A consumer brand runs campaigns across five different retail media networks. Each platform promises first-party data and measurable ROI. Yet, when the marketing team sits down to evaluate performance, they’re confronted with inconsistent attribution models and siloed reporting dashboards. The whole campaign quickly turns into a wasted initiative.
This is a growing challenge in retail media, which is the next frontier of advertising. As more retailers transform their customer data into advertising opportunities, advertisers must navigate an inconsistent landscape. The rapid rise of retail media networks (RMNs) has created immense opportunities but also issues due to the lack of standardization across platforms.
This article discusses the need for standardization in retail media networks.
Challenges Advertisers Face in the Absence of Standardized Metrics
Here are the key challenges advertisers face in the absence of standardization.
1. Inconsistent Definition of Success
Each retail media network uses its own measurement framework; some prioritize impressions and CTR, while others focus on conversion. For example, an electronics brand advertising across Walmart Connect and Amazon Ads might receive entirely different interpretations of “conversion,” making it impossible to benchmark performance accurately.
2. Fragmented Attribution Models
Retail media platforms often operate as closed ecosystems with proprietary attribution models. Advertisers can’t easily trace the customer’s journey or value across touchpoints. For instance, a software brand using Target Roundel may struggle to connect ad exposure to actual software purchases.
3. Limited Cross-Network KPIs
Without standardized KPIs, comparing ROAS or cost per acquisition becomes difficult. An advertiser running campaigns across five RMNs cannot clearly identify which platform delivers the most conversions. It undermines budget allocation and performance optimization.
4. Operational Inefficiency
Managing multiple retail media dashboards, data exports, and reporting formats consumes significant operational resources. Agencies supporting brands often spend hours reconciling reports to create a unified performance summary. Standardization would enable efficiency, freeing teams to focus on strategy.
5. Lack of Transparency and Trust
When measurement varies across networks, advertisers lose confidence in the reported outcomes. Retailers also face credibility risks when advertisers question the integrity of their data. This undermines partnership trust, especially in B2B settings, where transparency fosters long-term collaboration.
6. Difficulty in Measuring Impact
Without consistent metrics, advertisers struggle to quantify the impact of retail media on their business. A tech company may struggle to distinguish between organic customer actions and those influenced by ads, making it challenging to justify future investments.
How the Lack of Standardization Impacts ROI and Media Spend
Here’s how the lack of standardization directly impacts ROI and media spend for advertisers.
1. Misallocation of Budgets
Without comparable metrics, advertisers often allocate budgets based on misleading performance insights. A software company might overinvest in a retail media network showing high click-through rates but low-quality leads, while underinvesting in a network that drives actual conversions.
2. Inability to Identify High-Performing Channels
In the absence of standardization, advertisers cannot easily determine which RMN delivers the most value. For instance, a technology distributor promoting devices across multiple RMNs may find that each platform reports ROI differently, obscuring which channel performs best.
3. Inefficient Optimization Cycles
Inconsistent data slows down optimization. Marketers can’t fine-tune campaigns across platforms if performance indicators aren’t measured uniformly. This delay means wasted ad spend. A brand that runs seasonal retail campaigns might lose weeks of reconciling performance data instead of reallocating to spend dynamically.
4. Overlapping Audiences and Wasted Spend
When networks don’t share standardized reporting, advertisers risk targeting the same audience across multiple RMNs. For example, a manufacturer of advertising to procurement managers may inadvertently target the same audience with various ads on different networks, leading to frequency fatigue and inflated costs.
Best Practices to Ensure Transparency While the Ecosystem Matures
Here are the best practices that advertisers can follow to ensure transparency in retail media investments.
1. Establish a Unified Measurement Framework
Brands should define their own internal success benchmarks, such as cost per sale, ROAS, or customer lifetime value. For example, a manufacturer of advertising across Amazon Ads can standardize its measurement internally to compare campaigns of platform metrics.
2. Demand Transparent Reporting from Retail Media Networks
Advertisers should push for visibility into how metrics are calculated, including audience overlap and data sources. A SaaS company running ads through multiple retail networks can request detailed post-campaign breakdowns to understand how impressions translate into conversions.
3. Use Independent Third-Party Measurement Partners
Partnering with third-party analytics providers enables brands to verify campaign performance without bias. For instance, a supplier selling multiple retail chains can use independent measurement tools to cross-validate retail media data.
4. Integrate Retail Media Data with Marketing Dashboards
Transparency improves when retail media data is viewed in the context of the entire marketing mix. A hardware brand, for example, can integrate RMN data into its CRM and analytics stack to see how retail campaigns contribute to overall lead generation and sales.
5. Foster Collaborative Relationships with Retailers
Transparency grows through partnership. Brands that actively engage with retail partners in defining measurement goals, audience parameters, and success metrics tend to receive more insights. A supplier that co-develops reporting frameworks with a retailer gains greater visibility into the impact of campaigns.
6. Advocate for Industry-Wide Standardization
As major advertisers collaborate through industry groups, they can accelerate the creation of shared measurement standards. By aligning with other RMNs, advertisers can help shape a more transparent retail media landscape.
Conclusion
The growth of retail media networks (RMNs) has transformed the way advertisers reach consumers. However, the very speed of this growth has created a fractured ecosystem. The future of retail media depends on consistency. Standardization will unlock innovation, enabling advertisers and retailers to demonstrate actual performance value.
Standardization is the next strategic step toward making retail media the most performance-driven channel in the modern marketing mix.
