ISBA Study Highlights Key Areas
The latest study by ISBA brings to light vital insights into the evolving retail media landscape. It identifies a pressing need for increased collaboration, stronger governance standards, and dedicated specialist investment among retail media suppliers. The findings stress that transparency is no longer optional but a fundamental expectation from FMCG advertisers who seek clear accountability and measurable returns on investment.
The Call for Collaboration and Data Sharing
ISBA’s research highlights the necessity for retailers to dismantle internal data silos and provide advertisers with improved access to meaningful performance metrics. FMCG brands emphasise the importance of transparent data sharing as a basis for strategic media partnerships, enabling them to make informed decisions. This approach is seen as a way to build trust and foster closer collaboration across the retail media ecosystem.
FMCGs: Newfound Power in Retail Media
The study reveals a significant shift in power dynamics, with FMCG companies positioning themselves increasingly as clients demanding accountability from retail media networks. Major brands, including PepsiCo, are now questioning ROI more rigorously and pushing retailers such as Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Ocado, and John Lewis for clearer access to campaign data and transparent reporting.
This dynamic alters traditional supplier-retailer relationships, requiring retail media providers to adapt their strategies and governance frameworks. The balance of influence is realigning, reflecting FMCGs’ growing role as key stakeholders driving demands for clearer, more effective media investment.
Looking Ahead: Building a Transparent Future
As the UK digital retail media market approaches a forecasted value of £5 billion, transparency and collaboration will be vital for sustainable growth. Retailers must prioritise governance standards that promote transparency and invest in capabilities to accommodate FMCG demands for data access and collaborative frameworks.
Adapting to these evolving expectations will not only strengthen trust between retailers and brand advertisers but also optimise the return on media spend. For investors and media agencies, recognising this shift offers an opportunity to engage with a maturing market that places transparency at its core.
Retail media professionals can expect ongoing transformation as industry participants align around common standards and data-sharing practices to meet the needs of a more demanding and empowered retail media ecosystem.
