You're Sitting On A High-Margin Business—Here's How You Can Realize It

InnovationYou're Sitting On A High-Margin Business—Here's How You Can Realize ItByTodd James,Forbes Councils Member.for Forbes Technology CouncilCOUNCIL POSTExpertise from Forbes Councils members, operated under license. Opinions expressed are those of the author. | Membership (fee-based)Jun 09, 2026, 07:45am EDTTodd James, Founder & CEO of Aurora Insights, is a recognized data and AI expert. getty​Most companies are sitting on one of their most underused economic assets. It isn't a new product. It isn't a new market. It isn't an acquisition target. It's the data they already have.Having led AI and data strategy at 84.51° and Kroger, and now working across industries as an advisor, I keep seeing the same pattern. Executives talk about data as a strategic asset. In practice, most use it to run reports, track KPIs and increasingly activate AI-powered experiences. All of that has value. But it still treats data as an input to the business rather than a product of it.​The Math Most Executives Are MissingThe margin contrast tells the story. Core retail margins typically run 2% to 5%. On-site retail media advertising margins run 50% to 90%, according to BCG at the high end and the ANA at the floor, with scale being the primary driver of where a network lands in that range. That's a fundamentally different business built on top of the same customer relationships and the same store traffic.Walmart Connect, Walmart's U.S. retail media network, grew 41% in fiscal year 2026, according to Walmart's SEC earnings filing. Kroger's alternative profit businesses, which include retail media, data analytics and other ventures outside traditional grocery operations, generated $1.5 billion in operating profit in fiscal year 2025, according to Kroger's earnings release. Both built significant revenue streams on data they were already collecting. The core asset was always there. What changed was the decision to treat it as a produ...