The retail media industry has expanded and evolved rapidly over the last five years. What began with simple onsite sponsorships has expanded into sophisticated networks commanding billions of dollars. Today’s retail media features advanced capabilities including programmatic offsite advertising, connected TV (CTV), and full-scale marketplace monetization.
While more and more retailers are mastering online channels, the retail media opportunity in physical stores remains relatively untapped – which is surprising when you consider that an estimated 76% of purchases will happen in stores in 2026. Rockbot was proud to sponsor Coresight Research’s latest retail media trends report to better understand this disconnect and help retailers close the gap.
The report shares analysis of 200+ global retail media networks and identifies ten key trends reshaping the industry. Take a few examples: (1) the numbers show that AI helps brands dramatically improve retail media ROI and (2) industry-wide measurement (an ongoing point of debate) is truly becoming more standardized. This report reveals both the massive opportunity for physical retailers and the technology required to take advantage of it.
Here are some key takeaways from the research, as well as why they matter for your retail media strategy.
The Market Context
The retail media market is expected to hit $203.9B in 2026, a growth rate of 14% year over year – more than two times the growth rate of the advertising market overall. Major brands will command the bulk of these funds (an estimated 83.2%), leaving just 16.8% for other businesses to compete for.
And while physical stores have in recent years and will continue to drive the majority of sales, locations are underutilized as media channels. Luckily, complexities related to securing partnerships, acquiring technology, and proving value through verifiable measurement that may have held retailers back are becoming less of a hindrance with each year.
As a result, in-store media has clearly emerged as the next major growth frontier for retail media. But will more media improve customer experience?
What Shoppers Want
According to data from Coresight Research, consumers respond to effective media and appreciate savings in-store:
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37% of shoppers have purchased products promoted through in-store media
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34% are likely to consider product after hearing in-store audio promotion
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54% rank product promotions/discounts as the most valuable in-store content
Not only can in-store media drive meaningful results for revenue – it can also help shoppers discover a great deal that boosts satisfaction. And with over three-quarters of sales happening in physical stores (nearly twice the size of online audiences), the opportunity is clear and achievable, with the right technology.
Technology Shifts Driving Change
Among the ten trends, three significant shifts focus on evolving technology:
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AI Supports Meaningful Results: The data shows that purchase-based AI targeting delivers 6x more ROI than traditional methods. As an example, Kroger's 84.51° reports a 1.3x lift in incremental return on ad spend (ROAS) with AI optimization.
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First-Party Data Becoming Essential: 71% of brands, agencies, and publishers are expanding first-party datasets, a share up nearly 2x from 2022. As privacy regulations tighten and third-party cookies disappear, retailers with rich customer data (related to loyalty, behavior, and transactions) have a major advantage.
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Measurement is Becoming More Standardized: IAB and MRC, which first introduced retail measurement guidelines in 2024, issued the first certifications in 2025. With Alber Heijin receiving the first IAB Europe certification and Walmart Connect receiving the first MRC accreditation for Sponsored Search, the road is paved for more organizations to follow suit.
In sum, these factors encourage businesses to operate retail media in ways that are more sophisticated and, ultimately, more attractive to advertisers.
Winning with Retail Media in 2026
As the report indicates, success in the future of retail media requires a strategic and aligned approach to tooling, team structures, and advertising campaigns.
Retailers who dominate retail media in the coming years will offer both consumers and advertisers a seamless experience across touchpoints. To do this requires unified systems that sync data, measurement, and activation across channels, including onsite, offsite, CTV, and in-store.
These systems result from an investment in the right resources, including AI and automation capabilities, as well as third-party verification to prove out performance. Self-service tools are also essential, making it easy to stand up and launch campaigns. And this investment should extend beyond technology: retailers need to prioritize a unified team. This means breaking down silos between groups like media sales, merchandising, data science, and IT, since each has an essential role to play in creating comprehensive media packages (as opposed to fragmented offerings).
Perhaps most significantly, success in 2026 requires that brands prioritize media in physical locations, thus completing the omnichannel picture where the bulk of sales happen.
Your Partner for Retail Media’s In-Store Opportunity
Coresight Research’s report confirms what we've been seeing in the market – that is, in-store media is the missing piece in most retail media strategies.
Rockbot helps retailers complete their retail media networks by providing the in-location infrastructure that connects physical stores with digital channels. Our platform delivers targeted campaigns across digital signage, overhead audio, and mobile apps, all managed from a single interface.
Our technology is built for reliability and scale. Whether you're launching your first in-store media initiative or scaling an existing retail media network, Rockbot provides the unified technology required to capture the in-store opportunity – the same opportunity detailed throughout Coresight Research's latest report.
Get the complete picture: download the full report for all 10 trends, strategic implications, and the data that shows why in-store media will define retail media success in 2026.
