Retail MediaX Europe 2026, part of the Commerce Media Festival alongside the FMCG Summit, and the CTV, OTT and Streaming Summit, brought together the movers and shakers of Europe’s retail media industry for a packed day of talks and fascinating conversation.
This was quickly followed by a night of celebrating outstanding retail media campaigns, organisations, and people at the Retail MediaX Awards, surrounded by spectacular views across the City (the Awards were held in Horizon 22, at the top of the City of London’s highest building).
Looking back on the day’s discussions, there were four themes that particularly stood out.
1. In-store focus is only growing
This was a clear recurring topic among sessions that I attended, with FMCG leaders in the panel session ‘Industry Landscapes: The FMCG Instore and Ecommerce Report Findings 2026’ remarking on the high percentage of consumers who carry out grocery shopping in-store – some assessments put the figure at more than 80%.
Melissa Moore, host of the Retail Tea Break Podcast, summed this up as a lesson about paying attention to actual consumer behaviour. “We have to be really mindful [of] ‘What does the consumer want?’ We can throw money at things, we can want the best technology, we can want the new shiny thing over there.
“But … Have we asked a potential shopper? What are they doing?”
On the same theme, another eye-opening session came from Christian Skaarud at Coop Norge, who detailed how the retail chain built a retail media network from the ground up primarily using in-store screens. Being, in many cases, the only player talking about retail media in Norway meant asking brands and agencies to take a leap of faith with them in testing the proposition – but it paid dividends.
We’ve given this growing emphasis plenty of coverage in Retail Media Age, of course, covering studies that point to its importance and analysis of what it means for retail media’s full-funnel evolution.
While it wasn’t surprising to have this underscored at the Commerce Media Festival, it’s always fascinating to hear the trend examined from new angles and with a view to what it means in practice, from Coop Norge’s case study to the observations from FMCG experts about how mobile links the in-store and online worlds in the shopping aisle.
2. It’s not about channels, it’s about touchpoints
With this said, it’s also important to consider in-store as just one part of a bigger picture of consumer behaviour.
In a fireside conversation with Daniel Torres Dwyer, host of the podcast FMCG Guys, Asda’s Senior Manager of Insights and Analytics, Alex Fishwick, remarked that “Consumers don’t see it as in-store and online – two separate channels – any more.”
Fishwick went on to outline the ways in which online behaviour and contexts differ from in-store – such as bigger baskets, owing in part to not having any sense of physically filling up a trolley or basket – but added that customers view online and in-store shopping (with the same retailer, such as Asda) as very much one in the same, expecting the stock to be reflected across both.
In a later panel discussion, Gadiza Saaidi, Retail Media Lead at Unilever Benelux, spelled this out when she advised the audience, “Don’t see in-store media or screens as a channel; see them as a touchpoint, and connect all the dots.” Because the consumer is certainly already connecting them.
3. AI is bringing opportunity – but it’s far from settled
The opening keynote by Roger Dunn, CCO at Thrad and former Global Retail Media Lead at Diageo, drew together a number of points that he believes will form the foundation of retail media opportunity in 2026 and beyond, each with a link to AI.
I detailed these in a write-up for Retail Media Age, so I won’t rehash it all here, but Dunn also noted that many of these possible opportunity areas are still emerging and in flux. Similarly, Ayrat Maksyutov, Director of Product and Ops at Checkatrade, spoke about how the company was exploring an integration with ChatGPT and that there was potential to build out sponsored listings there – but that “the opportunity is not there” (at least at present).
“The opportunity is still with fixing the foundations [and] improving the basics … So I would say the main takeaway, for me personally, is [to] keep your attention on the things that matter,” said Maksyutov.
4. Retailers must partner with brands to innovate and grow
Dunn highlighted the possibilities behind retailer-brand collaboration during his keynote: first by illustrating how retailers and brands can partner on new ventures like ad placements in ChatGPT, as shown by a joint placement by Target and Lindt; and secondly by advocating for retailers and brands to innovate on JBPs (Joint Business Plans) through AI.
Hélène Trad, Director of Retail Media at Kingfisher, then built on this notion during her presentation on the future of retail media. “The second thing [about] driving growth … is truly working with advertisers and their agencies,” she said.
Retailers and agencies, she pointed out, are still finding their way in a world that’s evolving constantly – and the needs of shoppers seemingly change constantly. “So, seeing this as a partnership with advertisers – the brands, their agencies – in building together something that’s going to deliver on our goals … that’s very important,” said Trad.
Read more coverage of key industry events, including highlights from the Commerce Media Festival, on Retail Media Age.
