ANA Releases Framework for Retail Media Measurement Standardization
The Association of National Advertisers (ANA) has released a new framework aimed at creating greater consistency in how retailer media networks (RMNs) measure and report campaign performance.
The “Retail Media Measurement Standardization” report comes as retail media continues to expand, with eMarketer projecting the channel to reach $90 billion by 2028, representing a 17% compound annual growth rate. More than half of marketers now use five or more commerce media networks, according to the ANA. Additionally, brands are allocating an average of one-third (33%) of their total marketing budgets directly to retail media, per P2PI’s “2026 Retailer Media Network Ratings” report.
As investment and the number of networks grow, marketers face a fundamental challenge: performance isn't always comparable from one network to another.
Fifty-five percent of advertisers surveyed by the ANA identified a lack of standardization as their No. 1 barrier. Differences in areas such as attribution lookback windows, “new to” definitions, audience methodologies and product category definitions can make ROI comparisons difficult.
Creating an 'Umbrella of Commonality'
The ANA's initial framework is intended to establish what it calls an “umbrella of commonality” across networks, beginning with foundational media measurement.
The report recommends that networks adopt industry-standard baseline metrics including impressions, viewability, clicks and invalid traffic, while also encouraging greater use of independent third-party measurement and validation. It also calls for more transparency around how networks define and calculate key measures.
The report argues that standardized foundational metrics need to be established before marketers can reliably evaluate outcomes such as ROI, growth or incrementality.
Among the report's recommended starting points are a common 52-week definition for “new to” customers and a 14-day attribution lookback window. The ANA also recommends that marketers have access to greater context around campaign performance, including product and category sales, inventory availability, pricing and basket size.
The initiative was developed through the ANA Media & Measurement Leadership Council’s Retail Media Working Group, with participation from major advertisers including American Greetings, Bayer, Citi, The Clorox Co., Colgate-Palmolive, Hershey’s, Kellanova, Kenvue, Kimberly-Clark, Mondelez International, PepsiCo, Sargento and Utz. RMN contributors included Albertsons Media Collective, BJ’s Media Edge, CVS Media Exchange, Instacart, Sam’s Club Connect, Target's Roundel and Walmart Connect, along with the Media Rating Council.
The framework is intended as a starting point rather than a finished standard. Future updates are expected to expand the guidance to areas including outcomes and incrementality measurement, data sharing, interoperability and on-platform experimentation.
The ANA says establishing a common measurement foundation will help marketers more reliably evaluate performance across networks and make more informed media investment decisions.
