IAB Summit 2025: Key Takeaways from Zitcha’s Workshop

That was the unifying message to emerge from Zitcha’s workshop at the IAB Retail Media Impact Summit, where retail media leaders from across brands, retailers, and agencies came together to unpack what’s holding the industry back - and how to move forward.

Hosted by Dan Sands, Regional Director, EMEA, Zitcha, Lisa Avery, Director of Customer Success, EMEA, Zitcha and Michael Islip, Founder of Grace & Co.

The Call for Omnichannel Planning and Measurement

Retail media can no longer be viewed in silos. Customers don’t “buy a channel” - they pursue business outcomes.
The most advanced teams are now planning and measuring across the full funnel and all channels - onsite, in-store screens, offsite, CTV, and DOOH.

Those still focused on single-channel metrics risk missing the bigger picture: cross-channel budgets, incremental reach, and the ability to tell a unified story of business impact.

In-Store Screens: The Real Work Starts After Installation

For in-store retail media, installation is just the beginning.
The group agreed that the post-install phase - proving ROI, understanding audience fit, and establishing a clear go-to-market strategy - is where success is truly defined.

Retailers need to adopt a startup mindset:

• Clearly articulate the reason to invest.
  
  
• Define the audience, data available, and buyer personas.
  
  
• Share measurable case studies to close the confidence gap with advertisers.
  
  

Without a proof-of-value framework, in-store screens risk becoming static assets instead of scalable revenue drivers.

Redefining the Retailer–Brand–Agency Triangle

There’s a growing need to clarify roles and ways of working across retailers, brands, and agencies.
Each plays a different part:

• Agencies bring media expertise.
  
  
• Retailers bring shopper and trade insights.
  
  
• Brands connect the dots between both worlds.
  
  

The consensus: work should be client-led - start with “How do you want to work?” and structure the partnership around that.
And crucially, build vulnerability and learning into the relationship - each party leaning into its knowledge gaps to drive shared success.

Fixing the “Loss in Translation”

Many advertisers are still briefing retailers two or three times through different internal teams.
The result? Disjointed campaigns, inconsistent messaging, and missed opportunities.

The solution: a single, integrated annual plan and shared brief.
Retailers can play a convening role - bringing all stakeholders into the same room, aligning activity around the consumer, and ensuring that retail media supports long-term brand growth, not just short-term sales.

Aligning Internally: Trade, Marketing, and Media

Internal silos are just as dangerous as external ones.
Retailers need one go-to-market plan that aligns trade marketing, brand objectives, and conversion goals.

This includes:

• Defining shared objectives across awareness, preference, and sales.
  
  
• Protecting brand investment in tougher macro conditions.
  
  
• Setting clear horizons - short-term campaign metrics vs. multi-year brand health.
  
  

Trade and retail media are converging - and alignment is now a competitive advantage.

The Tech Jigsaw: Building for Omnichannel Scale

Attribution and identity remain the biggest friction points.
Fragmented systems and long turnaround times (sometimes up to two weeks for a segment or brief) are slowing growth and frustrating advertisers.

The answer lies in building the right tech and operational model together:

• Integrate identity, CRM, and loyalty data.
  
  
• Enable interoperability across onsite, offsite, and in-store.
  
  
• Deploy workflow automation to reduce manual ops.
  
  
• Provide transparent data access through insights portals.
  
  

The goal: faster cycles, smarter planning, and omnichannel measurement that connects the dots across every touchpoint.

Tech to Scale - Not Headcount

Scaling retail media shouldn’t mean hiring hundreds of people to handle manual data entry.
Future-ready networks are investing early in foundational technology - clean data layers, audience services, measurement, and automation.
That’s how you become easy to do business with, while scaling profitably and sustainably.

What Comes Next

The workshop concluded with clear actions for the industry to rally around:

• Run joint planning summits with key brands and agencies to create shared annual cadences.
  
  
• Define a measurement charter mapping objectives to metrics and methods.
  
  
• Create lighthouse case studies to prove ROI across channels.
  
  
• Standardize ways of working - clear RACI models across retailer, brand, and agency.
  
  
• Pilot omnichannel identity solutions for frequency management and attribution.
  
  
• Reduce turnaround times through automation and streamlined workflows.
  
  
• Stand up self-serve insights portals to empower brands

The message from the IAB Retail Media Impact Summit was clear:

Retail media’s next chapter will be written by those who break down silos - not just across channels, but across teams, technology, and measurement frameworks.

By aligning process and platform, and by bringing retailers, agencies, and brands together around a shared vision, the industry can unlock the full potential of omnichannel retail media.

Learn more about the IAB Europe here