Analysis: Ballooning AI costs will need to be balanced with real business results. Meta, without a cloud business, is likely to have the hardest time proving the value of its spending spree.

The very things that make in-store feel safe are precisely what make it risky when overused, writes Spark Foundry’s strategy partner.

Early results from Sainsbury’s retail media platform claims campaigns deliver 2.5x higher incremental sales from omnichannel campaigns.

Agentic commerce will not replace traditional marketing. Instead, it will create a complex parallel operating system alongside existing consumer marketing, adding another layer of fragmentation, co-ordination challenges and competing priorities for brands.

Last week, The Media Leader took a deep dive into retail media, reporting on the latest updates and hearing from key industry leaders on the challenges, trends and future of this fast-growing media channel.

Platforms built for discovery are being recalibrated for transactions. Youth generations demand it, so publishers and brands need to adapt for it, writes the MD EMEA at Vudoo.

Retail media faces rapid, structural fragmentation, which threatens to stall its momentum. SMG’s global head of product outlines her solution based on collaboration and a mindset shift. 

Retail media is now being presented publicly as its own channel in the AA/WARC Expenditure Report, with forecasts suggesting its rapid growth will continue in 2026 and 2027.

Media leaders answer three questions about how retail media has developed, whether small players can compete, and what comes next.

Independent retail media planning matters. Not to replace specialist expertise, but to ensure it operates against a coherent plan, not without one, writes Project5’s executive director.