Retail media is no longer just a United States phenomenon. Networks now span Europe, Asia, Latin America, the Middle East, Africa and Australia. Yet for some reason, the Australian industry continues to judge its success against the US.

There is no doubt retail media is healthy locally. The market is expected to grow from approximately A$1.6 billion in 2024 to A$2.8 billion by 2027, representing roughly 20% annualised growth.

But hidden within all the talk of size and growth is the idea that there is a single maturity curve for retail media — a benchmark we should all be aiming for as both brands and retailers.

At the top of that curve sits the United States, with every other market somewhere behind it.

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I work directly across markets including the UK, New Zealand, Europe, Dubai, Central America and the US. And from that experience, I can say the international picture beyond the US is far more interesting – and much more relevant for Australia.

The downstream effect

The US has set the pace in terms of scale, investment and ambition. Amazon, Walmart and other major retailers have shown that retail media can become a major advertising business in its own right.

Digital commerce maturity in the US means 20-30% of total revenues for many retailers, which drives a lot of innovation in digital retail media.

A different regulatory framework means video, connected TV and offsite retail media, as well as audience products, end up being perceived as more sophisticated.

US brand advertisers have embraced retail media as part of their business practices and are investing in all retail media ad formats across many networks. Brand advertisers expect to build retail media as part of annual marketing plans.

In all other markets, the retail and regulatory landscape is very different, and there is a specific downstream effect on retail media.

In Australia, Europe and New Zealand, the physical store still matters more – digital commerce penetration varies from 3% in Spain and Germany to 20% in the UK, with an average of just 6.5%.

Loyalty programmes, data availability and the relationships between retailers and brands also differ considerably from one market to another. Brand advertisers have been slower to adopt retailers as central to their marketing plans.

This means that the more useful question for Australia is not: “How do we become more like America?” Instead,........

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