As we kick off 2026, commerce media feels like it’s entering a distinctly new phase. Ollie Shayer, Global Strategy & Innovation at SMG explains
Commerce media starts 2026 in a distinctly new phase. Whilst growth has slowed, it remains strong, and retail media and commerce media are maturing. The industry is moving beyond its experimental era towards something more connected and deliberate: a full-fledged ecosystem built on better data, stronger creativity, and trust.
From short-term trading to long-term partnerships
At the heart of that shift is partnership. Brand-retailer relationships will continue to move away from short-term thinking and towards longer-term alliances, built on shared data, joint planning, and co-investment. Robust measurement reinforces this change. Stronger, AI-enabled measurement, rooted in privacy-safe collaboration, is connecting brand activity to sales impact with greater consistency.
For brands, retailers, and agencies alike, this delivers something the industry has long promised: genuine full-funnel visibility rather than proxies.
All of this points towards a broader shift where omnichannel will start behaving like a well-integrated system. On-site, off-site, in-store, and social commerce will combine through shared objectives and unified storytelling. It’s less about where the media runs and more about how it works. Inspiration to conversion should feel connected, not stitched together.
Within that context, six changes will shape the next era of commerce media this year as retailers move retail media to the core of the shopping experience.
- AI executes the first end-to-end retail media campaign.
AI is already embedded across individual stages of the campaign process, from insight generation to optimisation. In 2026, those pieces will finally connect.
For the first time, AI will orchestrate the full campaign lifecycle, from strategy and creative development through activation, optimisation, and measurement. Tools like BRANDCOMMS.AI grounding ideas in behavioural insight, Heinz using AI to reinforce brand heritage, and platforms such as Albert AI helping brands like Crabtree & Evelyn optimise delivery, prove the foundations are already visible.
The shift is orchestration. Synthetic data and predictive modelling increase speed and precision, freeing people up to focus on judgment, creativity, and oversight.
- A new age of multi-RMN alliances emerges.
As the market becomes more crowded, advertisers are pushing for fewer, higher-quality partnerships. Networks that can’t prove scale or differentiation will need to collaborate.
Multi-RMN alliances that share data, technology, and reach will create a more interoperable ecosystem that is easier to plan and measure. As Marta Roballo, Retail Media Director at P&G, says, scale and capability are becoming decisive as brands grow more selective. Cooperation will drive the next phase of growth.
- Trust is recognised as retail media’s superpower.
Our own research shows retail media is significantly more effective at building trust than other paid channels.
Against a backdrop of consumer scepticism and AI-generated content flooding the market, retail media has a real advantage. It sits closer to real-world behaviour and, when done well, acts as a credible third-party endorsement.
Retailers’ credibility gives brands a shortcut to confidence, particularly with new customers. In 2026, networks that can demonstrate this endorsement effect will attract greater investment and will work harder to protect it through higher standards and clearer guardrails.
- Retail media wins the attention of creative directors.
As omnichannel journeys become more connected, creative moves from a late-stage execution to a central performance driver. Brands and RMNs will plan, test and evaluate creative with the same rigour as media. Distinctive, well-crafted creative becomes the competitive edge as AI increases sameness elsewhere.
As commerce media spend surpasses television ad spend, marketers will increasingly look to commerce media as the new benchmark for creative and experiential media that reaches consumers across their purchasing journeys.
- In-store media meets the demand for human connection.
As life becomes more digital, physical retail matters again. The entire store becomes a media environment, from traditional static formats to digital screens and more experiential moments. Data already shows experiential formats like sampling deliver the highest sales uplift. Retailers who accelerate in-store capability, whether that be through adding more screens like at Co-op or through interactive experiences like at Dick’s Sporting Goods in the U.S., will be the ones to beat in 2027. In-store media blends brand theatre with measurable growth. It’s even more powerful when tied to other channels, including off-site and social.
- Live social commerce becomes a major force.
Finally, 2026 marks a cultural shift for social commerce in the West. Inspired by Asia’s live-shopping model, a major platform and retailer will bring creators, audiences, and physical stores together in real time. Social commerce moves from experimentation to expectation for brands and their consumers.
The retail and commerce media networks that win in 2026 and beyond won’t be the ones making the loudest announcements or using the most buzzwords. They’ll win through clear, evolved propositions that marketers can understand, buy into, and measure. As budgets tighten and scrutiny increases, transparency and proven value stop being differentiators and start becoming table stakes.
