P2PI RETAIL MEDIA SUMMIT 2026 RECAP
What P2PI 2026 Revealed About the State of Retail Media Strategy
DIGITS attended the P2PI Retail Media Summit and returned with sharp takeaways on offsite execution, in-store media, convenience retail, and AI’s growing role in retail media strategy.
Retail Media Strategy Is Maturing, and P2PI Had the Proof
The P2PI Retail Media Summit is one of the few industry events where practitioners stop performing and start problem-solving. The 2026 edition delivered exactly that. The hype around retail media has faded. What remains is a clearer picture of where retail media strategy is working, where it is still failing brands, and what needs to change.
DIGITS VP of Retail Media Dylan Mueller attended the summit and returned with a set of observations that are directly shaping how we counsel clients on channel mix, measurement, and execution. This recap covers the sessions that generated the most useful thinking.
Retail media is no longer an experimental budget line. It is a core pillar of how CPG brands go to market. But the discipline is still developing, and the distance between what brands expect and what the platforms actually deliver remains real. The sessions at P2PI 2026 addressed those gaps directly, from the measurement problems inside in-store media to the structural shift happening in how retail media professionals spend their time. Brands that engage with these conversations now will be better positioned heading into 2027 planning.
Key Takeaways at a Glance
A sound retail media strategy starts onsite before it extends offsite. Skipping that foundation limits offsite performance from the start.
In-store retail media is measurable and underutilized. Measurement methodology gaps and weak merchant alignment are the primary barriers to scale.
Convenience retail requires a purpose-built retail media strategy. Grocery frameworks do not translate.
AI is automating the execution layer of retail media work. The human role is shifting from operator to orchestrator.
ROAS is not a complete measurement framework. New buyer rate, share of wallet, and repeat purchase belong in every reporting dashboard.
Is Offsite Retail Media Broken, or Is the Strategy Broken?
One of the most direct sessions at the summit addressed a question that has been circulating in the industry for the past year: is offsite underperforming because the channel is flawed, or because brands are misusing it? The room landed clearly on the latter.
Offsite retail media gives brands a DTC-style capability at each retailer. First-party audience data, closed-loop measurement, and the ability to reach shoppers outside the retailer environment and then drive conversion back in-store or online. That is a genuinely powerful tool when the retail media strategy underneath it is sound.
The session reinforced a principle DIGITS has held consistently: build onsite first, then extend offsite. Sponsored search and onsite display generate the sales data and audience signals that make offsite targeting credible. Skipping that foundation means offsite campaigns are working with weaker inputs and are harder to optimize in real time.
Real-time data and in-flight optimization are critical to offsite performance, particularly in connected platforms where adjustments during a campaign can meaningfully improve outcomes. The session also surfaced a tension the industry has not resolved: nearly all retail media measurement is oriented around short-term metrics, ROAS, iROAS, and sales lift, while long-term brand growth and loyalty go unmeasured. Brands building offsite programs without a long-term measurement layer are optimizing for the wrong outcome.
Offsite works when brands treat it as a traffic driver that feeds an in-store win, not as a standalone conversion channel.
Why Is In-Store Retail Media Still Underbudgeted?
Inconsistent measurement standards and weak internal ownership inside retail organizations are the primary barriers, even when the channel demonstrably drives sales.
A dedicated session examined why in-store retail media has not scaled at the pace the industry expected. The findings are worth naming plainly because they keep appearing across different retailer environments.
Two gaps surface consistently. The first is measurement. In-store retail media is measurable, and POS integration can close the attribution loop effectively. But there is still no consistent methodology across providers. When one vendor measures an impression by proximity and another measures it by confirmed viewability, brands cannot compare performance across programs. That makes internal budget justification difficult and slows reinvestment.
The second gap is ownership. In-store retail media tends to perform well when the merchant team treats screens as a sales tool and actively defends that investment. When screens are managed as a standalone media program without merchandising alignment, the commercial logic breaks down.
The session highlighted in-store audio as one of the most underutilized assets in the category. Audio is heard throughout the entire store, can be targeted by time of day, supports AI-generated and versioned creative, and can be updated in-flight based on performance. QSIC, a solution provider in the space, is making in-store audio buyable programmatically, which could significantly reduce the friction of activation for brands that want to test the format without a long setup process.
For brands investing in in-store retail media, alignment comes before activation. Agree on measurement methodology with your retail partner before the campaign runs, and position in-store media as an extension of shelf strategy rather than a separate program.
What Does a Retail Media Strategy Look Like Inside Convenience Stores?
Convenience retail operates on entirely different consumer psychology. Applying a standard grocery retail media strategy will not produce the same results.
The convenience retail session was one of the sharpest discussions of the summit. The core insight is that convenience shopping is largely impulse-driven, which means the pre-shop planning behavior that most retail media targeting models are built around does not apply the same way.
The consumer entering a convenience store is often not in a planning mindset. They may be filling a gas tank. They may have 90 seconds. The media reaching them needs to meet that moment with simple, easy-to-convert messaging, not a consideration-stage brand narrative.
The session outlined three distinct consumer cohorts that convenience retail programs need to address separately. Lapsed customers are best reached through offsite media. Current customers are best activated through in-store and pump-level placements. Social channels are most effective for influencing new and cross-cohort acquisition.
