Retailers have launched their networks, they have invested in differentiating them – but what do they do next to win over marketers in this increasingly competitive environment? David Goddard offers some tips and must-haves
Retail media has fast cemented itself as a key advertising channel – and with good reason. With the need to drive measurable outcomes, retail media networks (RMNs) offer the promise of rich first-party data on high-intent audiences, quality inventory, and clear attribution near the point of purchase. Recent research by IAB Europe found that Retail Media ad revenues grew by 22% in Europe in 2024.
Recognising the opportunity available to them, major retailers have launched and rapidly scaled their own RMNs. However, fast expansion comes with its own set of growing pains. As more retailers launch their own networks and invest in differentiation, including offering off-site measurement on programmatic, social and connected TV (CTV), the ecosystem is becoming increasingly fragmented.
Moreover, as competition intensifies, standards are beginning to solidify and advertisers are becoming more selective. Coupled with retail media’s premium pricing, the pressure is on retailers to deliver real performance.
Marketers are now demanding more than access to shopper eyeballs. They want accountability and proof that their investment is working. So, what do RMNs need to do to measure up?
Metrics of success
The comparison made between retail media and social’s development curve is striking. Both are powered by access to differentiated and powerful audience data, and each ecosystem has its own rules that restrict transparency and control in exchange for access to valuable inventory. But the comparisons don’t stop there. Just as we saw with social media, marketers shifting budgets into RMNs are asking the same core questions: Did real consumers see my campaign? Did they engage with my media? Did they purchase my product or service?
At the heart of these questions lies a core theme: transparency. Today, we know that marketers seek a greater understanding and control over the quality of the media they invest in, paired with improved toolsets. Again, propelled by access to valuable audience data and, often in partnership with in-store and online product placements, marketers have had to live with compromises around retail media capabilities.
Retailers need to invest in solutions that can provide oversight across their networks. This means consistent, third-party verified measurement on all platforms, devices, and formats, with standardised reporting and cross-channel metrics. This should extend beyond on-site inventory, such as retailers’ owned and operated platforms, to include other environments that come with off-site inventory, whether that is programmatic open web, social, or CTV. This adds complexity, but it also highlights the need for consistent oversight.
In particular, retailers must address challenges such as viewability, especially in onsite environments where sites are primarily designed to drive sales. With the average viewable rate for on-site placements being 36%, retailers must be ready to offer actionable data that enables optimisation and post-campaign analysis. For example, real-time access to metrics including average time-in-view, message exposure, and ad completion rates, particularly for video and CTV formats.
By focusing on these outcome-based metrics, enhancing transparency, and expanding their reach beyond owned inventory, retailers can best meet advertisers’ demands and prove their value as a media network. They must also implement robust protections to maintain this trust and performance.
In particular, retailers need to guard against fraud and invalid traffic (IVT). While retail media has historically experienced relatively low fraud levels, with an off-site violation rate of 0.7%, the rapid growth of advertiser budgets attracts bad actors. IVT can occur on-site through scraper bots and offsite through extension networks, where negative inventory may be unknowingly purchased programmatically.
As RMNs expand beyond the boundaries of their owned inventory to include ad inventory packages from external publishers, brand suitability will become an increasingly important concern. From discriminatory content and Made-for-Advertising (MFA), the dynamic nature of the digital realm makes it critical to ensure brand-content alignment.
Advertisers require assurance that their brand suitability policies will be consistently enforced, from pre-bid avoidance to post-bid monitoring and blocking. Fortunately, AI-powered solutions are now available that allow expansive content categorisation across web, mobile, CTV, and social environments. When selecting a tech partner to work with, RMNs should look for a solution that lets brands establish consistent global governance while allowing for local flexibility.
Media-grade capabilities
Having made the considerable investment required to create their own media networks, RMN operators must now keep pace with the evolving and increasingly sophisticated demands and expectations of marketers.
Retailers aren’t publishers, so they may not have the in-house technical expertise required to take their RMN operations to the next level. Tech partners and their solutions should be rigorously investigated to ensure that they provide the levels of flexibility, transparency, and inventory performance that advertisers are demanding.
While standards are improving, the lack of standardised methodologies for calculating retail media metrics, along with the proprietary approaches of individual networks, can make cross-channel performance measurement challenging. Communicating expectations to advertisers and advocating for standardised measures is imperative.
The next phase of retail media’s evolution will be defined by who is proving value. This means embracing third-party measurement, enforcing brand suitability and delivering standardised, outcome-based metrics that marketers can trust. Those who adapt now will attract greater spend and differentiate themselves in a crowded market.
