Awin Report: Retail Media Growth Decelerates as Advertisers Pivot to Brand Partnerships

Market Saturation Triggers Strategy Shift

Global retail media spend will surpass $200 billion in 2026, according to WARC data highlighted by Awin. While this represents 15% of worldwide advertising investment, the rapid expansion of the early 2020s is decelerating. Projections suggest that outside of Amazon’s ecosystem, growth rates will likely fall into single digits by 2027.

Extreme market concentration drives this slowdown. With Amazon capturing most investment in the US and Europe, smaller retail media networks (RMNs) struggle to compete for the remaining budget. Advertisers are becoming more selective as a result. They are moving away from overcrowded on-site ad placements toward diverse environments.

Brand partnerships and checkout-based promotions offer opportunities outside of the conventional on-site formats that now seem more crowded than ever.

JD Sports and Matalan Expand Ad Units

Retailers respond to the demand for variety by launching new ad units and exploring alternative channels. JD Sports, Matalan, and Very introduced new advertising units during the third quarter of 2026. The logistics provider Evri also entered the space, indicating that the retail media sector now includes service-based providers.

Non-traditional inventory is rising within the affiliate and performance space. Awin observes that advertisers increasingly dedicate spend to offline campaigns and podcast advertising. These formats allow brands to reach consumers in "net-new" environments. By doing so, they bypass the friction of saturated digital storefronts.

AI and Non-Endemic Advertising Revenue

AI-powered discovery and "zero-click" search fundamentally change how consumers find products. Consequently, retailers must look beyond the point of purchase to monetize customer attention.

Awin Insights US notes that the next phase of growth lies in "non-endemic" advertising. In this model, brands that do not sell products directly on a retailer’s site utilize that retailer's first-party data to reach relevant audiences. Retailers can sustain revenue growth by broadening demand to include these non-endemic partners. This transition marks a move from simple ad placements toward brand partnerships that track performance across the fragmented customer journey.