Industry Trends

At a recent MAD//Fest London 2026 panel discussion hosted by Rebecca Sentance, Editor of Retail Media Age, representatives from John Lewis Partnership, Arla Foods, Omnicom OMD, Tripadvisor and LiveRamp argued that the next phase of growth will be defined less by retail media networks themselves and instead by connected commerce, AI-powered discovery and a more integrated view of media investment.

At the IAB UK's Retail Media Growth Summit, one theme of the day emerged very quickly, as IAB UK Head of Retail Media Olivia McCullagh posed the question in her opening keynote: “Should it still be called ‘retail media’?”