Discover the key Retail Media trends for 2026, focusing on branding, performance, and new opportunities for brands and retailers.
In the 21st century, attention and trust have become scarce resources. In practice, we have seen organizations concentrate a large part of their investments on digital performance and compete for algorithmic dominance. Meanwhile, people oscillate between consuming online content and increasingly seeking experiences outside the screen. In this scenario, the offline world reassumes prominence, and the points of contact between mark e consumer They are entering a new phase: less interruption, more presence; less repetition, more meaning.
Seth Godin sums up a central tension by stating that marketing It is a generous act of helping someone solve a problem. The challenge is that, today, the excess of digital ads and stimuli produces exhaustion and indifference. In our view, this changes the role of... media in retailInstead of simply "capturing demand," it can help the organization solve a real consumer pain point, which is understanding the product in the right context, with clarity and confidence.
That is why retail media gains prominence. Historically, it has been treated as performance media in retail, However, in practice, it is one of the most important spaces for a brand to present itself. Retail is a territory of decision-making, comparison, and experimentation. It is where the consumer builds understanding about the product, forms a perception of value, and validates choices. When the retail media marketing It is thought of solely as a conversion tool, thus diminishing its own potential: it becomes a tactical shortcut, when it could be a communication channel with a structuring impact.
In our reading, retail media 2026 This marks a turning point: the channel strengthens itself as a platform for communication and experience, provided that it exists. retail media strategy Behind the scenes, it doesn't replace other methods, but it offers something rare: context, proximity, and genuine intent, with the ability to present the product, help the consumer understand the product, and, yes, generate results.
In 2026, the retail media trends They point to a clear movement toward maturity: uniting brand and performance, building value, and proving incremental impact. According to... Exam, The Brazilian market already moves around... R$ 5.1 billion And it enters a new strategic stage. The challenge is straightforward: how to transform this growth into real incrementality without diluting the brand's value?
Incrementality and measurement: what will really change in retail media in 2026?
If there is a central concept to understand retail media 2026, It's about incrementality. It's not enough to attribute sales to the channel; you need to demonstrate how much additional growth that exposure generated beyond what would have happened without the media. In other words, retail media metrics They need to support business decisions, not just media reports.
In market analysis, analyses of Retail Media News Brazil They indicate that 2026 tends to consolidate the incrementality test as a central investment criterion, reinforcing the Retail media trends for 2026. ROAS and last click remain useful, but become insufficient when analyzed in isolation. More mature organizations demand control tests, comparable methodologies, and clarity on the real impact on the business. (Retail Media News Brazil)
In practice, this changes the channel's place within the company. Retail media It ceases to be a tactical purchase and becomes a... retail media strategy with governance. And the competition for budget is no longer just with other digital formats: it becomes any means capable of delivering verifiable results, with consistency.
Branding and performance at the same time: from awareness to conversion, without hierarchy.
One point we advocate in anacoute The fact is that awareness and conversion no longer function as rigid stepping stones. Today's consumer is more volatile, less predictable, and more context-driven. They discover, consider, and decide in short cycles, sometimes in the same moment.
Therefore, we avoid dealing with “branding” and “performance”"as opposites. In" media in retail, They connect. And that redefines. How does retail media work in retail?The channel serves not only to finalize the purchase, but also to present the product, highlight its unique selling points, and build trust at the point of sale.
This reasoning applies to both retail media for physical stores how much for retail media for e-commerce. In the physical world, the environment communicates: screens, gondolas, activations, and experience make the product understandable and desirable. In the digital world, search, category, and recommendation can build context, not just price. In both, the logic is the same: retail advertising It works best when it helps the consumer make a good choice, and not just when it pushes an offer.
In Brazil, this potential grows because we have a retail media ecosystem fragmented, with national, regional, and specialized networks. This opens up space for retail media strategies for brands More sophisticated models combine marketplaces, food retail, pharmacies, specialty retail, and cash and carry. The challenge is no longer "where to invest" but "how to integrate" these fronts into a cohesive logic. omnichannel retail media, connecting points along the journey with consistency.
We are also seeing a growing convergence between OOH and retail media, especially in-store. Articles from Market & Consumption They point out that this meeting involves the standardization of audience metrics, allowing screens in physical retail to compete for budget with more legitimacy and comparability. (Mercado & Consumo)
In practice, this reinforces the thesis of retail as a media platform, where exposure and experience become part of the value creation system.
Anacouto cases: retail media in practice
Camponesa: when retail becomes a brand platform and explains the product at the point of truth.
No case Peasant woman, We start from a strategic decision that should guide any retail media strategy In 2026: before accelerating conversion, it's necessary to build understanding and desire. The challenge was to differentiate Camponesa in a category populated by repeated codes and transform a brand of "commonplaces" into a premium proposition with its own narrative. Based on the purpose "Making affections new flavors" and the tagline "Flavor is created together," we translated the positioning into clear communication assets, packaging, and retail presence, making the retail as a media platform To function as a place for showcasing the product and the brand, not just for price competition.
This movement gains momentum when the project reaches... point of sale. A experience and the POS They were designed to create an emotional connection and improve understanding of the portfolio, with a sensory tasting module and a digital totem that suggests recipes according to weather and time of day, as well as furniture designed to facilitate reading the product line. In practice, this type of execution shows how media in retail Experience and marketing can work together: the brand presents itself, the product explains itself, and the decision becomes more natural. That's how... retail media 2026 gains power: by combining retail advertising With context, clarity, and perceived value, creating the conditions for conversion to happen at the same moment the consumer builds preference.
Check out the video case:
Conclusion: Entering retail media 2026 the right way
Retail media It will continue to grow. But, in our view, retail media 2026 It tends to reward those who know how to combine brand and performance, results and incrementality, value management and creativity applied to the context. The channel ceases to be "just another line in the plan" when it starts operating as a means of building understanding, preference, and decision-making, with robust measurement and consistency.
More than ever, media is a strategic decision. And strategic decisions require method, a long-term vision, and integration between brand, business, and communication. Retail media It's not just where the consumer buys. It's where they understand, experience, and choose.
Marcelle Villar
Partner and director of media and connections at Anacouto.
