AI Retail Media Network Statistics

This signals strong market momentum, but the nuance matters: expansion plans don't equal execution capability. Many retailers lack the data infrastructure and AI talent to deliver on these ambitions. CMOs should view this as opportunity—retailers desperate for AI-ready partners will prioritize brands that bring turnkey solutions and proven attribution models.

This is the real unlock: AI doesn't just improve targeting—it solves the attribution black box that plagues traditional media. However, accuracy without action is worthless. The CMOs winning here are those who feed attribution insights directly into budget reallocation workflows, not those who generate reports and move on.

This is the operational debt problem in plain sight. Siloed RMN data means pilots stay isolated, insights don't compound, and you're forced to manually reconcile performance across channels. Integration is table stakes for scaling—without it, RMN becomes another disconnected tool rather than a system lever.

Governance is being treated as a blocker rather than an enabler. High-performing teams have shifted to lightweight, principle-based governance that moves fast while protecting brand and data. The lesson: build guardrails into workflows, not approval gates that kill velocity.

First-party data is the competitive moat in RMNs, but only if it's activated intelligently. This stat reflects brands that have solved the data-to-activation pipeline—they've wired their CRM, email, and web behavior into RMN audience building. Most brands are still treating RMN as a separate channel with separate audiences.

This reveals a critical gap between capability and practice. AI forecasting tools exist, but most teams lack the operational discipline to use them. Budget allocation remains a political process, not a data-driven one. CMOs who automate this—feeding performance data into budget models monthly—will outpace competitors stuck in annual planning cycles.

This is retailer-side ROI, which directly benefits brand advertisers through better inventory availability and pricing efficiency. However, few brands are actively partnering with retailers on these forecasts. The opportunity: CMOs who share demand signals with retail partners unlock better placement, pricing, and performance guarantees.

Speed of proof matters more than perfection. Teams that establish a lightweight measurement framework early—even if imperfect—build credibility and momentum. Teams that wait for perfect attribution models often lose budget before they can prove value. The lesson: measure fast, iterate, then optimize.