Brands should set retail media budgets according to category economics, growth goals, retailer opportunity, margin requirements, and the ability to demonstrate business impact. A benchmark can establish a starting range, but allocation decisions should be made at the retailer, category, product, audience, and tactic levels.

During a 2026 Commerce Media Brand Summit panel on managing growth with constrained budgets, TJ Hanel, Director, Omni Commerce RMN National Retail Media Strategy at Mars explained that the first priority is protecting the base: "We're working hard to make sure that there's clarity in regard to what's driving the greatest online share profitably for us across retailers." Hanel emphasized protecting hero SKUs, priority keyword strategies, and retailer moments that are closely connected to brand plans.

Across the 2026 conference, the broader discussion positioned retail media investment as a portfolio management decision rather than a fixed percentage of media spend. Brand leaders repeatedly focused on profitable online share, incremental business results, demand creation, and the need to avoid shifting money simply because a channel reports a stronger short-term return.

For 2027 planning, set an initial investment range based on category conditions, historical performance, and retailer opportunity. Then evaluate each allocation against four questions: Where is the commercial opportunity? Which products, audiences, or occasions matter most? Can the organization measure enough business impact to make a decision? What level of funding continues to generate acceptable incremental value? Protect priority products and key retailer moments first, test additional investment in defined areas, and reduce funding where the commercial case weakens.

Join the next Commerce Media Brand Summit to compare retail media budget frameworks, learn from brand-side leaders, and build a more defensible investment plan for 2027.