Retail MediaX 2026 Report: Navigating the new retail media order

Retail media's initial "big bang" growth phase is over. What follows is a deeper, more consequential transformation where retail media becomes the audience operating system for the entire sales funnel.

Moving beyond simple performance, the sector is evolving into a complex system spanning onsite, offsite, in-store, and AI-driven discovery.

The Retail MediaX 2026 Report explores this inflection point, mapping how fragmentation and expectations are forcing a shift from discrete channels to fully integrated systems.

What’s inside?

Shape of the Market in 2026

A global and regional analysis of spend, including the shifting balance between China, the US, and the rest of the world.

Scaling Up Retail Media

Strategies for integrating onsite performance engines with offsite reach and instore visibility.

The Attention Economy

Managing audience fragmentation across social feeds, streaming TV, and emerging AI interfaces.

Measurement and Attribution

Overcoming the "standardisation gap" and the rise of incrementality as the metric that matters.

AI in Retail Media

How orchestration is replacing simple automation across the entire retail media value chain.

Sector-Specific Messaging

Exclusive data on how consumer receptiveness varies across categories from FMCG to luxury and services.

Three key questions this report answers

1. How brands are reallocating budgets toward offsite channels like CTV, social platforms, and the open web.
2. Why 100% of networks now offer closed-loop attribution, yet mature "data plumbing" like incrementality remains a critical differentiator.
3. Why trust in the brand remains the primary gateway for AI-delegated purchases.

Ready to move from channel optimisation to journey orchestration?