Retail Media Networks (RMNs) are booming. Ads spend is surging, brands are reallocating budgets, and retailers are racing to monetize their first-party data. 

But beneath the growth headlines lies a growing constraint: operations. 

By 2026, RMNs won’t struggle to attract demand, they’ll struggle to execute it accurately, consistently, and at scale. 

Retail Media’s Operational Reality Check 

According to eMarketer, retail media ad spend is expected to surpass $160 billion globally by 2026. Yet many RMNs are still operating with: 

• Fragmented DSP relationships 

• Manual taxonomy management 

• Inconsistent keyword strategies 

• Disconnected reporting systems 

• Contract and billing complexity 

As volume increases, these inefficiencies don’t stay invisible, they surface as performance gaps and trust issues. 

Complexity Is Growing Faster Than Teams 

Retail media operations sit at the intersection of: 

• Commerce data 

• Media buying platforms 

• Brand expectations 

• Publisher-style reporting 

Marketing Dive notes that RMNs are under pressure to deliver platform-level sophistication with retailer-sized teams, an impossible balance without external support. 

Operational cracks appear fast: 

• Listings aren’t optimized consistently 

• Keywords inflate without governance 

• Domains underperform due to poor monitoring 

• Reporting lacks standardization 

Why This Matters to Advertisers 

Brands don’t just want reach, they want repeatable, reliable performance. 

A 2024 Business Insider report showed that over 60% of brands cite “measurement inconsistency” as a top frustration with retail media. 

Without strong ops, RMNs risk losing long-term trust, even if demand remains high. 

Operations Are Now the Differentiator 

As RMNs mature, the next wave of competition won’t be about audience size, it will be about: 

• Accuracy of execution 

• Speed of optimization 

• Transparency of reporting 

• Governance of data 

In short: operational efficiency. 

This is where specialized managed services become essential. 

How Paragon Supports Retail Media Scale 

Paragon augments in-house teams rather than replacing them, providing experienced resources that work within existing tools, platforms, and time zones. 

The Cost Advantage of Getting Ops Right 

Retailers often assume scaling ops internally is the safest route. It’s the most expensive. 

Paragon helps clients lower operating costs by up to 72%, freeing budget for: 

• Product innovation 

• New partnerships 

• Revenue-facing teams 

More importantly, it ensures RMNs can scale without sacrificing precision. Retail media’s growth story isn’t slowing. But the winners in 2026 won’t just sell inventory, they’ll deliver error-free execution at scale.