In this article…
Retail media has been on everyone’s radar for a while. Commerce media has also established itself as a significant player in the AdTech industry over the past few years. While retail media focuses on engaging customers within a retailer’s ecosystem, commerce media goes beyond these boundaries to capture the entire shopping journey, spanning multiple touchpoints, channels, and platforms.
But what is commerce media, and why should we care?
Commerce media is here to stay
Estimated to hit $33.86 billion this year and more than double by 2028, the hunt is on to capture as much of retail media’s projected ad spend as possible. However, given the numerous verticals expanding their retail media strategy to include any touchpoint within the commerce channel, it might be time to lower the retail media flag and hoist the LUMA dubbed “commerce media flag.”
So why are Travel, Financial Services, and other verticals focusing on the commerce media ship?
- Authenticated and digital users (usually app-driven)
- Consented data that provides unique insight into the household’s or consumer’s intent/purchase behavior
- Emerging focus on advertising as an important revenue stream for the future
With all this “data” at their disposal — why is it not smooth sailing for commerce media to build an ad-supported business? What’s missing for them to acquire the lucrative billions efficiently and effectively?
Why retail media networks are important
Retail media networks (RMNs) are now a major tool for brands to connect with shoppers. These networks gather valuable data from customers who browse and shop on e-commerce sites and apps. What makes RMNs so powerful is that they allow brands to advertise directly to people who are already interested in buying, leading to more successful sales.
For marketers, RMNs offer a clear way to reach potential customers and ensure their advertising dollars are well spent. But as competition grows and consumer habits change, these networks must keep improving. To stay ahead, brands will have to find new ways to use RMNs effectively, linking them with other parts of the commerce media world to unlock even greater results.
Differences between building a loyalty program and developing ad products
Loyalty programs are the backbone of commerce media networks; however, creating a loyalty program is much different than building an advertising product. It requires commerce companies to bring on additional people, technology, and partners to execute flawlessly.
There are four areas to consider:
1. Organizing your data at scale
To successfully build an ad-supported business at scale, data must be organized to initiate action (targeting and/or measurement). However, this requires changes in company culture. Both the business and technology infrastructure must be updated. Additionally, commerce media companies must update their mindset around creating and selling products.
2. People
We have seen this story before, with large opportunities comes the requirement for new talent. Where are we seeing commerce media companies recruit from? AdTech and MarTech. Whether it’s engineers or data scientists, business development and partnership leads, or even your direct sales team, the poaching has begun. To build a successful business around advertising, experts are needed who can navigate the waters.
3. Partner vs. build
The Requests for Information (RFIs) and Requests for Proposals (RFPs) for any combination of agency, demand-side platform, supply-side platform, customer data platform, identity graph, clean room, and beyond are piling up. One trend is clear: commerce media companies are looking for collaborative partners to provide a true strategic partnership to take on the complexities of the transition away from retail media.
4. Identity will remain the keystone to success
All commerce media companies have some identity data that reveals a slice of their customers’ viewpoint. Yet, unlocking the broad view of these audiences is crucial to success. These companies need to use the “full pie” to see well-rounded profiles, gain the reach required to access them across many channels, and turn opportunities into revenue.
Advertisers can finally close the loop with commerce media networks
Commerce media companies with real-time transaction data enable advertisers to see true ROI on their ad spend when products move off the shelves. Measuring real product lift/sale touch points across multiple channels will put performance and measurement front and center. Programmatic was the promise of performance advertising. Well, commerce media may finally fulfill that vow, creating enough value for companies to make it a real competitor to social channels.
While retail media will always exist, the transition to commerce media has become increasingly popular and is here to stay. The journey might not be a straight shot to perfect results, but the data, partnerships, and resources are out there and ready to hop aboard to help guide commerce media companies to success.
The future of commerce media
Commerce media shows no signs of slowing down. More industries are seeing the benefit of making every customer touchpoint an opportunity to drive sales. Whether through social media shopping or in-app purchases, commerce media pushes businesses to create smoother, more connected shopping experiences for consumers.
In the future, brands won’t just compete on prices or products — they’ll stand out by offering simple, seamless shopping experiences across all devices. With better data and tools to track consumer behavior, brands will be able to personalize their ads and measure their success in real time. Commerce media allows brands to see a direct link between their ads and sales. Those who can adapt and keep up with these changes will come out on top.
Create a connected customer view with Experian
At Experian, we empower RMNs to unlock the full potential of their first-party data through comprehensive identity and audience solutions. Our data-driven capabilities enable RMNs to build a deeper understanding of their customers, optimize audience targeting across channels, and create enriched, actionable segments that drive measurable outcomes.
