2026 State of Retail Media Report

Now in its 5th year, Skai’s yearly survey of retail media marketers uncovers the key trends, challenges, and opportunities that are defining the future of this crucial marketing channel.

Top Trends Uncovered

Measurement shifts from post-mortem to in-flight incrementality
More than half of brands shift display budgets to retail media DSPs
Omnichannel strategies separate top performers from the pack
AI Adoption is widespread and agentic commerce will go mainstream

Only 15% of brands report strong confidence in measurement. The shift isn’t post-campaign reporting; it’s infrastructure that steers decisions in-flight. Leaders have moved from “did this work?” to “what should we change right now?” Seven in ten brands meet or exceed retail media goals, while laggards fall further behind, showing the impact of in-flight, data-driven decision-making.

52% of advertisers are reallocating display spend from open web DSPs to retail media DSPs, driven by closed-loop attribution (57%) that traditional programmatic cannot deliver. This reflects mounting frustration with measurement gaps. As DSPs mature targeting and reporting, expect acceleration among brands prioritizing measurable sales lift over reach metrics that cannot prove incrementality.

Retail media has evolved beyond lower-funnel tactics. Brands now allocate a third of their paid search and social spend to drive retailer traffic, treating retail media as the hub that connects channels rather than an isolated commerce execution.

This integration becomes critical as AI-powered interfaces and platforms transform shopping behaviors and create non-linear purchase paths. Brands need unified orchestration to stay visible regardless of where the journey starts or how AI reshapes it.

GenAI is deployed across retail media, with marketers increasing usage for campaign management, optimization, and analytics over creative production.

Only 41% of brands currently use AI for activation, while 59% of CPG executives expect AI agents to own the consumer relationship within five years.

Agentic commerce will force brands to optimize for algorithmic recommendations, not just human attention, making omnichannel orchestration mandatory.

What would accelerate your organization’s investment in retail media in the future?

Brands need proof that retail media works before they’ll scale spend, yet without investment in sophisticated measurement frameworks, brands can’t validate performance well enough to justify the budget increases that would fund better measurement.

Do you anticipate shifting retail media display budgets from open web DSPs to retail media DSPs in the next 12 months?

In what retail media areas are you currently using and/or planning to use generative AI?

In 2026, retail media leaders plan to shift GenAI investment away from creative and content generation toward campaign management, optimization, and analytics.

Ready to dive in?

Uplevel your marketing strategy for the future with the expert insights from Skai’s 2026 State of Retail Media report. This essential resource provides marketers with the exclusive data and information needed to thrive in today’s intricate landscape, covering critical areas like ROI hurdles, the growth of retail media DSPs, and GenAI’s evolving role in commerce media. Access the key findings now and gain a competitive edge in retail media.