The pump is a particularly valuable placement because the shopper’s mental state is predictable: they are thinking about how much they are spending and how quickly they can get back on the road. Messaging there needs to be immediate and frictionless. In-store media needs to be intuitive and visible, with short-form video formats gaining traction at high-traffic screen placements near the door and cooler sections.
Not every convenience retail program is built to accomplish the same objectives. Aligning on priority KPIs before launch and committing to iterating through multiple test cycles is what builds a durable convenience retail media strategy over time.
How Is AI Changing the Shape of Retail Media Strategy Work?
AI is absorbing the execution layer of retail media, which means the value of the human role is shifting from platform operation to judgment and strategic orchestration.
A session near the end of the summit addressed the question directly: will AI replace retail media jobs? The honest answer the session arrived at was no, but the shape of those jobs is changing significantly and quickly.
The work that occupies a large portion of retail media practitioners’ current time, bid management, pacing adjustments, performance reporting, and basic optimization, is the work most likely to be automated. AI tools are already handling meaningful portions of it, and that percentage will increase over the next several planning cycles.
What becomes more valuable is judgment. The ability to assess whether a strategy is directionally correct, to read performance signals in context, and to make decisions that account for factors the platform cannot see. Those capabilities remain human. The professional role is shifting from operator to orchestrator.
The practical question the session left the room with is worth sitting with: are you still doing work that AI should be doing? If the answer is yes, that is not an indictment. It is an opportunity to reclaim time for higher-order strategic thinking.
At DIGITS, this shift is already informing how we structure our own team and how we advise clients on building retail media strategy teams that are scaled for what the work actually requires today, not what it required three years ago.
Action Steps for Brand Marketers
- Audit your offsite strategy against your onsite position. If you are running offsite media without a strong sponsored search and onsite display presence at the same retailer, address the foundation first.
- Establish measurement methodology before activating in-store retail media. Agree with your retail partner on how impressions, lift, and attribution will be calculated before the campaign runs. Retroactive methodology disputes cost time and budget.
- Build a convenience retail media strategy from scratch, not from your grocery playbook. Start with the shopper’s mindset at the pump and at the door, then work backward to the right channel mix.
- Map your team’s current workload against what AI tools can handle. Identify the execution tasks that automation should absorb, and redirect that capacity toward strategy, analysis, and client judgment.
- Add long-term measurement metrics to every retail media reporting dashboard. New buyer rate, share of wallet, and repeat purchase should sit alongside ROAS so you are tracking brand health, not just quarterly lift.
FAQs
Why does offsite retail media underperform for some brands? Offsite tends to underperform when brands activate it without a strong onsite foundation. Sponsored search and onsite placements generate the audience signals and sales data that make offsite targeting effective. Brands that skip that foundation are asking offsite to do more than the channel can deliver on its own.
How should brands think about measurement for in-store retail media? Start by agreeing on methodology with your retail partner before the campaign launches. In-store retail media is measurable through POS integration, but the industry still lacks consistent standards across providers. Transparency in how impressions and sales lift are calculated is a prerequisite for defensible budget decisions and continued investment.
What makes a convenience retail media strategy different from a grocery strategy? Convenience shoppers are not in a planning mindset. Most grocery retail media targeting is built around pre-shop intent signals that do not exist in convenience environments. Convenience retail media strategy needs to account for impulse behavior, short dwell times, and shopper mindsets at specific touchpoints like the pump and the cooler aisle.
How quickly is AI changing retail media execution? The change is already underway. Bid management, pacing, and reporting automation are increasingly handled by platform tools. Teams that proactively identify which execution tasks to offload will adapt more smoothly and will free up capacity for the strategic work that generates the most value.
What measurement metrics should brands add alongside ROAS? ROAS is a useful signal but an incomplete one. A more complete retail media measurement framework includes new buyer acquisition rate, share of wallet within the category, and repeat purchase behavior. These metrics show whether a program is building brand equity over time, not just driving short-term conversion.
The Industry Is Getting More Honest, and That Is Progress
The conversations at P2PI 2026 were less about what retail media strategy can theoretically accomplish and more about the real operational barriers standing between investment and outcomes. Measurement inconsistency, in-store activation complexity, convenience retail’s distinct dynamics, and AI’s growing role in execution, these are the problems practitioners are actually solving right now.
The brands that move forward are the ones treating these challenges as solvable, not as reasons to wait for the platforms to catch up.
What is the next question your retail media strategy needs to answer before your next planning cycle begins?
About DIGITS Agency
DIGITS is an omnichannel retail media agency specializing in Target, regional grocers, and alcohol retail media. As a Target Managed Services partner, Roundel Media Studio Certified agency and Walmart Connect Partner, DIGITS helps CPG brands navigate retail media with strategic planning, hands-on campaign management, and proprietary analytics. Learn more at www.digitsagency.com.
Dave Glaza, Founder & CEO of DIGITS, remains committed to bringing digital capabilities to physical stores
Subscribe to our Newsletters: https://www.digitsagency.com/digits-retail-media-newsletters/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidglaza/
Follow DIGITS on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/digits-agency/
