Retail Media’s Next Growth Engine: Capability Over Scale

Retail media is projected to reach $175 billion globally by 2028. As the market grows, so does the competition for advertiser investment. Advertisers are under increasing pressure to justify every dollar they invest, and they're becoming far more selective about the partners they choose.

The impact extends well beyond retail media itself. Across 21 major global retailers, the most collaborative retailers grew revenue by 4.6% on average, while lower-performing peers declined by 1.2%. The largest capability gaps between high- and low-growth retailers appear in retail media, agility and data actionability, reinforcing a broader lesson: sustainable growth depends on building the capabilities that strengthen supplier confidence and attract investment.

Increasingly, retail media success is determined not simply by the size of a retailer's network, but by the confidence it creates among suppliers.

Our latest whitepaper, The Retail Media Growth Engine, draws on Advantage Group International's Voice of Supplier research, global retail media benchmarking, and interviews with retail and CPG/FMCG leaders across 40 markets. The findings indicate that the strength of the supplier–retailer relationship is one of the strongest predictors of retail media success.

More Investment in Retail Media Equates to Higher Expectations

Global retail media revenues reached $155 billion in 2026. That growth, however, masks a widening divide between the retailers attracting supplier investment and those struggling to compete for it. In the United States, the largest retail media networks are projected to capture nearly 90% of incremental retail media spending, benefiting from the scale to attract advertiser investment almost by default.

For most retailers, that leverage doesn't exist. They compete for investment on the strength of their proposition, and AGI's research indicates that the strongest differentiator isn't technology or audience size. It's the depth and quality of the supplier relationship. Suppliers in mutually engaged relationships score 31–35% higher on strategic alignment, trade investment and retail media performance than those in disengaged relationships.

This is the Retail Media growth paradox: investment continues to rise, yet supplier trust is becoming harder to earn. Between 2024 and 2025, mixed supplier sentiment increased by 6 points and negative sentiment by 2 points, even as overall retail media investment continued to grow. The result is that suppliers are investing more while trusting less.

Three Capabilities Distinguish the Retail Media Networks Pulling Ahead

What distinguishes the retailers continuing to attract supplier investment?

AGI's research identifies three capabilities that consistently separate higher-growth retail media programs from their peers. Individually, each strengthens retail media performance. Together, they create the conditions for stronger supplier confidence and sustainable growth.

1. Supplier Partnerships Create the Foundation

Successful retail media programs are built on more than inventory, audiences, or technology. Long-term success depends on the strength of the underlying supplier relationship.

Retailers that engage suppliers early, structure communication as a system rather than a series of ad hoc interactions, build campaigns around shopper needs rather than media placements, and lead with transparent commercial models, shift supplier relationships from transactional to strategic. Suppliers respond by engaging earlier, sharing broader marketing priorities and investing with greater confidence.

The result is stronger execution, richer collaboration and programs that suppliers are more likely to support repeatedly over time. Partnership becomes a commercial advantage, not simply a relationship objective.

2. Measurement Builds Investment Confidence

Unlocking additional retail media investment depends on demonstrating clear commercial impact.

The retailers pulling ahead have stopped asking, "How do we report better?" and started asking, "How do we design for measurement from the beginning?" They build measurement into campaign design before a single impression is served, embedding clear objectives, transparent reporting and continuous optimization rather than treating measurement as a post-campaign exercise. Measurement becomes a strategic capability rather than simply a reporting function.

Perhaps most importantly, suppliers respond more positively to honest acknowledgement of measurement limitations than to confident claims that later prove inaccurate. Trust is built in the acknowledgement, not the assertion.

3. Full-Funnel Capability Unlocks Broader Marketing Investment 

Retail media has earned its reputation through its ability to influence purchasing decisions close to the point of sale. Those strengths remain fundamental.

The retailers moving beyond that foundation are developing full-funnel programs that connect in-store, digital and social activation to support both brand-building and commercial objectives. As retail media becomes relevant to a broader group of marketing stakeholders, it begins competing for a significantly larger pool of marketing investment rather than trade budgets alone.

As retail media becomes more deeply embedded in strategic marketing planning, supplier relationships become more collaborative, planning cycles extend and investment becomes increasingly strategic. Retail media evolves from a conversion channel into a broader growth platform.

Retail Media: The Growth Engine Effect

None of these capabilities work in isolation. Together they create a self-reinforcing cycle that becomes increasingly difficult for competitors to replicate.

Strong supplier partnerships create the conditions for better planning and collaboration. Better collaboration strengthens measurement by aligning retailers and suppliers around shared objectives and clearer success metrics. Credible measurement builds supplier confidence, making broader marketing investment easier to justify. As investment grows, supplier relationships deepen further, reinforcing the cycle that drives sustainable retail media growth.

The Opportunity Ahead

To explore these findings in greater depth, download The Retail Media Growth Engine, where Advantage Group International combines Voice of Supplier research, global benchmarking and executive interviews to provide a practical framework for strengthening supplier partnerships and accelerating retail media growth.