New Chili report shows retail marketing in overdrive and in store execution lagging

Grocery retail marketing has hit a structural tipping point according to latest industry research released by Chili publish. Campaign production now operates at manufacturing scale, but without the systems, controls, or reliability that underpin industrial production. The result is a growing gap between output and execution and this is increasingly putting revenue at risk.

This is not simply a question of volume. It is a systems problem. Retailers are attempting to run industrial-scale content production on fragmented workflows, manual approvals and disconnected tools. At this level of complexity, failure is becoming systemic.

Across grocery retailers in the UK, US, France, Germany and the Netherlands, marketing teams are producing hundreds, and in some cases thousands, of campaign assets every month to meet the demands of always-on, multi-channel retail media ecosystems. Marketing output now mirrors manufacturing scale.

The Chili publish Brandwidth 2026 research report, based on 256 grocery retail marketing leaders, reveals the sheer volume of production now required to compete in modern retail:

• 57% of campaigns generate between 50–200 variants, while 21% produce up to 500 variants per campaign
• Over half (54%) of teams run 3–10 campaigns per month, with a further 4% exceeding 10 campaigns monthly
• Nearly half of campaigns cover 500+ store locations, reflecting the scale of execution required

At these volumes, even mid-sized retail media teams are managing hundreds to thousands of assets per month across formats, markets, and channels.

“This isn’t campaign marketing as we’ve traditionally known it,” said Kevin Goeminne, CEO at Chili publish. “It’s continuous production at industrial scale. Retail marketing teams are now operating like content factories.”

This explosion in output is driven by the convergence of key industry trends:

• Retail media growth, turning promotions into paid, measurable inventory
• Multichannel ecosystems, spanning digital ads, in-store displays, apps, and email
• Personalised and localised marketing, requiring multiple versions per audience, region, and store

The data shows that over 80% of campaigns now span both digital and in-store channels, making multichannel execution the norm rather than the exception. Meanwhile, 34% of retailers run campaigns across multiple countries simultaneously, adding complexity through localisation, language, pricing, and regulatory requirements.

Despite this manufacturing-level output, most organisations are still operating with structures designed for lower volume. Over half (55%) rely on parallel production tracks across teams and vendors, whilst only 42% describe their production as mostly automated. This means that the majority are still operating systems that are partially manual, requiring multiple sign-off processes that slow down the time to delivery.

This mismatch between scale and capability is creating systemic strain and, in the worst cases, see campaigns bypassing official processes to speed up approvals. 55% of marketing leaders say that they frequently see the inconsistent application of brand guidelines as local teams take approvals into their own hands.

The consequences of this are no longer just operational. 60% of respondents say that failures hit revenue directly through missed promotional windows. In real financial terms, most incidents cost between €10,000 and €50,000, with some running significantly higher. The knock-on effect of missed windows can be a damaged brand partnership. These relationships are a critical component of retail media monetisation and therefore anything that puts these at risk is endangering future promotional opportunities.

Goeminne commented, “Automation is emerging as the only viable path forward. At manufacturing scale, retail promotions require the same level of reliability as financial or supply chain systems. That means deterministic, governed and repeatable processes with zero tolerance for error.

The good news is that nearly three quarters of our respondents have already explored AI-driven content generation and two thirds have piloted workflow automation. However, automation is not about speed or efficiency alone. It is about ensuring that every promotion is executed accurately, consistently and on time, across every channel and market. Doing this takes a reliable solution where there is no ‘silent workaround’ to ensure 100% on time accurate delivery.

For more insights into the state of creative operations in grocery retail, access the Brandwidth 2026 research report here.