Author
David Goddard is SVP of Business Development – Measurement & Publisher Solutions, DoubleVerify
You are in: Home » Retail Media » GUEST COMMENT Retail media must-haves to win over today’s marketers
GUEST COMMENT Retail media must-haves to win over today’s marketers
Paul Skeldon
Retailers have launched their networks, they have invested in differentiating them – but what do they do next to win over marketers in this increasingly competitive environment? David Goddard offers some tips and must-haves
Retail media has fast cemented itself as a key advertising channel – and with good reason. With the need to drive measurable outcomes, retail media networks (RMNs) offer the promise of rich first-party data on high-intent audiences, quality inventory, and clear attribution near the point of purchase. Recent research by IAB Europe found that Retail Media ad revenues grew by 22% in Europe in 2024.
Recognising the opportunity available to them, major retailers have launched and rapidly scaled their own RMNs. However, fast expansion comes with its own set of growing pains. As more retailers launch their own networks and invest in differentiation, including offering off-site measurement on programmatic, social and connected TV (CTV), the ecosystem is becoming increasingly fragmented.
Moreover, as competition intensifies, standards are beginning to solidify and advertisers are becoming more selective. Coupled with retail media’s premium pricing, the pressure is on retailers to deliver real performance.
Marketers are now demanding more than access to shopper eyeballs. They want accountability and proof that their investment is working. So, what do RMNs need to do to measure up?
Metrics of success
The comparison made between retail media and social’s development curve is striking. Both are powered by access to differentiated and powerful audience data, and each ecosystem has its own rules that restrict transparency and control in exchange for access to valuable inventory. But the comparisons don’t stop there. Just as we saw with social media, marketers shifting budgets into RMNs are asking the same core questions: Did real consumers see my campaign? Did they engage with my media? Did they purchase my product or service?
At the heart of these questions lies a core theme: transparency. Today, we know that marketers seek a greater understanding and control over the quality of the media they invest in, paired with improved toolsets. Again, propelled by access to valuable audience data and, often in partnership with in-store and online product placements, marketers have had to live with compromises around retail media capabilities.
Retailers need to invest in solutions that can provide oversight across their networks. This means consistent, third-party verified measurement on all platforms, devices, and formats, with standardised reporting and cross-channel metrics. This should extend beyond on-site inventory, such as retailers’ owned and operated platforms, to include other environments that come with off-site inventory, whether that is programmatic open web, social, or CTV. This adds complexity, but it also highlights the need for consistent oversight.
In particular, retailers must address challenges such as viewability, especially in onsite environments where sites are primarily designed to drive sales. With the average viewable rate for on-site placements being 36%, retailers must be ready to offer actionable data that enables optimisation and post-campaign analysis. For example, real-time access to metrics including average time-in-view, message exposure, and ad completion rates, particularly for video and CTV formats.
By focusing on these outcome-based metrics, enhancing transparency, and expanding their reach beyond owned inventory, retailers can best meet advertisers’ demands and prove their value as a media network. They must also implement robust protections to maintain this trust and performance.
In particular, retailers need to guard against fraud and invalid traffic (IVT). While retail media has historically experienced relatively low fraud levels, with an off-site violation rate of 0.7%, the rapid growth of advertiser budgets attracts bad actors. IVT can occur on-site through scraper bots and offsite through extension networks, where negative inventory may be unknowingly purchased programmatically.
As RMNs expand beyond the boundaries of their owned inventory to include ad inventory packages from external publishers, brand suitability will become an increasingly important concern. From discriminatory content and Made-for-Advertising (MFA), the dynamic nature of the digital realm makes it critical to ensure brand-content alignment.
Advertisers require assurance that their brand suitability policies will be consistently enforced, from pre-bid avoidance to post-bid monitoring and blocking. Fortunately, AI-powered solutions are now available that allow expansive content categorisation across web, mobile, CTV, and social environments. When selecting a tech partner to work with, RMNs should look for a solution that lets brands establish consistent global governance while allowing for local flexibility.
Media-grade capabilities
Having made the considerable investment required to create their own media networks, RMN operators must now keep pace with the evolving and increasingly sophisticated demands and expectations of marketers.
Retailers aren’t publishers, so they may not have the in-house technical expertise required to take their RMN operations to the next level. Tech partners and their solutions should be rigorously investigated to ensure that they provide the levels of flexibility, transparency, and inventory performance that advertisers are demanding.
While standards are improving, the lack of standardised methodologies for calculating retail media metrics, along with the proprietary approaches of individual networks, can make cross-channel performance measurement challenging. Communicating expectations to advertisers and advocating for standardised measures is imperative.
The next phase of retail media’s evolution will be defined by who is proving value. This means embracing third-party measurement, enforcing brand suitability and delivering standardised, outcome-based metrics that marketers can trust. Those who adapt now will attract greater spend and differentiate themselves in a crowded market.
Author
David Goddard is SVP of Business Development – Measurement & Publisher Solutions, DoubleVerify
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