ISBA has published the second phase of its Digital Retail Media Study, providing the industry's first independent validation of what five of the UK's largest retail media networks can deliver across campaign set-up, delivery, and reporting.
Following last year's qualitative research, which explored how retail media should evolve, this new study tests those perspectives against real-world evidence. Conducted by mediasense and funded by ten ISBA member advertisers, it assesses more than 200 capability data points across five major retail media networks through platform demonstrations, documentation reviews, and structured validation.
Among the report’s key findings are:
- Retailers continue to define core metrics differently, including what constitutes an attributed sale.
- Strong capabilities exist across different networks, but no single retailer currently combines all leading practices.
- Self-service access, reporting transparency and measurement sophistication vary significantly depending on retailer, buying model and advertiser tier.
- Platform investment is accelerating, with many current capability gaps expected to improve over the next 12 months.
- Retail media’s long-term growth will depend on greater transparency, clear customisable definitions, and consistent reporting standards.
This report also sets out a practical roadmap for the industry, including a shared cross-retailer glossary, common reporting principles, greater transparency around buying tiers, and an annual maturity benchmark to track industry progress.