't stupid.
[10:10] SPEAKER_03: They love to raise their hand and say that's not real, that's not authentic.
[10:14] SPEAKER_03: So, you know, using AI too much can hurt the business.
[10:19] SPEAKER_03: So we really use it inside the tech just for whether it's segmentation to get to people faster, um, whether it's to serve their thing, or whether it's to serve our partner who's using the platform themselves in a DIY way to help them build their ads faster so they don't have to spend their time doing it, right?
[10:38] SPEAKER_03: Like we've got things built in that just sort of tells them what to do.
[10:42] SPEAKER_03: But again, nothing's being created with AI because we still want to keep everything authentic.
[10:48] unknown: Yeah.
[10:48] SPEAKER_00: Of course.
[10:49] SPEAKER_00: I love that.
[10:49] SPEAKER_00: And it's so it's so important.
[10:51] SPEAKER_00: We we obviously talk about technology a lot, as you mentioned, like with past guests.
[10:56] SPEAKER_00: Uh, probably every episode we touched on it, but ultimately, you know, the companies still get built by people, strategies still get implemented by people.
[11:04] SPEAKER_00: So it's important that you have that focus, people first.
[11:11] SPEAKER_01: And you know, and and we love, look, we love AI.
[11:14] SPEAKER_01: We think uh we think it's it is the fourth industrial revolution and all of that, but ultimately people are the heart of everything that's being done, without without a shadow of a doubt.
[11:28] SPEAKER_01: And AI, that's just another tool.
[11:30] SPEAKER_01: A fantastic tool, but a tool.
[11:34] SPEAKER_01: Um let's let's pivot a little bit.
[11:36] SPEAKER_01: Uh Ariel, you're you you know, your path into building this company was not exactly linear, um, which is usually where the best stories are.
[11:45] SPEAKER_01: So so tell us, um, you started in traditional uh ad sales and uh moved into measurement and research at Nielsen, then analytics at Cantar.
[11:54] SPEAKER_01: I mean, so far it's like a who's who of uh of fantastic companies to work for, publisher side sponsorship, and and eventually technology and and entrepreneurship.
[12:04] SPEAKER_01: You've described curiosity as one of the threads connecting all of that.
[12:09] SPEAKER_01: I totally, totally get that.
[12:12] SPEAKER_01: But what gave you the confidence to make this leap into building your own company, particularly in abtech industry, that is still primarily male, whilst also raising twins.
[12:30] SPEAKER_03: That is sort of the the the wildest part of my journey, like just this this end part and making that jump.
[12:38] SPEAKER_03: Um, you know, you spend, and you guys know this because just being women in the industry, you spend so much of your career trying to prove why you belong in a room, even though the proof is already there, right?
[12:51] SPEAKER_03: You've you've you're in the room because you have something that adds value.
[12:56] SPEAKER_03: But we all still sort of have this little imposter syndrome of all right, we still have to show it.
[13:01] SPEAKER_03: So, you know, when you get pregnant, you're sort of like, okay, I have to pretend this doesn't change anything, that I'm just gonna be available always.
[13:10] SPEAKER_03: Um, and then you're sort of like, okay, all of a sudden I'm trying to be a good mom, trying to do this.
[13:16] SPEAKER_03: And all of this was going on when I was still in corporate, when I had my first.
[13:20] SPEAKER_03: I was like, I still have to keep saying that I can do this, I still have to show that nothing's gonna change.
[13:25] SPEAKER_03: And I didn't figure it out.
[13:27] SPEAKER_03: I don't think anyone figures it out, but you know, you sort of get it, right?
[13:32] SPEAKER_03: You've you've you've got your schedule, you know what you're doing.
[13:35] SPEAKER_03: I'm so used to being in rooms that have been all men, you know, in traditional advertising, men were always the executives for the most part.
[13:45] SPEAKER_03: And then when I started moving to these smaller companies and tech only, I found that I was the only woman in management.
[13:51] SPEAKER_03: And in some of these companies, I was literally the only woman in the room.
[13:55] SPEAKER_03: So it was just sort of crazy.
[13:57] SPEAKER_03: And I'd always felt so confident, you know, walking into meetings and trusting my gut.
[14:01] SPEAKER_03: And suddenly it's like, you know what?
[14:04] SPEAKER_03: I think I can do this.
[14:07] SPEAKER_03: Now's my time.
[14:08] SPEAKER_03: I've learned so much, I've seen so much in leadership.
[14:11] SPEAKER_03: I've I love, you know, watching these people grow.
[14:15] SPEAKER_03: And it's my time, you know, like I can do this now.
[14:19] SPEAKER_03: It's I'm I'm ready.
[14:21] SPEAKER_03: I'm I hit 40.
[14:22] SPEAKER_03: I'm trusting myself.
[14:24] SPEAKER_03: I'm gonna take this leap.
[14:25] SPEAKER_03: Will and I were like, we're gonna do this, we're gonna disrupt retail media.
[14:28] SPEAKER_03: And then that real disruption came a couple of months in.
[14:31] SPEAKER_03: As soon as I made that jump, I found out I was pregnant with the twins.
[14:34] SPEAKER_00: And I was surprised.
[14:36] SPEAKER_03: Oh my god, what do I do here?
[14:42] SPEAKER_03: Raising.
[14:43] SPEAKER_03: Exactly.
[14:44] SPEAKER_00: Love a good BOGO.
[14:45] SPEAKER_03: We were we were in a raise at that moment.
[14:48] SPEAKER_03: Mm-hmm.
[14:49] SPEAKER_03: Except it's not really a BOGO.
[14:51] SPEAKER_03: It's everything is is double.
