Retail Media Network

A Retail Media Network (RMN) is an advertising platform built on a retailer's owned digital properties (website, app, in-store screens) and powered by first-party purchase data, allowing brands to serve targeted ads to shoppers close to the point of purchase. (Source: Osmos.ai, 2026-05-18)

RMNs differ from traditional digital advertising in three structural ways: they are measured closer to the point of purchase; they use deterministic first-party data rather than probabilistic audience models; and attribution can include both online and offline (in-store) transactions. (Source: Osmos.ai, 2026-05-18)

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How it works

RMNs use Closed-Loop Attribution to directly connect ad impressions to purchase transactions by matching customer IDs from ad exposures to purchase records, providing metrics like ROAS, incremental sales, conversion rate, and cost per acquisition. (Source: Osmos.ai, 2026-05-18)

Three key structural tailwinds fuel RMN growth, per Coresight Research (sponsored by Criteo): the wealth of first-party consumer data generated by digital shopping; AI and machine learning enabling better data analysis and ad optimisation; and Closed-Loop Attribution allowing brands to connect sales directly to marketing efforts. (Source: Criteo / Coresight Research, 2025-01-14 updated 2025-11-17)

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Market size & growth

Global

Retail media's share of the global advertising market was estimated at 23.3% of a $772.4bn global advertising pie in 2025, based on Dentsu data via Coresight Research. (as-of 2025; stale_risk)

Over 200 RMNs have been launched globally since 2010, per Mimbi (cited by Coresight Research). (as-of 2025; stale_risk) (Source: Criteo / Coresight, 2025)

Retail media margins can exceed 50% for retailers, compared to traditional retail sales margins of 2–5%, making RMNs structurally high-margin businesses.

[!unverified] 50% margin claim — secondary blog source (everything-pr.com); primary source not cited. Treat as directional only until a primary source confirms.

McKinsey projects commerce media advertiser spend at $100bn+ by 2029 at a CAGR decelerating from ~20% to ~14%, with advertisers working with a median of six networks. (Source: McKinsey, 2026-03 approx — partially gated)

United States

US retail media ad spending reached $60.32bn in 2025 and is projected at $71.09bn in 2026 (+17.8% YoY), outpacing both social network and search ad spending growth rates (as-of 2026-H1). (Source: eMarketer H1 2026)

US in-store retail media ad spending is expected to climb 33.1% in 2026 (as-of 2026), as retailers focus on formats integrating naturally into the shopping environment. (Source: eMarketer, 2026)

Europe

Retail media ad spending in Europe is projected to grow more than 20% annually, reaching €31bn by 2028, per IAB Europe (as-of 2026-01). (Source: Mars United Commerce, 2026-05-13, citing IAB Europe)

Forrester's Global Retail Media Forecast (2025–2030) projects European retail media spend to double to $43bn by 2030. (gated report — Forrester paywall; surfaced 2026-07-11) (as-of 2025; stale_risk)

Mars United Commerce's Retail Media Report Card Europe 1H 2026 (fifth edition) covers 21 networks spanning cross-European platforms and significant players in seven markets: UK, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Portugal, and Turkey — noting that "the primary risk is no longer under-spending but misallocation" caused by fragmented marketplace, inconsistent measurement, and unclear internal ownership at brand organisations. (Source: Mars United Commerce, 2026-05-13)

Retail media in Europe has evolved "from an experimental advertising channel less than a decade ago into a core commercial lever embedded into joint business planning, distribution negotiations, and media transformation agendas across the region." (Source: Mars United Commerce, 2026-05-13)

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Key players & market structure

Amazon holds 79.7% of US retail media ad spend; Walmart Connect holds approximately 8%; Target Roundel approximately 1.5% — Amazon and Walmart together capture over 89% of all incremental US retail media spending in 2026 (as-of 2026). (Source: eMarketer H1 2026 via Osmos.ai, 2026-05-18)

Walmart Connect's ad spend grew +41.6% YoY in Q1 2025, making it the fastest-growing major retail media platform by spend, per Pacvue Q1 2025 benchmark data (as-of Q1 2025; stale_risk). (Source: Osmos.ai, 2026-05-18)

Target Roundel generated $621mn in revenue through Q3 2025, up 35% YoY, per Pacvue Q1 2025 (as-of Q3 2025; stale_risk). (Source: Osmos.ai, 2026-05-18)

eMarketer characterises 2026 retail media as concentrating into a scaled second tier, with the long tail of RMNs slipping further behind — growth persists but the hierarchy is sharpening. (Source: eMarketer, 2026)

Criteo plays a dual role: operating its own commerce media network and providing the Commerce Yield platform enabling retailers to build their own RMNs. Criteo was named a leader in the Q2 2026 SPARK Matrix for Retail Media Network and Monetization Platforms (as-of 2026). (Source: Criteo, 2026)

