ISBA has just launched the second part of its industry-first Digital Retail Media Study; Clare O’Brien, Associate Media Advisor at ISBA, reflects for Retail Media Age on the study’s findings and why shared definitions are so crucial for retail media to move forward as an industry.
As ISBA launches part two of the Digital Retail Media Study that mediasense has carried out for our members this summer, it’s worth reflecting on where we’ve come from and how important these latest findings are.
When our Media Leaders group asked us four years ago to help make sense of the retail media opportunity, we did what we do best. We gathered all the senior stakeholders in one room and asked them to work with each other, with us and, as it turns out, with the fabulous team at OMD.
It was only after the event that many of the people from that inaugural meeting said to us, “How on earth did you make that happen? These people haven’t sat in the same room together … ever!”
That meeting resulted in the publication of the first standards framework for this emerging industry sector. It was detailed and objective – a true reflection of a multi-stakeholder product – and many of its important principles were absorbed into the splendid work that our colleagues at IAB Europe are continuing with today and into the future (the latest can be found in version 2.1 of their Commerce (incl. Retail) Measurement Standards, published in May).
Part two of our own study has verified and compared the capabilities of five of the UK’s leading Retail Media Networks (RMNs). The detailed findings are invaluable for our advertiser members who funded this work. The by-product, the fixit learnings, provide the industry with a roadmap to a more mature digital retail media landscape. This is really about executing the standards that already exist.
Today’s publication follows the excellent report that mediasense produced for ISBA in July 2025. This was a total market review across brands, retailers, agencies and tech providers. It neatly summarised the need for the whole sector, buy- and sell-side, to focus development across the five lenses of people, strategy, partnerships, standardisation and, of course, value.
Subsequently, five of the UK’s leading RMNs stepped forward and opened up their systems for mediasense to conduct its capabilities study. We are hugely grateful for the voluntary, collaborative involvement of Boots, Lidl, Nectar 360, Ocado and Tesco in this work. It underlines their commitment to the shared development of this market and is a marker of their leadership values.
Publish a shared language
One pro-forma and glossary, anchored to IAB Europe’s standards. Five ways of working makes this channel unaffordable; one shared language lets plans travel.
– ISBA Retail Media UK study, Quantitative Validation, Aug 2026
The principal finding of the report is an unambiguous and immediate need to address the very basic lack of fundamental shared definitions of what the digital retail media offer is from each RMN. In essence, it’s a language issue; we are not currently working with a shared glossary.
The reason this is so important – for both the RMNs and the brand advertisers – is that its absence is making this extraordinary digital advertising channel unaffordable for brands to invest in at scale. It’s a fragmented opportunity that is becoming difficult for marketers to invest in by building the correct teams and channels to operationalise – internally and with their agencies.
ISBA has already begun working with its fellow trade bodies (not least IAB Europe) to action these findings. A shared language will provide the customisable framework that will enable RMNs and brand advertisers to create the significant shared value that both buyer and seller recognise. It will enable advertisers to scale their investment into the exceptionally high-quality audience segments that RMNs offer; and allow RMNs to refine their offers, including the provision of much-needed reporting data support.
The promise of retail media has rarely been in doubt. But we know that building a media business isn’t straightforward for a retailer; nor indeed is it easy for its brand suppliers to become that retailer’s customer. Existing trading relationships are the bedrock of the retail supermarket industry.
The challenge now – one that ISBA enthusiastically seeks to bring people together to achieve – is how, across industry, we can work together to realise the extraordinary potential of one of the fastest-growing media channels in recent memory.
The ISBA Digital Retail Media Study, August 2026, was funded by the following ISBA brand members: Arla, Coca-Cola, Heineken, Kellanova, Kimberly-Clark, Mondelez, Nestle, L’Oreal, PepsiCo and Unilever. Thank you for making a difference.
