---
id: "claim-end-of-exploratory-budgets"
type: "claim"
source_timestamps: ["§ Performance Accountability Is Not Optional Anymore"]
tags: ["budgeting", "market-maturity"]
related: ["concept-performance-accountability"]
confidence: "high"
testable: true
speakers: ["Remko Van Hoek", "Stephanie Thomas", "Rodney Thomas"]
source_url: "https://hbr.org/2025/09/the-importance-of-trust-and-transparency-in-retail-media-networks"
source_title: "The Importance of Trust and Transparency in Retail Media Networks"
sources: ["attention"]
sourceVaultSlug: "hbr-seg-attention"
originDay: 4
articleStem: "hbr-foci-71-retail-media-networks-trust"
sourceUrl: "https://hbr.org/2025/09/the-importance-of-trust-and-transparency-in-retail-media-networks"
sourceTitle: "The Importance of Trust and Transparency in Retail Media Networks"
---
# The era of exploratory RMN budgets is over

**Claim (confidence: high, testable).** Early investments in retail media were often exploratory, with suppliers willing to 'test and learn.' That era has ended. Media budgets are now heavily scrutinized for results, and if the return on investment is not clear and quantifiable, suppliers will not continue the investment. This is the demand-side pressure that makes [[concept-performance-accountability]] non-negotiable.

**Enrichment — a qualification.** Consistent with market maturation but not established as a universal endpoint. Sources on RMN measurement show that buyer *scrutiny* has increased and that rigorous reporting, incrementality, and clear ROI are now expected — but they do not prove exploratory budgets are gone *everywhere*. Read as directional (scrutiny rising) rather than absolute (exploration extinct).