Author
Ollie Shayer is head of Global Strategy & Innovation at SMG
You are in: Home » Retail Media » GUEST COMMENT The six changes set to shape a more mature commerce media market in 2026
GUEST COMMENT The six changes set to shape a more mature commerce media market in 2026
Paul Skeldon
As we kick off 2026, commerce media feels like it’s entering a distinctly new phase. Ollie Shayer, Global Strategy & Innovation at SMG explains
Commerce media starts 2026 in a distinctly new phase. Whilst growth has slowed, it remains strong, and retail media and commerce media are maturing. The industry is moving beyond its experimental era towards something more connected and deliberate: a full-fledged ecosystem built on better data, stronger creativity, and trust.
From short-term trading to long-term partnerships
At the heart of that shift is partnership. Brand-retailer relationships will continue to move away from short-term thinking and towards longer-term alliances, built on shared data, joint planning, and co-investment. Robust measurement reinforces this change. Stronger, AI-enabled measurement, rooted in privacy-safe collaboration, is connecting brand activity to sales impact with greater consistency.
For brands, retailers, and agencies alike, this delivers something the industry has long promised: genuine full-funnel visibility rather than proxies.
All of this points towards a broader shift where omnichannel will start behaving like a well-integrated system. On-site, off-site, in-store, and social commerce will combine through shared objectives and unified storytelling. It’s less about where the media runs and more about how it works. Inspiration to conversion should feel connected, not stitched together.
Within that context, six changes will shape the next era of commerce media this year as retailers move retail media to the core of the shopping experience.
AI is already embedded across individual stages of the campaign process, from insight generation to optimisation. In 2026, those pieces will finally connect.
For the first time, AI will orchestrate the full campaign lifecycle, from strategy and creative development through activation, optimisation, and measurement. Tools like BRANDCOMMS.AI grounding ideas in behavioural insight, Heinz using AI to reinforce brand heritage, and platforms such as Albert AI helping brands like Crabtree & Evelyn optimise delivery, prove the foundations are already visible.
The shift is orchestration. Synthetic data and predictive modelling increase speed and precision, freeing people up to focus on judgment, creativity, and oversight.
As the market becomes more crowded, advertisers are pushing for fewer, higher-quality partnerships. Networks that can’t prove scale or differentiation will need to collaborate.
Multi-RMN alliances that share data, technology, and reach will create a more interoperable ecosystem that is easier to plan and measure. As Marta Roballo, Retail Media Director at P&G, says, scale and capability are becoming decisive as brands grow more selective. Cooperation will drive the next phase of growth.
Our own research shows retail media is significantly more effective at building trust than other paid channels.
Against a backdrop of consumer scepticism and AI-generated content flooding the market, retail media has a real advantage. It sits closer to real-world behaviour and, when done well, acts as a credible third-party endorsement.
Retailers’ credibility gives brands a shortcut to confidence, particularly with new customers. In 2026, networks that can demonstrate this endorsement effect will attract greater investment and will work harder to protect it through higher standards and clearer guardrails.
As omnichannel journeys become more connected, creative moves from a late-stage execution to a central performance driver. Brands and RMNs will plan, test and evaluate creative with the same rigour as media. Distinctive, well-crafted creative becomes the competitive edge as AI increases sameness elsewhere.
As commerce media spend surpasses television ad spend, marketers will increasingly look to commerce media as the new benchmark for creative and experiential media that reaches consumers across their purchasing journeys.
As life becomes more digital, physical retail matters again. The entire store becomes a media environment, from traditional static formats to digital screens and more experiential moments. Data already shows experiential formats like sampling deliver the highest sales uplift. Retailers who accelerate in-store capability, whether that be through adding more screens like at Co-op or through interactive experiences like at Dick’s Sporting Goods in the U.S., will be the ones to beat in 2027. In-store media blends brand theatre with measurable growth. It’s even more powerful when tied to other channels, including off-site and social.
Finally, 2026 marks a cultural shift for social commerce in the West. Inspired by Asia’s live-shopping model, a major platform and retailer will bring creators, audiences, and physical stores together in real time. Social commerce moves from experimentation to expectation for brands and their consumers.
The retail and commerce media networks that win in 2026 and beyond won’t be the ones making the loudest announcements or using the most buzzwords. They’ll win through clear, evolved propositions that marketers can understand, buy into, and measure. As budgets tighten and scrutiny increases, transparency and proven value stop being differentiators and start becoming table stakes.
Author
Ollie Shayer is head of Global Strategy & Innovation at SMG
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