Retail media has rapidly captured a large share of brand investment, with companies such as Bayer allocating roughly a quarter of total media spend to commerce channels. That momentum is real, but long term success is at risk. Measurement inconsistency, operational complexity and fragmented identity systems are creating friction that will slow growth unless the industry moves toward common standards and simpler workflows.
The Measurement Paradox: Growth in Silos
Brands pour money into dozens of retail media networks yet rarely get comparable, apples-to-apples performance data. Networks use different metrics, attribution windows and lift methodologies, making cross-network evaluation unreliable. Without a unified measurement approach, marketers cannot assess true ROI versus national campaigns, which leads to suboptimal budget allocation and missed opportunities to scale high-performing tactics.
Beyond Impressions: Identity and Reach
Retail media often focuses on incremental sales, but incremental reach matters just as much. Brands need to avoid paying for audiences already exposed by broadcast or programmatic buys. Robust identity solutions and cross-channel deduplication allow teams to measure unique reach and the marginal audience delivered by each network. Privacy-preserving, deterministic matching and clear reach metrics are now decision-making essentials for brand marketers.
Simplifying Complexity: The Network Overload
Hundreds of new retail media options have created an operational burden for lean brand teams. Selecting partners should be strategic: choose networks where the target shopper shops, and master core formats before expanding into advanced channels like CTV. Networks that streamline onboarding, consolidate reporting and offer consistent APIs reduce friction and free brand teams to focus on strategy rather than logistics.
The Future: Omnichannel and AI’s Role
Retail media extends into physical environments. Point-of-sale and pharmacy screens capture high intent moments that need to be tied into the same measurement fabric as online channels. Looking ahead, AI agents and programmatic purchasing will test brand trust and attribution models. Brands and networks must adopt interoperable identity, standard lift methodologies and simplified operations now if retail media is to remain a sustainable engine of growth.
