Advertising costs across retail media networks keep climbing, putting pressure on marketing budgets of retailers and brands. With more platforms competing for ad budgets and growing demand for first-party data, marketers need practical ways to monitor spending and keep campaigns profitable. This article explains how to control retail ad spend, allocate budgets effectively, and stay ahead of rising costs.
Summary
- Retail media now captures a significant share of global ad spend, creating new advertising opportunities but also new budget challenges.
- Advertisers and agencies need accurate data and clear performance metrics to track campaigns across multiple platforms.
- Smart budget allocation, real-time ad spend monitoring, and a clear retail media strategy enable brands to avoid spending beyond limits while maximising revenue potential.
Understanding retail media’s role as a sales channel
Retail media is no longer a side project for big retailers – it has become a central revenue driver. Major retailers and small businesses alike invest in retail media networks because these channels give marketers access to valuable first-party data and engaged audiences right at the point of purchase.
Platforms such as Walmart Connect, Amazon Ads, and Tesco Media provide sponsored placements on their sites and apps, letting advertisers engage consumers where buying decisions happen. For companies, retail media spend brings a direct link between advertising and sales, allowing brands to measure campaign performance with far more accuracy than many traditional digital channels.
Further Reading: The Best Virtual Cards for Google and Facebook Ads in 2025
What is ad spend control?
Ad spend control means having a clear process for planning, tracking, and adjusting advertising budgets across different platforms. For online retailers, it’s the ability to effectively monitor every pound invested in campaigns, compare performance metrics, and shift money to high performing campaigns before overspending occurs. Strong control over ad spend allows marketers to protect cash flow, gain a holistic view of marketing activity, and make data-driven budget allocation decisions that align with business goals.
The typical retail media ad types
Retail media networks offer several advertising formats that help brands reach shoppers:
- Sponsored products – product listings promoted within search results or category pages.
- Branded placements – banner ads or custom landing pages that showcase a brand across onsite and offsite media.
- Retargeting campaigns – ads served to audiences who viewed or purchased similar products, boosting conversion rates.
- CTV and video – connected-TV placements and short video ads to extend reach beyond the store or website.
Knowing which type suits each stage of the funnel helps marketing teams invest wisely and avoid spending on formats that don’t match campaign objectives.
Further Reading: The Complete Guide to Managing Expenses for Online Retailers and Resellers
What are the 3 principles for allocating retail media network budgets?
Marketers often struggle to balance retail media budgets across multiple platforms. A few key principles help guide decisions:
- Follow the customer journey. Allocate more budget to channels and placements that match each funnel stage – from awareness to final purchase.
- Use first-party data. Campaigns built on retailer data deliver more accurate targeting and better reporting, which supports cost-effective budget allocation.
- Measure and adjust quickly. Track key performance indicators such as to shift money to high performing campaigns in real time.
Ad spend control vs. budget pacing
Budget pacing is about spending at a steady rate over a set period, while ad spend control focuses on overall efficiency and return. Pacing ensures that campaigns don’t exhaust budgets too early, but true control requires constant analysis of platform metrics and campaign effectiveness. Retailers need both: budget pacing keeps campaigns live for the full period, and ad spend monitoring provides the accurate picture needed to refine strategy and avoid spending beyond limits.
Further Reading: What Are the Best Virtual Cards for Ad Spend?
Ad spend monitoring: key metrics to track
Successful ad spend monitoring depends on reliable data. Marketers, agencies, and advertisers should focus on a few core metrics:
- Conversion rates and click-through rates to gauge campaign effectiveness.
- ROAS (return on ad spend) to measure revenue potential relative to ad budgets.
- Cost per acquisition and other performance metrics to identify high performing campaigns.
- Budget allocation vs. actual spending across platforms to spot overspending early.
Tracking these numbers across Google Ads, Facebook Ads Manager, Walmart Connect and other digital platforms allows brands to make timely adjustments and invest more budget where results are strongest.
