How Retail Media Will Reshape Media Planning, Measurement & Commerce in 2026

Retail media — the practice of advertising within retailer and commerce environments — delivered breakthrough results in 2025 by connecting advertising exposure directly to consumer intent and measurable sales outcomes, outperforming many traditional digital formats and tightening the link between ad spend and purchase behaviour.

Looking ahead to 2026, industry experts say the next phase won’t be about scale alone but about deploying retail media intelligently and responsibly as brands integrate it into broader media, measurement and commerce strategies. 

From High Growth to Strategic Foundation
In 2025, retail media’s proximity to the point of purchase — especially across marketplaces, quick commerce and delivery platforms — helped it grow faster than paid search or paid social, making it indispensable for performance-driven marketers.

For 2026, experts predict retail media will transition from a high-growth opportunity to a core operating capability for brands. Rather than merely chasing reach or return-on-ad-spend (ROAS), brands will emphasise:

• Incrementality and profitability, focusing on new demand creation rather than capturing existing interest.

• Enhanced measurement frameworks that go beyond last-click attribution to factor in lifetime value, contribution to category growth and true business impact.

• Digital shelf readiness and retail-linked performance, where content quality, inventory and availability directly influence paid outcomes. 

Retail Media’s Broader Ecosystem Impact
Rather than replacing channels like social and search, retail media is becoming an anchor of the media mix, shaping how other channels are valued, planned and measured. Its rise is prompting marketers to rethink strategies across:

• Media planning, with tighter alignment between brand reach and commerce conversion.

• Measurement practices, where incrementality and profitability matter more than surface-level ROAS.

• Commerce strategy, treating retail media more like trade marketing tied to inventory and shopper behaviour. 

Experts also foresee retail media expanding beyond traditional placements to engage shoppers earlier in the purchase journey, combining on-platform and offsite activations while retaining closed-loop measurement.

For Brands and Commerce Platforms
As this channel continues maturing, its implications go beyond advertising. For e-commerce and quick commerce platforms, retail media is becoming a core margin driver, turning shopper traffic into monetised value directly linked with fulfilment and pricing. Brands increasingly view retail media as part of omnichannel strategy, where visibility at points of sale, ranking and inventory status matter as much as ad creatives.