As commerce media ad spend shifts, clear gaps emerge in buyer maturity and execution. From setup friction to system-level optimization, spend levels signal today’s constraints and what it takes to unlock scalable growth.

This FAQ addresses what commerce media is, how it differs from retail media, and where growth opportunities exist for advertisers in 2026.

“The way retail media has historically been built has been about setting up an advertising business on a retailer’s owned and operated digital channels,” said our analyst Sarah Marzano on an episode of The CPG Guys.

PayPal rolled out Transaction Graph Insights & Measurement at CES to gives advertisers and merchants a clearer, cross-merchant view of how people actually shop and purchase—and early results suggest meaningful impact.

"The retail media landscape is only becoming more crowded, but Target's guest insights are often cited as a key differentiator," said our analyst Sarah Marzano during EMARKETER's recent Commerce Media Summit.

Retail media’s early free-for-all is giving way to a more deliberate approach. At last week’s EMARKETER Summit, leaders from Kellanova and Every Man Jack described how marketers are sharpening their focus, rethinking measurement, and preparing for an AI-driven discovery landscape.

Nearly half (46.9%) of US brand and agency marketers plan to invest in marketing mix modeling (MMM) over the next 12 months, according to July data from TransUnion and EMARKETER.

In-store retail media is Europe’s next big ad opportunity. But as retailers digitize stores, standardization and measurement challenges are dragging advertiser adoption.

YouTube’s strength is that it’s many things to many people. But that also makes it harder for marketers to reach audiences on the platform. This report outlines YouTube’s challenges and explains how marketers can make the most of the YouTube opportunity.

As retail media networks expand, one of the biggest challenges facing marketers is measurement. In fact, 42% of US retail media buyers believe that more effective and accurate campaign measurement is the most important issue in retail media advertising today, according to March 2025 data from Koddi. To help advertisers better assess the effectiveness of their campaigns, Sam’s Club Member Access Platform (MAP) has introduced Omni-Impact—a new AI-powered measurement solution.

Advertisers’ push for a unified strategy across retail media, loyalty programs, and merchandising is raising the bar on data and transparency. Paul Lentz, executive director and head of strategic development at CVS Media Exchange, shares how new collaborations—from The Trade Desk to social platforms—can help brands see every ad dollar’s impact.

Retail media will reach $60.81 billion in 2025—adding more new dollars than Meta and Alphabet combined—and brands now rank incrementality as a top KPI. In this interview, Tinuiti’s Elizabeth Marsten lays out how to prove incremental sales, pick smarter tools, and keep measurement future-ready.

Incrementality has always been the holy grail of retail media. But lately, it’s taken on greater importance as ad budgets are squeezed and retail media networks (RMNs) fight for their share of ad dollars.

As marketers attempt to piece together a full, nuanced picture of how their paid media affects outcomes, old-fashioned measurement tactics are coming back into vogue, and new players are rising to prominence.

Incrementality has always been the holy grail of retail media, said Zach Darkow, senior director, marketing activation and measurement at The Home Depot. But as the digital advertising landscape grows more complex, incrementality has become more important than ever.

Retail media search is gaining steam while Google and other traditional search players lag. Marketers will grapple with genAI and measurement challenges as they rely more heavily on retailers’ search ad offerings.

In a recent meta analysis, Grocery TV discovered that consumer packaged goods (CPG) brands averaged a 14% increase in incremental sales when advertising through its in-store retail media network.

In 2024, retail media ad spend will grow 28.6%, coming to just under $60 billion, per our forecast. To reach that potential, retail media networks (RMNs) need to identify what attracts advertisers and set them up for success. Here’s how three consumer packaged goods (CPG) leaders are thinking about retail media.