Retail Media Budgets Are Outpacing Measurement Confidence

IAB Europe released its third Attitudes to Retail Media Report on November 3, finding that brands are committing more money to retail advertising while struggling to judge what that spending delivers. The study draws on 150 buy-side and sell-side respondents, principally across Europe and with Middle East and North Africa perspectives included for the first time.

The commercial tension is measurable. IAB Europe's findings show 73% of buyers increased retail media investment over the preceding year, yet 61% of European buyers say inadequate measurement and reporting remain barriers to further spending. That makes evidence quality a budget question rather than a technical reporting issue.

Retailer Partnerships Are Maturing Faster Than Buyer Capability

IAB Europe reports that 71% of European buyers have worked with retailers for more than a year, up from 51% in 2024. Only 12%, however, describe their retail media strategies as fully sophisticated. Longer commercial relationships have not automatically produced more confident buying decisions.

This matters because retail media is no longer simply a test line in the trade budget. Advertisers renewing retailer agreements may face pressure to expand across sponsored listings, off-site media and stores, each with different exposure and sales signals. Those are distinct buying decisions even when a retailer presents them under one commercial proposal.

The risk is not that retail media lacks value. It is that a growing allocation becomes difficult to challenge when the network selling inventory also defines the performance scorecard.

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Retail Media Buyers Are Asking Different Questions

The 2026 survey shows how expectations have shifted. Return on ad spend was chosen as a desired metric by 49% of European buyers, down from 89% in 2025. Meanwhile, 66% seek unified online and offline reporting, 63% want new-to-brand or category measurement, and 57% prioritise incrementality.

Those measures answer different questions. ROAS can indicate recorded sales against media costs; new-to-brand reporting asks whether a campaign reached additional customers; incrementality tests whether sales happened because of advertising rather than alongside it. Treating them as interchangeable can make the same campaign look successful for different reasons.

Jason Wescott, WPP Media's global head of commerce solutions and chair of the IAB Europe committee, said: "Buyers are outgrowing ROAS." For CMOs, that means contracts need to specify not just performance targets but also the method and data access behind them.

The Seller Roadmap Is Not Yet the Buyer Scorecard

The gap appears in attribution capability. Some 58% of buyers want multi-touch attribution, but just 31% of sellers say they provide it. Although 63% of sellers plan to improve measurement in the next 12 months, that is an intention, not a delivered reporting standard.

At the same time, 68% of sellers plan AI-powered campaign management and optimisation, and 50% plan capabilities relating to agentic commerce and conversational AI discovery. These are signals of seller priorities, not proof that automation improves campaign outcomes.

IAB Europe is promoting common measurement standards and an independent retail media certification programme. The business opportunity for networks is to make their results comparable and independently testable before layering more automated buying onto them.

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APAC Budget Reviews Need Their Own Evidence

Europe's percentages should not be treated as an APAC market estimate. But a separate IAB Australia 2026 industry report identifies the same commercial friction: inconsistent metrics across networks, limited incrementality capabilities and difficulty measuring omnichannel outcomes.

At an ATS Singapore discussion in July, regional executives described Australian networks as a useful reference point while highlighting uneven standards elsewhere in Southeast Asia. The relevant lesson is not to copy European targets, but to require evidence that travels across retailers and channels.

For a regional CMO negotiating 2027 allocations, the practical test is specific: define incremental sales and customer-growth outcomes upfront, secure comparable online and offline reporting, and agree who can validate the numbers. Retail media's next budget increase will be easier to defend when a retailer's measurement survives scrutiny beyond its own dashboard.