NielsenIQ and Unlimitail (Carrefour's retail media subsidiary) announced a partnership in 2026 covering 21 countries, 35 retailers, 120+ retailer websites, and 250M+ loyalty cardholders, to deliver cross-retailer omnichannel retail media measurement. (Source: NielsenIQ, 2026)

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Ad formats

Core RMN ad formats include:

• Sponsored Products — native search-placement ads that blend with organic results; the highest-efficiency direct-conversion format in retail media. Amazon Sponsored Products clicks jumped 23% YoY in Q4 2025, driving 22% spend growth while CPCs declined 1%, per Tinuiti 2026 (as-of Q4 2025; stale_risk). (Source: Osmos.ai, 2026-05-18)
• Onsite Display — banner/display ads within the retailer's digital properties
• Onsite Video — video placements within the retailer's website or app. Criteo launched onsite video for retail media in April 2025 with launch partners including Albertsons, Costco, and Walmart Mexico (stale_risk). (Source: everything-pr.com, unknown date)
• Offsite / Programmatic — ads served outside the retailer's owned properties via DSPs and strategic partnerships (e.g. Instacart + Google, Walmart + Vizio)
• In-store / DOOH — digital screens within physical store environments (see In-Store Retail Media)
• Amazon DSP — upper-funnel programmatic; Amazon DSP's share of total Amazon ad spend rose from 17.7% to 23.4%, and upper-funnel retail media investment grew 72% YoY in Q4 2025 while costs fell 24%, per Skai Q4 2025 (as-of Q4 2025; stale_risk). (Source: Osmos.ai, 2026-05-18)

IAB Europe released Flexi Ad Sizes Guidelines for Retail Media Networks in January 2026 — developed with Tesco Media — introducing four flexible aspect ratios for static display ads designed to work across screens and environments, aiming to reduce custom creative builds and speed up brand activation (as-of 2026-01). (Source: IAB Europe, 2026-01)

Colin Lewis (IAB Europe Retail Media Pulse 2026, June 2026) argues that video is not yet core to retail media strategies but should be, given that "video has become the dominant language of the internet." (Source: IAB Europe Retail Media Pulse 2026, 2026-06-04 / IAB Europe companion page)

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ROAS benchmarks

Platform	ROAS	Source	Period
Retail media average	6.1x	Skai (via Osmos.ai)	5 quarters to Q1 2025
Amazon Ads	~3.4x (29% ACoS)	Teikametrics 2026	2025
Walmart Connect	Divergent — see contradiction	Pacvue / Teikametrics	Q1 2025 / FY 2025
General ecommerce (non-RMN)	2.87x	Upcounting (via Osmos.ai)	2025

The average retail media ROAS of 6.1x has been maintained for five consecutive quarters through Q1 2025, based on $9.2bn in platform activity, per Skai (as-of Q1 2025). (Source: Osmos.ai, 2026-05-18)

Amazon Ads delivered an average ROAS of approximately 3.4x (29% ACoS) in 2025–2026, with ROAS declining 3.9% in 2025 amid rising CPCs (+4.6%) and softening conversion rates (CVR 13.9%, down 4.4%), per Teikametrics 2026 and Atom11 2026 benchmark reports (as-of 2025). (Source: Osmos.ai, 2026-05-18)

Including offline (in-store) sales in retail media attribution increases average reported ROAS by 42%, per Criteo analysis (as-of 2024; stale_risk). (Source: Criteo, 2024)

Criteo's analysis of 44,000+ campaigns across 422 brands (Aug 2023–Oct 2024) found that US brands conducting Incrementality tests with sponsored product ads saw +428% incremental ROI — true incremental value was more than four times higher than reported ROAS (as-of 2024; stale_risk). (Source: Criteo, 2024)

In EMEA, brands running onsite display ads on Criteo's network saw a 160% increase in sales per user after ad exposure; within two weeks of campaign activation, organic clicks increased 32% in EMEA, demonstrating an organic halo effect (as-of 2024; stale_risk). (Source: Criteo, 2024)

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Measurement challenges

Measurement and attribution are the defining structural challenge for RMNs: 48% of RMN respondents name it the single biggest challenge and 59% call improving it their top strategic priority (as-of 2026). (Source: Osmos.ai attribution guide, 2026)

94% of advertisers do not fully trust retailer-reported metrics, per Coresight Research survey (sponsored by Criteo, Jan 2025; stale_risk). (Source: Criteo / Coresight, 2025)

71% of advertisers now rank Incrementality as their number-one retail media KPI, ahead of ROAS, per ANA survey 2024 cited by Dataslayer (Nov 2025; stale_risk). (Source: Dataslayer, 2025-11)

