E-commerce
Retail media growth slows as advertisers audit attribution
The fastest-growing ad channel of the decade is meeting its first serious measurement scrutiny, and budgets are pausing while brands recheck incrementality.
Key takeaways
- Retail media advertisers are running holdout tests to audit incrementality claims
- Early results show strong incrementality in discovery categories but weak results elsewhere
- Retail media networks attribute the slowdown to measurement standards rather than performance
Brands that shifted budget into on-site retail advertising are running holdout tests, and the early results are uneven: strong incrementality in discovery categories, much weaker in categories where the shopper had already decided.
Networks counter that measurement standards, not performance, are the problem. Both can be true — and until the standards settle, growth rates will look less automatic than they did.
Why it matters
Brands allocating ad budgets to retail media face pressure to prove incremental value before increasing spend further. Retail media networks may see growth rates slow until measurement standards are agreed.
Sources and references
- Industry survey
- Updated 15 Sept 2026 · 14:00 UTC
- Written and reported by our newsroom.
In this story
- Retail media
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