In this op-ed, Jack Byrne, Zitcha APAC CEO, argues that retail media in Australia is no longer defined by momentum alone.
According to WPP Media’s ‘This Year Next Year’ end-of-year 2025 forecast, it is now the fastest-growing advertising channel in the market, expected to grow 28.1 per cent last year and a further 24.4 per cent in 2026. On current trajectories, that expansion will see retail media overtake total TV advertising revenue by next year, a milestone that signals not just scale, but structural changes in how retail media networks (RMNs) are managed.
That shift marks the end of retail media’s formative chapter. What began as a way to monetise retailers’ existing media channels, has rapidly become a core commercial lever, influencing retailer economics, brand planning and the shopper experience across both online and physical environments. For retailers, it’s no longer whether retail media matters, but what kind of retail media network they are building and how deliberately they are shaping its role within the broader business.
As the category enters its next phase, the focus is moving from growth at speed to growth with intent. Australian retailers have a window of opportunity to make strategic decisions that will define their position over the next three to five years: which capabilities to own, how tightly media aligns to customer experience, and how retail media supports sustainable margin growth for retailers rather than short-term yield.
So what will define the next phase of RMNs as the industry moves through 2026?
Designing media through a customer-first lens
Much of today’s retail media inventory still mirrors conventional digital advertising. Homepage tiles, sponsored product rows and looping screen content often operate independently of the surrounding experience.
While that approach has delivered meaningful revenue, its limitations are becoming clearer.
Australian retailers are under increasing pressure to stand apart on experience, not just price. Retail media can either support that ambition or actively undermine it. The difference lies in how thoughtfully it is designed.
More RMNs will move away from selling placements and towards creating experiences that feel genuinely useful. That means advertising that helps customers make decisions rather than adding clutter, feels native to its environment and reflects how people actually shop categories, particularly repeat and loyal customers.
The strongest ad products will be those that lift conversion while improving customer satisfaction. Internally, the conversation will shift from where ads can be placed to where value can be created for both shoppers and suppliers in the same interaction.
Measurement clarity reshapes competitive advantage
Measurement and standardisation in retail media will remain omnipresent as brands and media agencies continue to push for greater consistency from RMNs. Retailers understand this but would argue that consistency can limit differentiation, but accept that without a more cohesive approach to measurement, scaling investment will become harder.
While the industry will not suddenly align on a single standard this year, it will become easier for brands and agencies to navigate. Progress is already emerging through more consistent reporting around sales impact and incrementality, clearer articulation of how results are calculated and a greater willingness to provide the right level of transparency so advertisers can invest with confidence.
This does not remove competition between networks. It changes the basis on which competition is judged. As measurement improves, it becomes clearer which audiences genuinely perform, which environments drive outcomes and which retailers can support objectives across the full funnel.
That shift is likely to elevate some unexpected players, particularly retailers without the largest footprints but with clean data, focused propositions and credible evidence of performance.
In-store moves from pilot to permanence
For several years now, in-store media has featured in strategy decks and been discussed in industry forums as the next frontier for RMNs. Now it is finally becoming operational reality.
Retailers increasingly recognise that a credible retail media offering cannot stop at onsite banners and sponsored listings. Brands want to influence shoppers at the moment of decision, and that moment still overwhelmingly happens in-store.
Capital investment is following that shift, with greater spend on digital screens and formats that can be planned, bought and measured as media rather than treated as static signage. At the same time, brand video budgets are stretching beyond traditional channels into retail environments, including physical locations.
As this matures, retailers will avoid positioning in-store media as a simple add-on. Instead, presenting it as part of a connected ecosystem that allows suppliers to align brand, trade and performance activity across the full journey from awareness to purchase.
Margin takes centre stage
As retail media matures, attention will move beyond top-line revenue to a sharper focus on margin. Retailers will look more closely at where value is created, where it erodes and how their network contributes to sustainable profit, not just volume.
With onsite, offsite and in-store channels all advancing, retailers will begin to identify gaps where effort and return are misaligned. The priority will be understanding which formats, audiences and partnerships genuinely drive profitable growth.
This will not require sweeping reinvention. It will come from clearer visibility, cleaner data and more deliberate control over how media is packaged and sold. In the year ahead, the fastest progress will be made by retailers who treat margin as a strategic signal rather than a downstream accounting outcome.
Discovery changes as AI enters the journey
Most retailers are still underestimating the speed at which conversational interfaces and AI-driven assistance will influence shopping behaviour. The shift will not be sudden, but it is already happening. Shoppers are moving from searching to asking. Rather than browsing long category pages, they are beginning to rely on assistants to surface options based on needs, preferences and budget. That change has significant implications for how products are surfaced, compared and chosen.
RMNs will not have definitive answers this year, but what matters is preparation. Retailers that start to consider how discovery might evolve, and how sponsored content could responsibly fit within those journeys, will be far better positioned as conversational shopping becomes more common. Those who wait for a fully formed blueprint risk finding that the rules have already been written by others.
This will be the year most advanced RMNs will start to look very different from their first-generation predecessors. And while retail media will remain a fast-moving category, the difference will be that more retailers will make decisions with a clearer sense of where the model is moving towards and what kind of network they want to be as it continues to evolve.
