[Watch on Demand] Retail Media Pulse 2026: Early Signals & What Happens Next

On 4th June, we brought together industry voices for a fast-paced 30-minute session: Retail Media Pulse 2026: Early Signals & What Happens Next. The session delivered an exclusive first look at early findings from this year’s IAB Europe Attitudes to Retail Media Survey, while it’s still in progress.

The session opened with Jason Wescott, Global Head of Commerce Solutions at WPP Media, who introduced the survey, outlining its objectives and the key themes being explored, including investment trends, organisational maturity, measurement, and the growing role of AI in Retail Media. 

We unpacked what’s coming into focus, what’s shifting beneath the surface, and what the industry might still be underestimating as Retail Media continues to scale across Europe.

We were then joined by Colin Lewis, Retail Media Specialist, who shared highlights from his 7 Challenges of Retail Media report, bringing a sharp, no-fluff view on the pressures shaping the ecosystem in 2026. During the session, Colin focused on three key challenges facing the industry today:

• Stop Selling Channels. Start Planning Campaigns – encouraging the industry to move beyond siloed channel thinking and focus on integrated campaign planning.
• Video is the Language of the Internet – highlighting why video should become a core component of Retail Media strategies rather than an afterthought.
• Retail Media is Awash with Data, Not Insight – exploring the Data-to-Knowledge Pyramid and why data alone is not enough. As Colin emphasised, being truly data-driven means being insight-driven. Data only becomes valuable when it is translated into actionable insights that can create knowledge and inform better decision-making across organisations and industries.

Alongside him, our Senior Director, Industry Development & Marketing, Marie-Clare Puffett shared the first interim findings from this year's survey, providing an early look at how Retail Media continues to mature across Europe and highlighting some of the key trends emerging from respondents so far. 

💡 One key takeaway: the story is still being written, and your input matters.

The survey is still open, and we’re inviting everyone across the Retail Media ecosystem to take part and share it with colleagues. Every response helps strengthen the dataset and ensures the final insights reflect the full reality of the market.

👉 Take the survey and help shape the 2026 findings 

For any questions about the survey or Retail Media workstreams, please contact our Senior Director of Industry Development & Marketing, Marie-Clare Puffett, at puffett@iabeurope.eu - she'd love to hear from you.