Observed Signal · Sep 23, 2026 · Market Signal · Source: Cloudinary · Impact: 3.5/5
Cloudinary 2026 Retail Survey Results: Retailers' Top Priorities
Cloudinary's blog now features a new lead article titled 'We Asked Retailers Their Top Priority in 2026. They Gave Us 13.' This article discusses the results of a retail survey, highlighting that retailers have 13 top priorities for 2026, including video, authenticity, personalization, and seamless experiences. The article is dated September 2026.
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Retail Media Boom: What's Next for 2026?
As 2026 approaches, the piece surveys the retail media landscape and the anticipated year ahead. It notes a booming sector, with festive shopping driving campaigns and large online spend during Black Friday and Cyber Monday (US online Black Friday at USD 11.8 billion; global Cyber Monday over USD 17 billion). The article highlights a wave of new retail media networks, including American Express' Amex Ads and WHSmiths' WHS Media, expanding opportunities for advertisers through richer targeting and cross-channel activation. It also underscores AI's growing role, citing Adobe data showing 830% YoY growth in AI-driven retailer traffic and a 30% higher conversion rate for shoppers arriving via AI. Industry voices stress the need for harmonised standards (IAB Europe) and the potential of in-store activation, programmatic evolution, and data enrichment to scale retail media in 2026. The piece frames a shift toward tech-enabled measurement, cross-channel storytelling, and broader retailer-owned models.
2026: A Litmus Test for Retail Media
In a guest commentary, Carina Müller, General Manager Commerce at Mediaplus Performance, argues that 2026 will be a decisive year for Retail Media. She says Retail Media is evolving quickly: loyalty programmes are raising its strategic value, AI assistants introduce new ad formats, and in‑store media are becoming more dynamic through AI. Müller calls for centralized campaign planning to fully exploit Retail Media's potential as it shifts from hype into a standard element of the marketing mix. The piece positions these developments as drivers of market growth and operational change for advertisers and retailers.
Digiday Technology Awards 2026 Honor AI and AdTech Innovators
The 2026 Digiday Technology Awards recognized companies across various categories, including AI, personalization, and ad tech. Notable winners include PolyAI for Best AI Tool, with SafeRide Health deploying its AI agent 'Steven' to manage over 80% of inbound calls. Taboola's CEO Adam Singolda was named Technology Founder of the Year for launching DeeperDive, a conversational AI platform for publishers. Contentful and Docusign won Best Personalization & A/B Testing Platform, which enabled Docusign to personalize homepages for 20 audience segments. Other winners include Seedtag and Qatar Tourism for alternative ID, Viant for best buy-side platform, and Semrush (an Adobe company) for SEO. The awards highlight industry trends toward AI, agentic tools, privacy-first identity, and integrated measurement.
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