Retail media has been one of advertising's great growth stories.
More retailers are becoming media owners.
More brands are shifting budgets closer to the point of purchase.
More inventory is becoming available across retailer websites, apps and stores.
And the numbers remain impressive.
WARC forecasts global retail media investment will reach $223.4 billion in 2027, accounting for more than 15% of worldwide advertising spend.
But growth outside Amazon is expected to slow.
Which suggests the conversation may be changing.
From:
How much retail media can we buy?
To:
What did that investment actually change?
Did it generate an incremental sale?
Did it change the basket?
Did it bring someone into the store?
Did it influence a shopper who hadn't already decided what to buy?
These are harder questions than counting impressions.
But they're also much more valuable.
As retail media matures, perhaps its next competitive advantage won't be more inventory.
It will be better proof.
And that principle shouldn't stop at digital retail media.
Every channel influencing the shopper journey should increasingly be able to demonstrate the behaviour it helped create.
Retail media has proved it can grow. Now it needs to prove it can influence.