Nectar360 becomes first UK retail media network to win IAB Europe certification
Updated: Sep 1
Nectar360 has become the first UK retail media network to achieve IAB Europe's retail media certification — an independently audited stamp on how it measures and reports campaigns, and a milestone that pushes the whole channel toward the standardisation advertisers have been demanding.
Nectar360, Sainsbury's Group's retail media, loyalty and insights division, has become the first UK retailer to complete IAB Europe's Retail Media Certification, following an independent audit by ABC. The certification, awarded in early July 2026, validates how key performance metrics are defined, calculated and reported, and covers display and video advertising on off-site properties including Instagram, Facebook, Google DV360 and YouTube, according to IAB Europe and Retail Gazette.
It makes Nectar360 only the second European retailer to be certified, after Dutch retailer Albert Heijn in 2025. IAB Europe's Marie-Clare Puffett said each certification "helps strengthen transparency and comparability in retail media, building greater trust," while Nectar360 managing director Amir Rasekh argued that "standardisation in measurement is critical" because "it underpins trust and enables better investment decisions." IAB Europe is now extending the programme to ad-tech firms and adapting it for other regions.
Why standardisation is the channel's next unlock
Retail media's growth story has a persistent asterisk: every network measures and reports differently. One retailer counts a view one way, another counts it differently; attribution windows vary; "sales" can mean different things. For advertisers spending across multiple retailers, that inconsistency makes it almost impossible to compare like with like, benchmark performance or confidently move budget to what works. It has been the channel's biggest structural weakness.
Independent certification against a common standard is how that weakness starts to close. When a network's metrics are audited against an industry framework, advertisers can trust the numbers and, crucially, compare them across networks. That is not a glamorous development, but it is a foundational one — the same kind of standardisation that helped earlier media channels mature from experimental spend into core, scalable line items on the media plan.
Marketing Minute's read: what it means for UK advertisers
The direct beneficiaries are brands investing in retail media, which is now among the largest and fastest-growing parts of UK advertising. Certification gives them more confidence that the performance a network reports is real and consistently defined, which lowers the risk of scaling spend. Over time, expect advertisers to start asking networks a pointed question: are your metrics independently certified? That pressure will push the rest of the market toward the same standard.
There is a broader principle here that applies to any marketer buying media: insist on measurement you can trust and compare. Whether it is retail media, connected TV or social, the value of a channel is only as reliable as the numbers behind it. Nectar360 setting a UK first on certification is a useful prompt to audit how your own reporting stacks up — are you comparing genuinely like-for-like across platforms, or quietly accepting each one's home-marked scorecard?
For smaller UK businesses, the practical implication is that retail media is becoming safer to test. As standards firm up, the risk of pouring budget into a channel you cannot properly measure declines. That does not mean diving in blind — start small, define your own success metrics up front, and treat certified measurement as a reason for confidence rather than a substitute for your own scrutiny.
Quick FAQ
What is IAB Europe's Retail Media Certification?
It is an industry programme that independently validates how a retail media network defines, calculates and reports its performance metrics. Nectar360, Sainsbury's retail media arm, became the first UK network to achieve it in early July 2026, following an audit by ABC.
Why does measurement standardisation matter in retail media?
Because networks have historically measured and reported differently, making it hard for advertisers to compare performance or move budget confidently. A common, audited standard lets brands trust and compare the numbers, which is what allows the channel to scale.
What should advertisers take from this?
Insist on measurement you can trust and compare across platforms. Ask whether a network's metrics are independently certified, benchmark like-for-like rather than accepting each platform's own scorecard, and treat certified measurement as a reason for confidence, not a replacement for scrutiny.
Retail media has been growing fast on numbers no one could truly compare. Certification is the boring breakthrough that changes that — trusted, comparable measurement is what turns a channel from an experiment into a dependable line on the plan. Ask every network you buy: are your metrics independently certified?
— Christie McCormack, Retail & Consumer Editor at Marketing Minute
Standardised, independently certified measurement is what unlocks the next wave of retail media budgets — so demand numbers you can trust and compare across every platform you buy.
How confident are you that you can compare retail media performance like-for-like across networks? We would love to hear where measurement still frustrates you.
If you would like to know more about this topic, please contact us on danieln@merxmarketing.co.uk
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Written by Christie McCormack, Retail & Consumer Editor at Marketing Minute
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