At the 2026 IAB Connected Commerce Summit, one message was clear: Commerce media has moved past its rapid growth era. Now it must prove it works.
The Shift: From Growth to Scrutiny
For years, commerce media grew on momentum: new networks, rising budgets, and industry excitement. That is over. Leading up to and throughout the event we heard worries across the ecosystem:
- Growth is slowing
- Budgets face scrutiny
- Many players look the same
- Weaknesses are becoming visible
- This is the point where real change starts.
The Hard Truth: Not Everyone Will Win
There are too many similar commerce media networks (CMNs). And the market will not sustain hundreds of undifferentiated CMNs. Marketers are concentrating spend on fewer partners. The rest will struggle unless they stand out.
At Connected Commerce Summit, IAB released a first-of-its-kind work product, Building A More Competitive Commerce Media Ecosystem, to address head-on the differentiation issues facing CMNs today. The report outlines six strategic paths available for CMNs to take as ways to better position their offerings.
2026 Is About Commerce Media Exceeding on Four Market Imperatives
1. Fortify the Core Business Before AI Exposes It
AI will change how people discover and buy products. But AI depends on retail fundamentals. If those are weak, AI won’t fix them – it will route around them. Retailers need to focus on:
- Assortment
- Availability
- Fulfillment
- Trust
These are the levers that drive outcomes, and media is the supporting act behind them.
2. Make In-Store Media Work
In-store media is still underdeveloped. The industry is moving past pilots. Now it needs:
- Measurement tied to real store conditions
- Reliable execution
- Clear internal ownership
There is progress, including adoption of IAB’s Verified Impressions framework. But testing isn’t enough anymore—the focus going forward will be on scaling in-store media.
3. Integrate Retail Media Into the Business
Retail media teams often operate separately from the rest of the company. That model doesn’t work. The companies making progress connect:
- Merchandising
- Marketing
- Supplier strategy
- Store operations
Retail media should be part of how the business runs, not just a side function.
4. Prove Results With Transparency
Across the industry, expectations have changed. Advertisers want clear answers:
- How measurement works
- What incrementality shows
- How data is used
Spending follows proof. Incrementality and validation are no longer advantages – they are requirements.
Where This Leaves the Industry
Commerce media is no longer emerging. It’s being evaluated. And IAB is addressing the biggest challenges in multiple ways:
- AI will speed up change, not replace fundamentals. We plan to release a playbook for how to think about attribution in an AI-driven shopping world later this year.
- Integration will separate strong operators from the rest. Our Building A Competitive Commerce Media Ecosystem work will continue with how-to content for how CMNs can choose strategic paths and further integrate media into the business’ priorities.
- Measurement will direct budgets. Data clean rooms promise to help brands unlock further dollars to allocate towards commerce media. IAB has a task force in place to address standard data inputs for data clean rooms and standardized reporting templates to ensure interoperability across clean room environments in retail media.
- Execution will matter more than ideas. Maturity in commerce means seamless execution now. And IAB will continue producing best practices to support execution in the space.
The question is no longer whether commerce media works. It’s who it works for and how well.
