Retail Media Measurement Is Broken (Here’s What Brands Actually Want Instead)

Today I'm unpacking a fascinating conversation from a recent episode of the Unlocking Retail Media podcast with Andrew Covato and host James Avery that reframed how I think about measurement in retail media networks. If you’ve ever wondered why brands keep getting frustrated — or why retail media struggles to prove its value — this conversation gets right to the heart of it.I use snippets from the podcast to break down three major gaps that are holding retail media back, from misaligned measurement strategies to outdated data approaches. I also explore why the biggest ad platforms succeed where retail media often fails, what sophisticated advertisers are really asking for today, and how measurement needs to evolve to stay credible. If you're in retail media, brand marketing, or ad tech, this is an important primer on how to tackle measurement head on.This episode is sponsored by Mirakl AdsTimeline[00:00] - The recurring disconnect: why brands ask for data but get dashboards instead[01:09] - Lesson #1: Why big ad platforms win by staying measurement agnostic[04:00] - Lesson #2: Retail media is solving for the wrong measurement questions[05:15] - The shift from user-level attribution to aggregated modeling & experimentation[07:03] - Lesson #3: Why first-party lift is “grading your own homework”[09:00] - The measurement maturity curve: from attribution to incrementality to MMM[10:00] - The hidden problem: why most brands can’t actually evaluate the data they’re givenLinks & ResourcesListen to the full Unlocking Retail Media episode: Measurement Science and the Future of Performance with Andrew CovatoSubscribe to Unlocking Retail Media on Apple PodcastsFollow Andrew Covato, Founder & CEO @ Growth By Science, on LinkedInFollow James Avery, Founder & CEO @ Kevel , on LinkedInRead my related articles:83% of retail media campaigns can be gamed on iROAS. Here’s how (The Drum)Brands demand retail media standards. Retailers say it's too hard. Do they kind of have a point?Retail Media's Measurement Problem: It's Not Just the RetailersSubscribe to Retail Media Breakfast Club's daily newsletterFollow Kiri Masters on LinkedIn