Retail Media Report 2026
Sensor Tower's Retail Media Report 2026 unpacks the trends you need to know to understand a complex and evolving ad channel. Using exclusive data straight from Pathmatics, we'll walk through the state of the landscape in minute detail. We'll start off with an overview of the biggest retail media advertising trends, dive into channel allocation (onsite vs. offsite), then look at category shifts and advertiser strategy. Finally, we'll finish off with two deep dives: one into general merchandise retail media, and another into delivery networks and game-day demand.
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Highlights include:
Amazon contraction softens market as Walmart gains ground: Total US retail media impressions fell 17% YoY to 223B in H1 2026, pulled down by market leader Amazon's 16% decline. Conversely, home improvement RMNs surged off smaller baselines.
Retail networks actively scale streaming TV presence: Major retail networks are allocating more offsite budget to streaming TV platforms. Amazon led with 35% of its offsite impressions in streaming (+10 ppts YoY), alongside strong adoption from Instacart (23%), Target (17%), and DoorDash (15%).
Non-endemic verticals accelerate RMN adoption: Non-endemic brands in Financial Services, Telecom, and Travel are increasingly leveraging retail media to access high-intent shoppers. Amazon leads this expansion as the core non-endemic hub.
Sports sponsorships drive delivery RMN shifts: QSR ad impressions align with major tournament rights. Uber Eats and Grubhub led Q1 volume during the Super Bowl and March Madness, but official supporter DoorDash flipped the lead during the World Cup, capturing 83% of Pizza impressions in June.