Retail media and digital commerce

CEE retail media and digital commerce trends 2026: from experimentation to infrastructure

CEE retail media and digital commerce trends 2026: from experimentation to infrastructure

Updated September 2026

Jacek Dymkowski, Founder, CEE Growth Partners

European industry evidence points toward retail media becoming a more connected, omnichannel system spanning retailer-owned sites, off-site activation, stores, first-party data and measurement. How far that transition has progressed varies by market and retailer. Poland shows several relevant 2026 signals, but technology providers should evaluate retailer data maturity, operating ownership, integrations, measurement and route-to-market before treating regional growth forecasts as addressable demand.

The change matters beyond retailers. It affects brands deciding how to allocate trade and media budgets, agencies building new capabilities, ad-tech and mar-tech companies looking for local partners, and commerce platforms searching for incremental revenue.

The European market is still expanding

IAB Europe’s AdEx Benchmark 2025 report shows that European digital advertising spend grew 10.5% in 2025 to €131 billion. Video grew 19.6% to €34 billion, social grew 19.2% to €35.5 billion, and retail media grew 16.7% to €13.3 billion. Retail media therefore accounted for more than 10% of Europe’s digital advertising market.

Ecommerce Europe’s 2025 report shows a similarly active commerce base. B2C e-commerce turnover reached €86 billion in Central Europe in 2024, up 8%, while Eastern Europe reached €20 billion, up 18%. The same report puts internet-user penetration at 93% in Central Europe and 85% in Eastern Europe, with e-shopper penetration of 73% and 57% respectively.

These regional aggregates confirm momentum. Retail-media readiness depends on buyer access, data maturity, operating ownership, integrations, measurement and route-to-market.

Commercial perspective: The next phase of retail media is an operating-model challenge. The strongest opportunities will sit where usable first-party data, inventory, commercial ownership and measurable advertiser demand already meet.

Poland is showing signs of category formation

Several 2026 developments in Poland point in the same direction.

Trade publications citing Kaufland and Retail Media Nanovo reported more than 1,000 screens, five touchpoints and approximately 1.9–2.0 million monthly users.

Rzeczpospolita cited Publicis Commerce estimates of more than 70,000 digital retail screens in Poland and a retail media market worth roughly PLN 1.7 billion. Another trade publication reported Publicis Groupe’s estimate of PLN 1.69 billion for 2025.

IAB Polska has begun the first comprehensive Polish Retail Media Map, a clear sign of category formalisation.

Poland also has a mature local commerce-media reference in Allegro. GrowthLoop’s public Allegro case study is vendor-authored. Allegro investor materials separately identify ads and off-platform ads as strategic growth areas.

Five structural trends that matter commercially

1. In-store media is joining the data and measurement stack

Digital screens create visible scale, but screens alone do not create a defensible retail-media business. The commercial value comes from coordination:

  • which audience or shopping signal informs the placement;

  • how inventory is sold and forecast;

  • whether campaigns connect to online and loyalty touchpoints;

  • how exposure and sales outcomes are measured;

  • whether brands can compare performance across formats.

For technology providers, this expands the buying committee. A proposal may involve retail media, trade marketing, e-commerce, loyalty, IT, store operations, data protection, finance and executive leadership. The sales motion must reflect that organisational reality.

2. First-party data is becoming more useful and more demanding

Retailers possess transaction, product, loyalty and behavioural data that brands cannot reproduce independently. Turning that data into a media product requires identity rules, audience construction, permissions, governance, activation and measurement.

The opportunity is not simply “retailers have first-party data.” The useful commercial questions are:

  • Is the data unified enough to create usable audiences?

  • Can those audiences be activated on owned and off-site inventory?

  • Are permissions and controls clear?

  • Can the retailer produce repeatable reporting for brands and agencies?

  • Who owns the product roadmap and service level?

A vendor that sells only the technical capability may lose to one that helps the retailer define the operating workflow and advertiser proposition.

3. Measurement is moving from optional to central

As spend grows, buyers ask for more than impressions and clicks. They want incrementality, sales lift, new-to-brand behaviour, category effects, frequency, cross-channel exposure and a credible relationship between campaign activity and commercial outcome.

CEE markets add practical complexity. Data sets, loyalty penetration, store formats, e-commerce share and technical architecture vary by retailer and country. A measurement promise proven in a mature Western market may require different data inputs and methodologies locally.

The commercial advantage belongs to providers that define what can be measured now, what requires integration and how confidence improves over time.

4. Commerce media is moving beyond retailer-owned inventory

The distinction between retail media and broader commerce media is becoming more important. Travel platforms, marketplaces, delivery apps, financial services, telecoms and other businesses with transaction or intent data can develop media products.

GrowthLoop announced integrations with The Trade Desk, Moloco and Audience Acuity in August 2026. The Trade Desk’s partner directory independently lists GrowthLoop. These sources illustrate a wider industry direction: connecting customer data, audience creation, media activation and optimisation across platforms.

For CEE market entry, this broadens the partner and customer universe. It also increases competition among platforms for advertiser budgets, agency attention and technical talent.

5. Standardisation will matter, but local operating models will remain different

Buyers want comparable definitions, inventory and measurement. Regional technology providers want scalable integrations and product packaging. Those pressures favour standardisation.

