The IAB Europe Attitudes to Retail Media Report 2025 makes one thing clear: retail media has matured. What was once a testing ground for brands and retailers is now a fully fledged, multi-channel discipline reshaping digital advertising strategies across the board.
In this article, we’ll walk through the five biggest takeaways from the report — and what they mean for the future of retail media.
A fundamental shift in retailer-brand relationships is underway. 63% of buy-side stakeholders now partner with retailers for more than one year, up from 50% in 2024 (p. 9). This signals a move away from short-term, “test-and-learn” deals toward strategic, long-term collaborations.
Advertisers are also spreading their bets. The percentage of brands working with 4-6 retail media networks more than doubled, from 10% to 24%. While this diversification increases complexity, it reflects a clear appetite for broader reach and scale.
As Justin Sandee, Director of Commercial Development at bol.com, explains:
“Retail Media is well on its way to becoming a smarter, stronger, and more essential part of the media mix — fueled by its reach, rich first-party data, and the promise of measurable impact.”
The takeaway: Retail media is evolving into a strategic, multi-network discipline. Retailers must invest in flexible, scalable infrastructure that supports strong partnerships and deliver consistently strong buyer experiences.
On-site formats still dominate spend. More than 90% of buyers allocate at least 41% of their retail media budgets to on-site ads, with sponsored products (81%) and standard display (82%) leading investment (p. 12).
But the real growth story is off-site. 46% of buyers now dedicate more than 41% of their budgets to off-site retail media, up sharply from just 30% in 2024. Display ads (58%) and social ads (55%) are the biggest drivers. Meanwhile, 70% of retailers now offer digital in-store screens, but nearly a third of buyers still aren’t investing there — pointing to an untapped opportunity to reach shoppers closer to the point of sale.
“Retail media continues to move beyond a focus on on-site activity toward more integrated, customer-led strategies activated across multiple channels.” noted Stephen Shepherd, Retail Media Strategy & Partnerships Director at dunnhumby (Tesco Media & Insight Platform).
The takeaway: Buyers want full-funnel impact. The future of retail media lies in omnichannel strategies that seamlessly connect on-site, off-site, and in-store.
Retail media’s growth isn’t just external — it’s showing up inside organizations, too. More than half of retailers (58%) now operate dedicated retail media sales teams, up from just 36% in 2024 (p. 18).
On the buy-side, 44% of advertisers are integrating retail media into their broader digital media teams, compared with 34% last year. And 62% of buyers now have formal metrics or frameworks in place to measure success.
The takeaway: Retail media is no longer a side experiment. It has carved out dedicated resources and organizational structures, signaling its place as a permanent fixture in the marketing mix.
If there’s one consistent driver across the report, it’s data. 87% of buyers cite access to retailer first-party data as the top investment driver, followed closely by reaching shoppers directly at the point of sale (79%) (p. 22).
Advertisers are also expanding into new channels, with interest in connected TV (CTV), audio, and out-of-home rising from 36% to 42% year-over-year.
For retailers, the mindset is shifting. Retail media is no longer just about incremental revenue — 70% now see it as a strategic initiative, and 62% see it as a source of competitive advantage (p. 24).
The takeaway: With third-party cookies disappearing, first-party data is retail media’s superpower. The retailers that succeed will be those who activate this data securely and effectively across channels.
Partnerships and data may drive adoption, but measurement is what will sustain growth.
As Shepherd of Tesco/dunnhumby emphasizes, “Measurement remains a key priority, with growing demand for consistent frameworks and clearer performance metrics.”
The takeaway: Without clear, consistent, and transparent measurement, retail media risks stalling. Retailers that can deliver unified frameworks and trustworthy reporting will win advertiser confidence — and budget share.
The 2025 IAB Europe report makes one thing clear: retail media has outgrown its early testing phase. It is becoming a multi-channel, performance-driven discipline that demands scale, transparency, and customer-led strategies.
At Kevel, we help retailers take advantage of these trends with the Retail Media Cloud® — a platform designed to launch scalable, transparent, and customizable retail media networks across on-site, off-site, and in-store channels.
Retail media is no longer just a side channel — it’s becoming a core pillar of digital advertising. With partnerships deepening, budgets broadening, organizations maturing, data taking center stage, and measurement demands increasing, the opportunity is enormous.
With the right strategy and infrastructure, retail media can unlock sustainable growth, shopper value, and competitive advantage in 2025 and beyond.