Andrew Lederman (Global VP of E-Commerce, Mondelez International) stated in May 2026 that cross-retailer incrementality measurement — not just within a single retailer's walled garden — is the standard his organisation demands from RMNs: "We're looking for the ability to understand if our dollars are driving incremental sales, not just within your retailer, but across all retailers." He also stated: "The truth is, I don't think that we're there as an industry yet." (Source: ecommert Podcast / The Drum, 2026-04-26 / 2026-05-14)

Advertisers work across an average of six retail media networks today, expected to grow to eleven by end of 2026, each a walled garden with its own data, attribution model, and conversion definition — creating cross-platform normalisation challenges (as-of 2026). (Source: Osmos.ai, 2026)

The number of RMNs offering Media Mix Modelling (MMM) access rose 50% between Q1 and Q3 2024, per Dataslayer (2025; stale_risk), signalling MMM as a cross-walled-garden normalisation layer. (Source: Dataslayer, 2025-11)

Incremental ROAS (iROAS) across advertisers ranges from 253% to 1,609%, illustrating how dramatically true incremental value can differ from reported ROAS (as-of 2025; stale_risk). (Source: Dataslayer, 2025-11)

Colin Lewis (IAB Europe, 2026) characterises retail media as "awash with data but not insight" — the industry must climb from raw data to actionable knowledge before it can be truly data-driven. (Source: IAB Europe Retail Media Pulse 2026, 2026-06-04)

IAB Europe measurement standards (2026)

IAB Europe released Commerce (Incl. Retail) Media Measurement Standards V2 in January 2026, delivering clearer definitions, a streamlined measurement funnel, and guidance on Incrementality, new-to-brand, and sales reporting — responding to measurement being described as "one of the biggest barriers to growth in Retail & Commerce Media" (as-of 2026-01). (Source: IAB Europe, 2026-01)

V2.1 (January 2026) expanded new-to-brand/new-to-category timeframes to five generic timeframes, added a new section on measurement and insights delivery tools, and established 30-day lookback as the default reporting window (as-of 2026-01). (Source: IAB Europe, 2026-01)

IAB Europe introduced a Retail Media Certification Programme requiring retailers and ad-tech partners to demonstrate audited compliance; a six-month transition period allows compliance with either V1 or V2 standards until end of July 2026 (as-of 2026-01). (Source: IAB Europe, 2026-01)

IAB Europe plans to expand Commerce Media standards beyond quick commerce to include travel and finance media networks in future 2026 editions (as-of 2026-01). (Source: IAB Europe, 2026-01)

IAB Europe's Pan-European Retailer Digital Advertising Capability Map was updated in January 2026 to include 27 retailers, providing a view of advertising capabilities across Europe for media buyers (as-of 2026-01). (Source: IAB Europe, 2026-01)

IAB and IAB Europe jointly published "The Convergence and Coexistence of Trade and Media in Retail Media" in February 2026, addressing confusion between Trade and Retail Media with clear definitions and practical examples (as-of 2026-02-19). (Source: IAB US / IAB Europe, 2026-02-19)

IAB's Redefining Media Types (RMT) Standard was open for public comment until 8 August 2026, reclassifying retail media within a broader media taxonomy (as-of 2026). (Source: IAB US, 2026)

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Brand strategy debates

Andrew Lederman (Mondelez, 2026) argues that commerce media cannot build a brand on its own — "It works together with many different pieces of the journey… equity media, the actual having a great product that serves the needs of a consumer." (Source: ecommert Podcast / The Drum, 2026-04-26)

Lederman argues that budget power is shifting toward brands as more networks compete for the same spend, eroding retailers' historical leverage: "In a typical negotiation, a retailer may have more leverage because they have the foot traffic of the consumer. In the world of digital retail media, the brands hold the budgets… There's more competition for those dollars." (Source: ecommert Podcast / The Drum, 2026-04-26)

The internal silo between retailer merchandising teams and retail media network teams is a structural problem that hurts CPG brands: "If it's just a siloed game to try and add some budget in different pockets, nobody wins." (Source: ecommert Podcast / The Drum, 2026-04-26)

Colin Lewis (IAB Europe, 2026) argues retail media is still being planned and sold as a channel rather than as part of integrated campaigns: "Stop Selling Channels. Start Planning Campaigns." (Source: IAB Europe Retail Media Pulse 2026, 2026-06-04)

Trust and collaboration is the biggest positive influence on brand advertisers' retail media spending, cited by 40% of respondents in a Coresight Research survey; breadth of data is cited by 37% (as-of 2025; stale_risk). (Source: Criteo / Coresight, 2025)

