Developing
Survey-based and self-reported; the sample size and method are not in the excerpt, and the full report requires registration.
In 60 seconds
- 85% of advertisers plan to increase retail and commerce media spending over the next year; 90% work with at least two partners and 10% with seven or more.
- Half wait four or more days for a custom audience segment; 92% would likely increase spend with a faster partner and 85% would pay a premium for same-day fulfilment.
- Only 40% are very confident in networks' incrementality measurement; 32% cite difficulty proving ROI as a reason to reduce or reconsider investment.
- Advertisers with 100+ active segments were more likely to plan 25%+ increases (32% versus 6% with fewer than 25).
Impact Layer
- What changed
- A survey quantifies advertiser impatience with slow audience setup and measurement on retail media networks.
- Why it matters
- Retail media budgets are growing, and networks that deliver audiences and results faster may win share.
- Who is affected
- Retail media networks, brands and agencies buying on them.
- Martech stack area
- Advertising, Commerce
- Stack impact
- Ask each network for typical audience build and reporting times, and for how its incrementality measurement works.
- Business impact
- Low Survey results reported by MarTech's Constantine von Hoffman. The links between investment and confidence are correlational, and MarTech's content is written by Semrush staff or paid contractors unless noted.
- Related technologies
- What to watch
- Published methodology and network response times.
MarTech’s Constantine von Hoffman reported on October 16, 2026 on “The 2026 Commerce Media Investment Index” from GrowthLoop and Ascend2; the full report requires registration.
Budgets and patience
- 85% of advertisers plan to increase retail and commerce media spending over the next year; 73% allocate at least 15% of digital ad budgets to these networks.
- 86% say slow audience fulfilment would make them reduce spend or leave a partner.
- 90% work with at least two partners; 10% work with seven or more.
Speed and depth
- Half wait four or more days for a custom audience segment; 15% wait a week or more; 11% get one the same day.
- 92% would likely increase spend with a faster partner and 85% would pay a premium for same-day fulfilment.
- Advertisers with 100+ active segments were more likely to plan 25%+ increases (32% versus 6% for those with fewer than 25).
Measurement
Nearly half wait more than a week for post-campaign data. 32% consistently use results to improve future targeting, 32% cite difficulty proving ROI as a reason to reduce investment and only 40% are very confident in networks’ incrementality measurement.
Caveats
The figures are survey-based and self-reported, the sample size and method are not stated in the excerpt, and the links between investment and confidence are correlational.
Our read
Speed and proof are the two asks. Networks that cannot offer either will find budgets harder to hold.
Sources
- MarTech: Retail media budgets are growing. Advertisers' patience isn't. (opens in a new tab)
Source for the survey findings and caveats.