By seamlessly connecting our offline and digital data, we help RMNs organize identities into households, device IDs, and more. Each household is enriched with valuable marketing insights, allowing you to gain better customer understanding, create targeted advertising, and reach the right customers across different devices. Additionally, you’ll be able to measure the effectiveness of your advertising efforts.
With our support, RMNs can maximize revenue opportunities, extend reach, and confidently demonstrate the value of the network to advertisers.
Contact us today to find out how Experian can help you succeed in commerce media.
Latest posts
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Curabitur vel dolor quis elit vestibulum bibendum eu in mi. Maecenas bibendum tristique lacus, sit amet tincidunt tellus dictum et. Vestibulum ante ipsum primis in faucibus orci luctus et ultrices posuere cubilia curae; Maecenas vel diam lacinia magna efficitur congue. Aliquam tempus, lectus nec ultrices sagittis, purus ipsum imperdiet felis, ac gravida enim massa vel augue. Quisque non neque at augue volutpat sodales nec eget ipsum. In sed consectetur odio, ut tincidunt ipsum. Sed non pellentesque nulla, non iaculis mauris. Etiam faucibus sit amet mauris eu efficitur. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Integer sed blandit metus, at finibus ligula. Ut non rhoncus lacus. Nulla mattis est quis cursus laoreet. Nullam porta odio eu tortor consequat vulputate. Suspendisse nec massa ac neque ultrices eleifend. Integer porta tristique tempus. Nulla aliquet, erat tincidunt imperdiet vehicula, urna tortor molestie nulla, ut porttitor erat erat ac nunc. Nulla facilisi. Etiam a tellus in lectus vulputate maximus vitae eu nisl. Fusce eget libero non ipsum pellentesque egestas. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Nulla ut metus sapien. Maecenas aliquam libero et ipsum eleifend, et maximus felis sagittis. Donec id massa et massa molestie varius. Quisque dignissim placerat augue vel mollis. Mauris accumsan, mi vel elementum suscipit, eros elit malesuada justo, ut tempor mi nunc quis tortor. Nullam ut laoreet mi. Nam euismod lectus id dictum consectetur. Praesent quis lacinia ipsum. Donec lobortis massa in erat interdum, consectetur consectetur purus posuere. Nullam feugiat, erat non hendrerit rutrum, velit ante rhoncus nibh, ac laoreet felis ante ac mauris. Etiam ex erat, vulputate vel nulla non, placerat dictum tellus. Praesent orci lacus, dictum in vestibulum non, semper ut tortor. Nullam vitae ornare ipsum, a cursus quam. Vivamus vitae vulputate lorem, ac scelerisque lectus. Fusce at lacus non enim fringilla consequat. Sed laoreet mi eget vulputate auctor. Proin placerat tempor nunc vel mollis. Ut quis mi ut lorem ultrices hendrerit nec vehicula felis. Vestibulum tempus sapien vel porta aliquet. Phasellus quis auctor augue. Morbi nec tellus in massa venenatis ornare. Vivamus eleifend lacus lacus. Suspendisse ac commodo orci, vel fringilla turpis. Proin enim turpis, egestas quis nulla a, ultrices volutpat massa. Nam luctus sapien odio, ac blandit ante accumsan et. Nunc luctus ligula odio, ac faucibus urna rutrum vitae. Donec eu lorem gravida nisi pretium consectetur. Morbi vel mauris non odio iaculis aliquam sed nec leo. Vestibulum sed libero quis ante hendrerit porttitor eget eu orci. Morbi est arcu, maximus eu lobortis sit amet, suscipit et felis. Morbi sodales mattis pretium. Curabitur sodales porttitor eros vitae efficitur. Nam id turpis tristique, aliquam sapien ac, convallis mi. Sed risus sapien, dapibus euismod mauris vitae, fringilla vulputate augue. Morbi efficitur, ex vitae semper mattis, tellus sem luctus lorem, eget viverra metus nibh eu neque. In eu orci est.