On average, brand advertisers expect 3.4 promotional tools from RMNs (e.g. digital coupons, social promotions, in-store displays), per Coresight Research (as-of 2025; stale_risk). (Source: Criteo / Coresight, 2025)

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Key 2026 trends

Organisational maturity

eMarketer characterises 2026 as "a year of organizational evolution" for commerce media, with retailers elevating retail media internally, restructuring reporting lines, and aligning incentives with broader retail goals. (Source: eMarketer, 2026)

Full-funnel shift

Amazon DSP's share of total Amazon ad spend rose from 17.7% to 23.4%, and upper-funnel retail media investment grew 72% YoY in Q4 2025 while costs fell 24%, per Skai Q4 2025 (as-of Q4 2025; stale_risk) — signalling a structural shift from bottom-funnel-only to full-funnel retail media. (Source: Osmos.ai, 2026-05-18)

Amazon DSP drove 36.5% new-to-brand sales in Q1 2025 in the US, establishing DSP as the primary upper-funnel customer acquisition channel in retail media (as-of Q1 2025; stale_risk). (Source: Osmos.ai, 2026-05-18)

Agentic commerce

Stratacache's "Agentic Reset" argument (March 2026): as agentic AI automates online shopping decisions, in-store retail media becomes the most powerful surface to influence real human shoppers at the point of purchase — since 76% of purchases still occur in physical retail locations (as-of 2026). (Source: Stratacache, 2026-03)

[!unverified] The 76% in-store purchase figure — secondary source (Stratacache vendor blog); primary research origin not identified in available excerpt.

Offsite expansion

Offsite retail media — brands' ads served outside the retailer's owned properties — was characterised by Coresight Research as set to "disrupt the retail media ecosystem," with 2025 as the inflection point; key 2024 examples include Instacart partnering with Google and Walmart acquiring Vizio (as-of 2025; stale_risk). (Source: Criteo / Coresight, 2025)

In-store retail media

In-store retail media was characterised as a "test and learn" channel in 2025, with measurement challenges cited as the primary reason advertising dollars have not yet materially shifted to in-store environments (as-of 2025; stale_risk). See In-Store Retail Media and DOOH. (Source: Criteo / Coresight, 2025)

Aggregation to curation

Internet Retailing reports that ad networks are shifting in 2026 from aggregation to curation and from quantity to quality — data analysis, contextual insights, and audience segmentation are now the critical assets. (Source: Internet Retailing, 2026)

Inmar's Leah Logan and Andrew Lipsman (Retail Media Confessions, 2026) identify five key retail media pressure points for 2026: in-store, off-site, social video, creators, and measurement — "execution getting harder in each." (Source: Inmar Inc, 2026-03)

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Key terms

Term	Meaning
Sponsored Products	Native search-placement ads within a retailer's search results; blend with organic results
Onsite Display	Banner/display ads served on the retailer's own website or app
Offsite Media	Ads using the retailer's first-party data but served outside the retailer's own properties
Closed-Loop Attribution	Connecting ad exposure directly to a purchase transaction via matched customer IDs
Incrementality	The uplift in sales caused by advertising, net of what would have happened organically
ROAS	Return on Ad Spend — total revenue generated divided by ad spend
iROAS	Incremental ROAS — true incremental revenue divided by ad spend
ACoS	Advertising Cost of Sale — inverse of ROAS; ad spend divided by sales
Commerce Media	Broader term encompassing retail media plus financial services, travel, and other data-rich sectors building ad networks on first-party data
Walled Garden	A closed ecosystem (e.g. Amazon, Walmart) where data does not flow to external measurement providers
RAS	Amazon Retail Ad Service — Amazon's white-label ad infrastructure offered to other retailers

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Gaps in this page

• Fashion/apparel-specific RMN data — no sources specifically address RMN dynamics for fashion verticals (relevant for UNIQLO). Criteo incremental data is FMCG/CPG heavy.
• European RMN capability detail — IAB Europe's Capability Map covers 27 retailers (Jan 2026) but the map itself is a PDF not retrieved. Named European RMNs below Carrefour/Tesco tier not listed.
• Buying mechanics — no primary sources fetched on how brands operationally buy media on European RMNs (self-serve vs managed service, minimum spends, creative specs).
• Citrus Ads (now part of Epsilon) — not covered by any fetched source.
• Payment data + RMN targeting — Adyen Research angle not found.
• Reddit practitioner signal — Reddit MCP unavailable; practitioner sentiment on RMN ROI, attribution frustration, and platform comparisons not captured.
• Consumer/shopper perspective — all sources are supply-side or advertiser-side; no shopper-perspective data (ad avoidance in retail search, perception of sponsored products) found.