ANA Report: The 4 Biggest Barriers in Retail Media Advertising

According to Emarketer, retail media in the US has already become a $70 billion market, but the ability to measure its effectiveness is falling noticeably behind the pace of investment. A new report from the Association of National Advertisers (ANA) finds that this very shortage of measurement standards is what's holding advertisers back from committing more budget to retail networks.

55% of ANA members rank the lack of a standard as the number one problem in retail media. Representatives from brands including Bayer, Hershey's, Kenvue and Mondelez say inconsistent measurement methods across different retail media networks make it far harder to assess performance.

In response to the lack of standards, retail networks are working to strengthen their position: they're offering new formats — streaming and offsite advertising — promising to boost brand awareness in order to attract additional budget.

This reflects a broader industry problem: retail media is rich in first-party data, but that data isn't delivered under a consistent methodology across networks, leaving marketers unable to objectively compare real performance. That, in turn, is eroding marketers' trust in retail media and complicating investment decisions.

The ANA report gives brands a clear recommendation: don't rely entirely on networks' self-reported metrics, and insist on independent, third-party measurement tools. The recommendation aligns with ANA's broader industry standard-setting initiative announced earlier, and is part of a wider push to bring more transparency to the retail media market.