How much do retail media agencies charge in the UK?

What to take away

UK retail media agency retainers commonly quote £2,500 to £12,000 a month for a named team and a set scope.
Media spend management fees usually run at 10% to 20% of working media spend, tiered down at higher budgets.
Performance fees often land at 3% to 10% of attributed incremental sales, with the attribution source agreed first.
Day rates sit around £450 to £1,200 per role. Pass-through platform and data licences are separate and carry VAT.

Why UK agencies do not publish a rate card

No UK retail media agency publishes a full rate card. Quotes are built per client. A campaign build may quote £5,000 to £25,000. A monthly reporting cycle may quote £1,500 to £4,000. An incrementality test may quote £8,000 to £20,000.

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. 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. One contract may use all of them. The table sets out typical UK ranges and what to pin down first.

Retail media fee components

Fee component

Monthly retainer: £2,500–£12,000/month
Share of media spend: 10%–20% of spend
Performance fee: 3%–10% incremental sales
Project or day rate: £450–£1,200/day
Pass-through: Cost plus 0%–10%

Typical UK range

Monthly retainer: Named roles, set hours
Share of media spend: Retail media inventory
Performance fee: Sales attributed
Project or day rate: Defined deliverable
Pass-through: Licences, screen time

Charged on

Monthly retainer: Quiet month, rollover?
Share of media spend: Before or after rebate?
Performance fee: Dashboard or agreed test?
Project or day rate: Format and ownership?
Pass-through: Supplier invoice attached?

Pin this down

Monthly retainer
Share of media spend
Performance fee
Project or day rate
Pass-through

Fee component	Typical UK range	Charged on	Pin this down
Monthly retainer	£2,500 to £12,000 per month	Named roles and a set number of hours	What happens in a quiet month, and do unused hours roll over?
Share of media spend	10% to 20% of working spend	Money spent on retail media inventory	Is the percentage taken before or after any retailer rebate?
Performance fee	3% to 10% of incremental sales	Sales or incremental sales attributed to the campaign	Does the denominator come from the retailer dashboard or an agreed test?
Project or day rate	£450 to £1,200 per day; £5,000 to £25,000 per project	A defined deliverable, or one day of a named role	What is delivered, in what format, and who owns it afterwards?
Pass-through	At cost plus 0% to 10% admin	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 may quote £900 to £1,200 a day. An analyst may quote £450 to £700 a day. 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 10% to 20% less for the same deliverable. Remote working has narrowed that gap.

Named UK providers show how models differ. SMG runs retail media for Asda, Morrisons and Co-op and charges a managed service fee on media spend. Threefold works with Boots and quotes project and retainer fees. Retail Media Group offers a managed service on a monthly retainer. Dunnhumby runs Tesco Media and Insight Platform using Clubcard data and charges media spend plus insight fees. Nectar360 charges media spend plus campaign fees for Sainsbury's. None publish a rate card.

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 20% when the agency is VAT registered. 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.

Pass-through costs vary. Platform licences may run £500 to £5,000 a month. Data licences may run £1,000 to £10,000 a year. Screen time and creative production are separate. Ask for the supplier invoice at cost.

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.

Compare two quotes on identical scope

Write scope on one page
Ask both to price that page
Split fee, pass-through and VAT
Ask who owns naming and creative
Ask what if retailer changes platform

Write the scope on one pageretailer, 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. Typical retainers run £2,500 to £12,000 a month. Media spend fees run 10% to 20%. Performance fees run 3% to 10% of attributed sales.

Are performance fees cheaper than a retainer?

Not automatically. A performance fee shifts risk to the agency. 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. VAT is 20%. Budget the VAT-inclusive figure. 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. London quotes may run 10% to 20% above regional ones. Ask which specific advantage is being paid for rather than accepting the postcode.