Retail media networks (RMNs) are at the convergence of advertising and commerce, helping brands directly engage consumers during their buying journey with more precise and contextually relevant ads.
That’s exactly what many brands want, and the numbers prove it. U.S. retail media ad spend will leap 19.7% to $45.15 billion this year, and $55.31 billion by 2024 according to eMarketer. RMNs are poised to surpass traditional TV ad spending by mid-decade.
Still, challenges abound.
Retailers must build competencies in customer data management and ad tech, often from scratch. Agencies need to equip their teams to make the most of RMNs, which requires different staffing than TV-focused work. Brands need to find differentiation, and it’s unclear how consumers might react to potential ad saturation.
To help the industry reduce friction in the buying and selling process and stimulate growth, creativity, and innovation, IAB established the Retail Media Network Committee and the Retail Media Buyer’s Guide Working Group in 2022. Comprising leaders across retail media networks, brands, agencies, and ad tech companies, these groups are working diligently to lead the industry toward more streamlined and effective retail media practices.
Announcing the Inaugural IAB Retail Media Study
Now, IAB is proud to announce its next major RMN initiative: the IAB Retail Media Study, which will identify major obstacles to success. Early interviews have revealed challenges like mismatched internal structures, gaps in data fluency, and lack of retail media measurement normalization. This study will also offer actionable insights to brands, retailers, and agencies, including key partnerships and early success stories. It will provide tactical recommendations on relationship building, organizational processes, technologies, and more to guide collaborative retail media efforts.
The IAB Retail Media Study will be published at IAB’s inaugural Connected Commerce Summit: Retail Reimagined on September 13th in New York City. This one-day summit will convene over 200 industry leaders to discuss the future of retail media, commerce partnerships, measurement, data strategies, and more.
On the measurement side, IAB and Media Rating Council (MRC) are spearheading the development of measurement guidelines to address inconsistencies across Retail Media Networks (RMNs). Standardized metrics and reporting are sorely needed to compare campaign performance between RMNs. The forthcoming guidelines will establish norms around viewability, attribution, audience segmentation, data processing, transparency and more. This will provide confidence that retail media can be accurately tracked across any retailer, rather than each being a black box.
With the public comment period for the guidelines opening on September 13 at the IAB Connected Commerce Summit: Retail Reimagined, IAB and MRC aim to rally feedback to refine the measurement guidelines before finalization. This open process will ensure the guidelines address real-world needs.
Retail media networks are poised to become central to the success of many of the world’s largest advertisers. IAB is working hard to make sure the industry is ready to make the most of this moment.
Together, the IAB Retail Media Study and the forthcoming measurement guidelines signify important steps towards maximizing the potential of retail media through collaboration and transparency. As retail media matures, it will be critical to not just grow quickly, but grow smartly in a way that drives value for all stakeholders. Join us on September 13 at the IAB Connected Commerce Summit: Retail Reimagined to learn more and be part of these industry initiatives.