YouTube Embed Yoast FAQ Block FAQ Question #1 FAQ Answer #1 FAQ Question #2 FAQ Answer #2 FAQ Question #3 FAQ Answer #3 CTA Embed Button Test InfoGram Embed
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Aliquam vitae nibh eu massa cursus eleifend quis in quam. Nunc mollis aliquam eros sed laoreet. Suspendisse et elit ut metus elementum aliquet ut sit amet metus. Vestibulum ante ipsum primis in faucibus orci luctus et ultrices posuere cubilia curae; Pellentesque fringilla, nibh eget convallis scelerisque, nisl nisl vestibulum ipsum, sit amet placerat neque nunc eget nisi. Cras cursus, sapien non interdum mollis, nibh augue efficitur eros, eget congue tellus nulla id lectus. Nullam vestibulum vitae erat sit amet mollis. Sed gravida tortor nec nibh blandit ultrices. Pellentesque habitant morbi tristique senectus et netus et malesuada fames ac turpis egestas. Nam justo lectus, tempus a velit at, tempus malesuada est. Aenean dictum tellus id lorem venenatis, quis sodales nisl tempus. In quis libero id est rhoncus dictum. Praesent ipsum dui, mattis vel augue ut, lacinia ultricies ex. Suspendisse sit amet gravida purus. Vivamus tempus tellus augue, ac placerat arcu efficitur non. Nam auctor at nulla sed porta. Vivamus lobortis eu nunc a efficitur. Vestibulum condimentum ante nec nisi imperdiet vulputate. Duis varius metus ac est fermentum congue. Aenean tincidunt ut erat non pharetra. Nulla elit orci, semper sed porttitor ac, convallis vitae velit. Praesent egestas blandit ullamcorper. Praesent a porta lectus. Aliquam et pellentesque lectus. Integer placerat mauris risus, ut semper dui commodo at. Vivamus efficitur pharetra ligula id rhoncus. Pellentesque gravida purus vitae viverra luctus. Vestibulum ante ipsum primis in faucibus orci luctus et ultrices posuere cubilia curae; In vitae augue nec odio fermentum ultrices a sed libero. Nulla ullamcorper nulla id sagittis convallis. Pellentesque cursus metus et orci iaculis, non laoreet nisi aliquam. Proin porta velit risus, ac ultricies lectus tincidunt at. Pellentesque scelerisque ullamcorper euismod. Phasellus eget velit malesuada, faucibus enim a, ultrices ante. Morbi ut diam non metus interdum placerat gravida quis arcu. Integer ultricies molestie nulla sed convallis. Curabitur mi dui, aliquam vel nibh rutrum, convallis tempor lacus. Cras porttitor laoreet varius. Ut tincidunt massa congue mauris lobortis euismod. Pellentesque a odio ut est consequat tristique ut in mi. Nullam sed ultricies justo, eu varius eros. Nunc ipsum nulla, vehicula at sagittis a, ornare ut nisi. Aenean imperdiet felis at aliquet porta. Nunc sed leo ut justo efficitur aliquet. Sed et urna vel urna maximus laoreet. In facilisis porttitor nisi in sagittis. Fusce magna sapien, molestie ac maximus eu, tincidunt sit amet massa. Praesent non mauris metus. Aliquam dapibus sit amet tortor at scelerisque. Ut vel dolor at nisi rhoncus finibus auctor non velit. Integer pellentesque venenatis diam, nec eleifend ipsum pellentesque quis. Vivamus vitae mi nisl. Curabitur lectus orci, ornare et ipsum venenatis, sagittis blandit mauris. FAQs Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Aliquam vitae nibh eu massa cursus eleifend quis in quam. Nunc mollis aliquam eros sed laoreet. Suspendisse et elit ut metus elementum aliquet ut sit amet metus. Vestibulum ante ipsum primis in faucibus orci luctus et ultrices posuere cubilia curae; Pellentesque fringilla, nibh eget convallis scelerisque, nisl nisl vestibulum ipsum, sit amet placerat neque nunc eget nisi. Cras cursus, sapien non interdum mollis, nibh augue efficitur eros, eget congue tellus nulla id lectus. Nullam vestibulum vitae erat sit amet mollis. Sed gravida tortor nec nibh blandit ultrices. Pellentesque habitant morbi tristique senectus et netus et malesuada fames ac turpis egestas. Nam justo lectus, tempus a velit at, tempus malesuada est. Aenean dictum tellus id lorem venenatis, quis sodales nisl tempus. In quis libero id est rhoncus dictum. Praesent ipsum dui, mattis vel augue ut, lacinia ultricies ex. Suspendisse sit amet gravida purus. Vivamus tempus tellus augue, ac placerat arcu efficitur non. Nam auctor at nulla sed porta. Vivamus lobortis eu nunc a efficitur. Vestibulum condimentum ante nec nisi imperdiet vulputate. Duis varius metus ac est fermentum congue. Aenean tincidunt ut erat non pharetra. Nulla elit orci, semper sed porttitor ac, convallis vitae velit. Praesent egestas blandit ullamcorper. Praesent a porta lectus. Aliquam et pellentesque lectus. Integer placerat mauris risus, ut semper dui commodo at. Vivamus efficitur pharetra ligula id rhoncus. Pellentesque gravida purus vitae viverra luctus. Vestibulum ante ipsum primis in faucibus orci luctus et ultrices posuere cubilia curae; In vitae augue nec odio fermentum ultrices a sed libero. Nulla ullamcorper nulla id sagittis convallis.