Top strategies to control ad spend: from basic to advanced
Retailers can keep advertising spend under control by combining clear planning with smart technology. Here are practical ways to strengthen ad spend monitoring:
- Set clear marketing budgets. Agree on limits for each campaign and platform before launch, and share them with the marketing team and agencies.
- Track performance daily. Use ad spend tracking tools to compare campaign performance across multiple platforms and spot overspending early.
- Shift money quickly. Move budget to high performing campaigns or channels as soon as data shows stronger conversion rates.
- Invest in automation. Platforms such as Google Ads and Facebook Ads Manager now include AI-driven bidding and automated reporting, which can help marketers react faster and achieve a more cost effective return.
- Test and learn. Run small A/B tests before committing more money to a new advertising strategy or retail media network.
Further Reading: How Smart Cards Help Media Buyers Prevent Overspend and Fraud
Ad spend monitoring challenges
Even with solid planning, advertisers face hurdles that make ad spend monitoring tricky:
- Data from different digital platforms is often reported in inconsistent formats, making it hard to create a single accurate picture of spending.
- Retail media networks may provide limited performance metrics or delayed reporting, slowing budget allocation decisions.
- Agencies and marketing teams sometimes focus on platform metrics that do not match financial reporting, creating confusion around campaign effectiveness.
- Growing numbers of channels – onsite, offsite, CTV, commerce media – require more budget allocation decisions and increase the risk of overspending.
Recognising these challenges helps marketers prepare reliable reporting systems and maintain control over ad budgets.
1. Spending behaviour based on platform
Each advertising platform encourages different spending patterns. Google Ads often rewards quick budget shifts to high performing campaigns, while Facebook Ads Manager may require longer learning phases before performance metrics stabilise. Retail media networks like Walmart Connect can deliver strong conversion rates but may demand higher minimum investment. Marketers should study platform analytics closely to decide where to invest and when to pause campaigns.
2. Your advertising scale determines your ad spending strategy
Small businesses with limited marketing budgets need tighter controls and simpler reporting than global brands running campaigns across multiple platforms. Large companies may benefit from advanced analytics and integrated ad spend monitoring tools, while small retailers can start with basic budget allocation and a single advertising platform before expanding their retail media strategy.
3. Platform metrics are misaligned with financial reporting
Platform dashboards focus on clicks, impressions, and engagement metrics, while finance teams care about cash flow and revenue potential. Without integration, marketers risk making decisions on incomplete data. Aligning ad spend monitoring with financial systems allows companies to track campaign performance and policy compliance against actual store sales and profit.
Conclusion
Retailers and brands face rising digital advertising costs and greater pressure to justify every pound of investment. Controlling ad spend requires accurate data, strong reporting, and fast decision-making across multiple platforms. By focusing on key performance indicators, using first-party data for targeting, and adopting cost-effective budget allocation methods, marketers can grow without wasting money.
Control your ad spend with Wallester
Wallester helps advertisers and retailers stay on top of ad budgets with real-time expense tracking and flexible corporate cards.
Key advantages include:
- Instant virtual and physical cards – create cards in seconds, assign each campaign or platform (Google Ads, Facebook Ads Manager, Walmart Connect and others) its own card, and set precise spending limits.
- Real-time monitoring and alerts – see every transaction as it happens and get notifications to spot unusual activity before it impacts budgets.
- Automatic receipt capture and categorisation – upload or photograph receipts, let the system match them to transactions, and generate expense reports ready for accounting.
- Shared virtual cards – allow several team members or agencies to run ads on the same card while keeping individual spending visible for accurate reporting.
- Integration with accounting tools – connect to platforms like Xero and QuickBooks to simplify budget allocation, ad spend tracking, and financial reporting.
- Multi-currency support and strong security – manage cross-border campaigns with 3D Secure protection and no hidden fees.
With Wallester, marketers can set ad budgets, track every transaction, and adjust investment across campaigns in minutes. Its free plan already includes hundreds of virtual cards, while premium tiers add advanced analytics and dedicated support for teams scaling their retail media strategy.
