What’s up in In-Store Retail Media

This report examines retail marketing, advertising, branding, customer acquisition, loyalty, digital media, social commerce, PR, and consumer engagement strategies.

7-Eleven Australia has launched Anytime Media @ 7-Eleven. This omnichannel retail media network will connect brands with customers across its national store footprint, My 7-Eleven loyalty program, and digital channels.

Built with LiveRamp, pioneering retail media solution is being piloted by PepsiCo

Retail media may be awash with data, dashboards and increasingly sophisticated attribution, but the people actually spending the money have a rather simpler request: make the numbers trustworthy.

At Power Up: Retail Media, we brought together retailers, brands, media platforms, and technology providers to explore what comes next.

One of the largest players in commercial real estate is debuting its very own retail media network.

According to IAB Australia's latest Retail & Commerce Media State of the Nation report, almost nine in ten advertisers now consider retail media a significant part of their marketing activity, while retailers continue to report strong growth across onsite, offsite and in-store media.

Retail media has grown at pace, yet its role in planning remains constrained. Not because it lacks capability, but because it is still used too late in the process.

VMO is claiming a significant expansion of its retail outdoor network, now boasting 550 locations across Australia.

New research indicates brands are getting choosier about where and how they spend retail media network advertising dollars.

After years of experimentation and pilot programs, in-store retail media is entering a new phase defined by clearer strategy and execution. While the broader media ecosystem continues to grapple with fragmentation, declining trust and signal loss, the physical store is emerging as a powerful counterbalance. The reason is simple: attention.

American and European retail media networks evolved so differently — and why understanding these distinctions matters more than ever.

Commerce media is maturing fast. In a buyer-led market, commerce media networks that deliver omnichannel activation, trusted measurement, and embedded AI will stand out.

Retail media spending is surging as advertisers explore new formats, channels and environments. With projections suggesting that in-store retail media ad spend alone will surpass $1 billion by 2029, the industry is entering a new phase of growth. However, confidence in measurement has not kept pace with this rapid expansion.

Walmart's global advertising business grew 46% to nearly $6.4 billion in FY26, with Walmart Connect up 41% in Q4, VIZIO triple-digit gains, and Sparky driving higher basket values.

Despite a multi-year bull run in retail media globally, there was an abundance of retail executive teams around the world disappointed with their retail media network initiatives. That's largely because of a misleading valuation method...

Technology is being used to connect categories and guide baskets

This year’s NRF Retail Media Network conference showed a sector on the cusp of scale: US retail media is expected to hit critical mass in 2026, yet the conversation kept circling back to two realities - the dominance of Amazon and Walmart and the lack of instore measurement maturity to unlock its full potential. AI will accelerate the ability to establish traffic, data, and content that truly fits the physical store.