Local differences will remain commercially important: retailer concentration, loyalty adoption, data quality, agency roles, trade-marketing structures, language, procurement, e-commerce penetration and the maturity of in-store networks. A regional product can create efficiency, but implementation and commercial packaging still need market-level validation.

What this means for international technology companies

Translate market growth into product demand

A 16.7% European retail-media growth rate highlights the need to segment the CEE market by maturity and match the offer to each retailer’s readiness.

Maturity stage

Typical situation

Relevant offer

Inventory creation

Media is fragmented or sold manually

Ad serving, screen management, product definition, basic reporting

Data activation

Loyalty and transaction data exist but are underused

CDP/data collaboration, audiences, consent and activation

Omnichannel scale

Retailer coordinates on-site, off-site and in-store

Orchestration, forecasting, workflow, cross-channel measurement

Optimisation

Media is an established P&L

Incrementality, automation, clean-room workflows, yield and advanced analytics

The same sales deck will not work across all four stages. A retailer building its first proposition buys clarity and speed; a mature network buys integration, efficiency and measurable advantage.

Map the buying committee before the account list

Retail media often sits between functions. Identify the executive sponsor, revenue owner, technical owner, data owner, operations owner and the person accountable for brand or agency adoption. An account may be attractive yet commercially inaccessible if ownership is unclear.

The first market should contain enough organisations where the problem and the owner are both visible.

Decide whether the route is direct, partner-led or embedded

Common routes include:

  • direct enterprise sale to a retailer or commerce platform;

  • implementation or resale through a local technology partner;

  • agency-led access connected to advertiser demand;

  • integration into an existing commerce, loyalty, POS or media platform;

  • strategic launch with one lighthouse customer followed by category expansion.

The choice affects margin, control, sales cycle, integration burden and the proof required. A partner can accelerate trust, but only when incentives and ownership are explicit.

Localise the business case, not just the interface

The value model should reflect local media pricing, retailer economics, trade budgets, store footprint, e-commerce share, available data and implementation cost. Translating the UI and converting the price from euros into local currency is not localisation.

Why Poland can be a useful first CEE test market

CEE Growth Partners interprets the 2026 signals above as reasons Poland may be a useful first CEE test market. That interpretation requires account-level validation of retailer data maturity, operating ownership, integrations, measurement, route-to-market and a funded commercial problem.

Poland is not the automatic first market. A provider focused on in-store orchestration, loyalty activation, commerce audiences, off-site activation or measurement should identify which Polish organisations have the corresponding data, budget, ownership and urgency.

The first 90 days should aim to answer:

1. Which buyer segment has an active, funded problem? 2. Which five to ten accounts have the required data and operating maturity? 3. What proof will local stakeholders accept? 4. Which integrations or partners are mandatory? 5. Does the achievable price support delivery cost and sales effort? 6. Can one lighthouse deployment create a transferable local reference?

A practical market-entry test for retail-media providers

Days 1–30: map maturity and ownership

Build a short list of retailers and commerce platforms by stage, map current capabilities, identify the buying committee and prioritise accounts with a visible change trigger. Review agencies, integrators, media owners and data partners that can influence access or delivery.

Days 31–60: test the proposition

Run senior buyer and partner conversations. Test the problem statement, product scope, commercial model, proof requirements and integration barriers. Use a localized point of view rather than a global feature catalogue.

Days 61–90: define the launch case

Produce a decision memo covering target segment, lighthouse accounts, route-to-market, required localisation, delivery ownership, price range, early pipeline, risks and the case for — or against — a permanent local commercial role.

My operating principle remains the same: validate the opportunity and route before building the fixed organisation expected to scale it.

Frequently asked questions

How large is retail media in Europe?

IAB Europe’s AdEx Benchmark 2025 report values European retail-media advertising at €13.3 billion in 2025, up 16.7% year on year and accounting for more than 10% of European digital advertising spend.

Is Poland the most advanced retail-media market in CEE?

Poland has several strong indicators: retailer investment, large in-store screen networks, a major commerce-media platform in Allegro and work by IAB Polska to map the ecosystem. A definitive regional ranking would require a consistent cross-country methodology. Providers should compare category-specific buyer and data maturity rather than rely on a general label.

What should a retail-media technology company localise?

Beyond language, validate data availability, identity and consent rules, integrations, store and e-commerce workflows, media pricing, measurement, agency roles, advertiser proof, procurement and customer-support expectations.

Should a provider hire a Polish Country Manager immediately?

Hire after validating the account universe, buyer problem, price, proof, route-to-market and delivery model. A senior local leader is valuable when there is a defined motion to own and scale.

Turn regional momentum into a tested commercial decision

Use the CEE Expansion Scorecard to identify gaps in market readiness, demand, go-to-market design and execution capacity.

To review a Poland or wider CEE retail-media opportunity, book a 30-minute CEE Opportunity Call.

Author

Jacek Dymkowski is the Founder of CEE Growth Partners. He is a senior commercial and digital-media executive with experience building revenue, teams and regional business operations across Central & Eastern Europe. His background spans enterprise sales, P&L leadership, regional management, programmatic, data, retail media, e-commerce and go-to-market strategy.

Follow CEE Growth Partners on LinkedIn.

Sources and scope

AUTHOR

Jacek Dymkowski, Founder, CEE Growth Partners

CEE Growth Partners on LinkedIn