How Retailers Can Reset for Growth in 2026

2025 was the stress test. 2026 will expose who actually learned from it. Retailers now face higher landed costs, compressed contribution margins, and rising pressure on customer acquisition. For example, the removal of the de minimis exemption didn’t just hit retail logistics. It’s rewired the P&L by forcing retailers to face a broader issue that’s been prevalent and pre-existing in the industry. The only upside here is that retailers now have the opportunity to reset their strategy and lay the foundation for long-term growth.

The margin for error is gone, literally, and retailers now need rock-solid systems to win. Durable growth requires durable systems, especially in the face of cost shocks like tariffs and fulfillment surcharges.

Planning for 2026 volatility starts with what you build today.

Building Systems That Work

1. Start with the scoreboard that matters: the P&L. Partner with finance to re-cost floors and ceilings by SKU and category. Don’t let last year’s benchmarks mislead you. Duties, returns, and shipping surcharges have shifted the baseline. If a campaign “wins” on a dashboard but loses after costs and returns, pause it.
2. Take a hard look at your measurement stack. Return on ad spend is noise. What you need is signal: clear, trustworthy data that can guide allocation. My BEATS framework (business metrics, experiments, analyses, tracking, and surveys) starts with revenue, contribution margin, and EBITDA. Controlled tests like geo holdouts sit above attribution models. A single incrementality test can tell you more than months of channel dashboards.
3. Focus on true incremental profit and simplify your media mix. Don’t waste time on a campaign that looks great in platform but isn’t providing lift to the business. You need clear, trustworthy data that shows whether it’s creating new demand or just taking credit for what was already coming your way.  This often means a significant simplification of your marketing strategy, focusing on high-impact channels and touchpoints that can efficiently generate reach against your target audience.

The end-of-year scramble is a familiar trap: brands think they can compensate for poor planning with ad spend and discounts. The reality? They’re buying conversions they would get anyway, burning margin in the process.

Not only is this inefficient, but it’s also costly when margins are tight (and getting slimmer). Every decision, whether it’s about attribution, creative, or channel allocation, should be measured through the lens of incremental contribution margin.

Building a measurement framework tied into the P&L is the fastest way to develop discipline about cost controls and business impact. The further apart marketing and finance teams sit the worse the business performs. There’s a reason an entire industry around “distressed asset turnarounds” exists; don’t fall into that negative feedback loop.

Net net: it’s tough to build a profitable business, and it’s getting tougher. Focus on incrementality, be zealous about tracking contribution margin, and take a hard look at your discount rate and ad spend as a percentage of revenue.

Ben Dutter is the chief strategy officer at Power Digital, a tech-enabled growth firm at the intersection of marketing, consulting and data intelligence. He is also the founder of fusepoint, a data and strategy consultancy designed to deliver enterprise-grade solutions to mid-market brands.