[14:54] SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
[14:54] SPEAKER_03: Yes.
[14:55] SPEAKER_03: So I'm like, oh geez.
[14:59] SPEAKER_03: You know, excuse me.
[15:01] SPEAKER_03: Now what do I do?
[15:03] SPEAKER_03: How do I, how am I gonna do I do I tell the investors I'm pregnant?
[15:08] SPEAKER_03: Are they gonna get nervous?
[15:09] SPEAKER_03: Maybe I don't tell people.
[15:10] SPEAKER_03: So all of a sudden I'm like dealing with trying to get out of imposter syndrome of running and building this thing with Will, showing him like, oh my God, I'm I'm not gonna disappear just because I'm having I'm having two babies.
[15:24] SPEAKER_03: Don't worry about it.
[15:25] SPEAKER_03: I'm still gonna be here.
[15:27] SPEAKER_03: Um gosh.
[15:28] SPEAKER_03: But it was, I mean, it was crazy.
[15:30] SPEAKER_03: And I'll tell you the best part about it though, is gr uh, when I had started in traditional media, there were there were women, you know, in power, and it was such a cutthroat industry back then.
[15:43] SPEAKER_03: And everybody was fighting for their their chance to be in the room that the women weren't super helpful back then.
[15:48] SPEAKER_02: Oh right.
[15:49] SPEAKER_03: Everybody just wanted to be where they were.
[15:52] SPEAKER_03: And it it was, you know, tough watching that as you're trying to learn a business and industry and make space for yourself.
[15:59] SPEAKER_03: But what I found now in the position I'm in, and everybody I talk to is all of the women just want all of the women to win.
[16:08] SPEAKER_03: And I started, you know, slowly telling people I'm pregnant and I'm an entrepreneur.
[16:12] SPEAKER_03: And there were these women who were like running VCs and they're like, Don't you worry, I just had twins, or someone else who says, it doesn't change anything.
[16:21] SPEAKER_03: You're gonna be able to multitask more, like take the time when you need it.
[16:24] SPEAKER_03: And all of a sudden, I'm learning from all of these women at all of these different companies, all of these different types of companies, because now that you're, you know, in entrepreneurship, you're talking to so many that you it runs the gamut.
[16:36] SPEAKER_03: It's not just clients, right?
[16:38] SPEAKER_03: It's potential partners, it's technology leaders.
[16:41] SPEAKER_03: And there's so many women out there who are just like, look at this, we got this, like we can do this.
[16:47] SPEAKER_03: Like the reason why things are getting easier, better is because there's more of us.
[16:50] SPEAKER_03: And there's like sisterhood that I had no idea came.
[16:54] SPEAKER_03: Yeah, I had no idea it came with entrepreneurship, being a mom, and just working.
[17:00] SPEAKER_03: And like, you know, being a founder in technology, again, there's not a lot of women in it, but everyone who's around it and wants to be in it is just like, yes, let's do this.
[17:10] SPEAKER_03: You've got this.
[17:10] SPEAKER_03: And it's so empowering and it feels so much more fun to build with other women.
[17:17] SPEAKER_01: And isn't it wonderful to actually have people who whom you could learn from in real experiences that you're going through?
[17:27] SPEAKER_01: You know, other women who have had to navigate that that whole juggling story of of twins and and work and and life and and everything in between.
[17:38] SPEAKER_01: It's it's it's incredible.
[17:39] SPEAKER_01: It's just so wonderful and so supportive.
[17:42] SPEAKER_01: And you kind of think, wow.
[17:44] SPEAKER_01: So this is what the boys club used to be.
[17:46] SPEAKER_01: Amazing.
[17:48] SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
[17:49] SPEAKER_00: And and just bring your full self.
[17:51] SPEAKER_00: Exactly.
[17:52] SPEAKER_00: Not not keep not keep up a facade so that you don't appear vulnerable, but being able to lean into that in certain moments.
[18:00] SPEAKER_00: I love that.
[18:05] SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
[18:05] SPEAKER_03: It's, I mean, it's it's been great.
[18:07] SPEAKER_03: And you you think you stop learning, right?
[18:09] SPEAKER_03: When you when you hit a certain role, you're like, I'm the person who has to teach.
[18:13] SPEAKER_03: No, you never stop learning.
[18:14] SPEAKER_03: And there's so many people like you can learn from.
[18:17] SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
[18:18] SPEAKER_01: You don't it's not only that you don't stop learning, you start learning that there's so much more to learn, and it kind of and it kind of fires you up to like, oh my God, there's there's there's even more out there that that I could be a part of, that I can that I can learn, that I can grow with.
[18:35] SPEAKER_01: And and it's and of course that that depends on your mindset too, but yeah, you know, it's it's just it's wonderful.
[18:42] SPEAKER_01: It's wonderful to to know what you don't know, almost.
[18:47] SPEAKER_03: Yeah, exactly.
[18:48] SPEAKER_03: I love that.
[18:50] SPEAKER_01: Ariel, I just want to say thank you so much for joining us and for giving us a look at what you're building.
[18:55] SPEAKER_01: We're so super excited to see where downtime goes and how it and how it grows.
[19:00] SPEAKER_01: We're gonna keep our eye on you.
[19:03] SPEAKER_00: Thank you so much.
[19:05] SPEAKER_00: We're definitely watching, and we're rooting for you all.
[19:08] SPEAKER_00: And for anyone who wants to learn more about downtime to the new platform, you can find them at downtime dollars.com.
[19:13] SPEAKER_01: That's it for today's sparkling zips, bold brands, fierce women, one sisterhood.

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