Costs and pricing
Part of How much do retail media agencies charge in the UK?
How much do retail media agencies charge in the UK?
UK retail media agency fees explained: retainer, media-spend and performance models, pass-through costs, VAT, and how London and regional quotes differ.
What to take away
- No UK retail media agency publishes a rate card, so any figure is a price for a defined scope, not a market rate.
- Quotes usually stack a monthly retainer, a share of media spend, a performance element and pass-through costs.
- VAT sits on top of agency fees where the agency is VAT registered, and media billed as principal is invoiced differently from media billed as agent.
- London quotes tend to run above regional ones for the same task, though remote delivery narrows the gap.
Why UK agencies do not publish a rate card
Retail media work is not standardised, so agencies price it per client. One quote covers campaign setup; another adds audience construction and screen scheduling.
Standards govern how retail media is labelled and measured, not what it costs. The workable alternative is a unit of work: ask for the fee per campaign build, per reporting cycle or per incrementality test.
Where an agency proposes an annual uplift, check it against published price movement rather than the explanation given. The ONS publishes inflation and price indices monthly, which gives you a public benchmark.
The fee models behind most quotes
Quotes are usually built from several components, and one contract may use all of them. The table sets out what each charges on, and what to pin down first.
| Fee component | Charged on | Pin this down before signing |
|---|---|---|
| Monthly retainer | Named roles and a set number of hours per month | What happens in a quiet month, and do unused hours roll over? |
| Share of media spend | Money spent on retail media inventory | Is the percentage taken before or after any rebate the retailer pays back? |
| Performance fee | Sales or incremental sales attributed to the campaign | Does the denominator come from the retailer dashboard or an agreed test? |
| Project or day rate | A defined deliverable, or one day of a named role | What is delivered, in what format, and who owns it afterwards? |
| Pass-through | Platform licences, data licences, screen time | Is it billed at cost, with the supplier invoice attached? |
A quote that mixes a retainer with a performance fee usually means the agency wants a floor. Ask what the floor buys when sales attribution is disputed.
Retainers, day rates and the London premium
Day rates are quoted per role, not as one blended number. A senior strategist does not carry the same rate as an analyst, so ask for the role mix behind the figure on the page.
A London agency prices its office and its hiring market into the number. Regional agencies may quote less for the same deliverable, and remote working has narrowed that gap.
Ask what the location buys: named retailer relationships, or access to a network you cannot reach yourself. If you can reach the network directly, self-serve versus managed retail media is the comparison to make first.
VAT, pass-through costs and performance fees
Agency fees carry VAT at the standard rate when the agency is VAT registered, so a quote that excludes VAT is not the cash cost. Where the agency buys inventory as principal, media and fee arrive on one invoice. Where it acts as agent, the retailer or network may bill you directly.
Any fee that includes audience building or measurement carries data duties with it. The ICO's guidance on direct marketing and electronic communications sets out what consent and objection handling involves, which is work the agency should be pricing.
Where a campaign uses retailer loyalty data or in-store screens, the lawful basis is a contract question before it is a fee question. The UK GDPR text on legislation.gov.uk is the reference both sides should work from.
Comparing two quotes on identical scope
Two quotes cannot be compared until the scope underneath them matches. Work through the sequence below before asking either agency to revise.
- Write the scope on one page: retailer, placements, campaign dates, reporting cycle and data sources.
- Ask both agencies to price that page and list anything excluded.
- Split each quote into fee, pass-through and VAT.
- Ask who owns the naming conventions, creative and reporting definitions after the contract ends.
- Ask what happens if the retailer changes platform mid-campaign.
Keep both responses on file, and set a review date. A ninety day investigation plan shows how to hold or reverse the decision at each gate.
Common questions
Is there a standard UK retail media agency fee?
Not as such. No tariff is published, and quotes move with scope, the retailer and the measurement included. Treat a single figure as one agency's price for one scope.
Are performance fees cheaper than a retainer?
Not automatically. A performance fee shifts risk to the agency, but it relies on an attribution definition agreed in advance. If that definition is disputed, the retainer equivalent often costs less.
Do agencies charge VAT on the quoted fee?
Yes, where the agency is VAT registered. Budget the VAT-inclusive figure, and remember that pass-through costs may carry VAT of their own.
Why do London quotes exceed regional ones?
The cost base differs, and so does the value placed on proximity to retailers and networks. Ask which specific advantage is being paid for rather than accepting the postcode.