“There Are Hundreds Of Billions Of Dollars Of Growth To Be Unlocked In The Next Few Years In Commerce Media” — Here’s Why And How

“There are tens of billions, if not hundreds of billions of dollars of growth to be unlocked in the next few years in commerce media.” – Mary Matias

Despite its meteoric growth, commerce media is nowhere near plateauing in growth potential. But the path ahead for advertisers and retailers to unlock that growth isn’t necessarily straightforward or set in stone.

To help illuminate the trajectory of commerce media in the coming year, Jivox EVP Customer Innovation and Marketing, Anna Luo, sat down (virtually) with three leaders in the retail media space for a LinkedIn Live event.

Enthusiasm For Commerce Media Is Still Growing

Interest in commerce media has yet to slow down as the marketing channel enters its sophomore period. Despite concerns that tariffs will impact Amazon, marketers believe in the resilience of the new channel and are continuing to invest time and energy into it. The numbers back up this confidence, with industry projections showing the US commerce media market will reach over $100 billion by 2027. To put that in perspective, that’s roughly the GDP of a small country—and it’s being built on the simple premise that people want to buy things where they discover them.

“Investor interest is strong. I get calls weekly from VCs about commerce media growth.” – Mary Matias

This weekly VC interest Mary mentions isn’t just hype. 

The resilience of this channel has surprised even seasoned marketers. Despite economic uncertainty and global supply chain disruptions, brands aren’t pulling back from investing in commerce media. What’s driving this sustained enthusiasm? The answer lies in the unique advantages that first-party data and direct commerce integration provide over traditional advertising channels.

More Players And More Channels In The Commerce Media Landscape

The potential for growth remains enormous as more players get involved. Non-retailers, such as fintech businesses, are embracing commerce media in growing numbers. Any business with first-party product-purchase data can now start or join a retail media network.

“Financial services companies are just starting in commerce media, but their first-party data is gold. Chase has 80 million customers and can see omnichannel purchase behavior across credit card transactions. That allows them to measure effectiveness in ways most retailers can’t.” – Mary Matias

This expansion into financial services, travel, and other verticals represents the evolution from traditional retail media networks (RMNs) to broader Commerce Media Networks (CMNs). Companies like United Airlines with Kinective Media, DoorDash with DoorDash Marketing, and PayPal with PayPal Ads are proving that valuable advertising ecosystems can exist far beyond traditional retail environments.

The Build vs. Buy vs. Rent Decision

There are software solutions in place for those who don’t want to start from scratch. Just recently, Amazon announced the rollout of its Retail Ad Service, (firmly planting its feet into the Retail Media as a Service segment), which shares its ad tech with businesses looking to start their own RMN.

“A lot of companies want the margins of Target or Amazon, but they don’t have the resources or DNA to become a media or tech company. That’s where partnerships come in.” – Mary Matias

“We’re seeing retailer tech stacks fail to scale—renting may be the better path.” – Justin Sparks

Omnichannel Integration is Accelerating

Other marketing channels are integrating with commerce media in interesting ways. Beyond display, video/CTV, DOOH and In-store are tapping into retailer data and infrastructure in ways you couldn’t have imagined even a few years ago.

“Connected TV lets you make an e-commerce purchase from your TV. That’s game-changing.” – Alison O’Keefe

Commerce media began with exclusively lower-funnel marketing strategies, but it has expanded with the help of off-site retail media. Now, advertisers are using it for the full customer journey. Video and display ad formats have recently become options for use in commerce media, allowing for more sophisticated upper-funnel advertising.

Importantly, these ad formats can be used off-site, reaching audiences beyond the retailer’s domains. Shoppable ad formats are also taking off with integration into CTV and websites. This represents a fundamental shift in how we think about commerce media’s role in the marketing funnel.

The Complexity Of The Retail Media Network Landscape Needs To Be Overcome

But while there’s no shortage of excitement around commerce media, plenty of obstacles threaten to derail some of that growth potential. The most obvious pain point for marketers is volume or retail media networks (RMN). More players in the commerce media landscape also entail various problems with creative production and measurement.

“Every time you add another retail media network, it’s another team, another set of guidelines, more friction.” – Anna Luo

Anna’s hitting on something that keeps marketing managers awake at night. Imagine trying to run a campaign across 15 different retail media networks. Each one has different creative specifications, different approval processes, different reporting metrics, and different contact points. It’s like trying to cook the same meal in 15 different kitchens, each with completely different equipment.

If brands want to expand across a multitude of RMNs, they’ll need a lot of resources. This isn’t very practical for smaller brands or reduced budgets.  

“There’s a need for aggregation. We’ve made it too hard for brands to spend across networks.” – Justin Sparks

Commerce media is also limited by those who think of it only as on-site advertising. For the channel to truly flourish, it must expand beyond the retailer’s domain and into newer frontiers.

“We’ve reached saturation on-site. If your traffic isn’t growing and you keep pushing more ads, it starts to look like Vegas—cluttered and distracting. That’s why the next frontier is in-store, in omnichannel, where you integrate the best of digital into the physical environment.” –  Justin Sparks

Justin’s Vegas analogy is perfect. Anyone who’s visited a heavily monetized website recently knows exactly what he means—when every available pixel becomes an ad unit, the user experience suffers, and paradoxically, the advertising becomes less effective.

Building A Commerce Media Strategy For The Future Of Commerce Media

“Transparency around incrementality and how you’re measuring will define who stands out.” – Alison O’Keefe

Commerce media has no standard metrics for measurement. While Amazon is the biggest player with three-quarters of commerce media ad spend, the remaining quarter has a vast range of metrics and ad specifications.

“Everyone throws around ROAS, but no one explains what’s really being measured. Is it attributable? Is it incremental? The winners will be the ones who are clear and honest about what their metrics actually mean.” – Alison O’Keefe

With access to product purchase data, retailers have the opportunity to effectively prove which marketing efforts are leading to a purchase and which purchases will take place regardless. Being transparent about incrementality will be a big advantage as other RMNs fail to be upfront with their results.

The Role Of AI And Personalization In Commerce Media Evolution

While measurement transparency is crucial, the transformative power of Generative AI and data clean rooms is reshaping how commerce media networks operate. AI technologies are enabling personalized product recommendations and real-time campaign adjustments at scale. Data clean rooms provide secure environments for sharing first-party customer data without compromising privacy, allowing for more sophisticated targeting and measurement capabilities.

In-store Digital Advertising Will Level Up This Year

In-store retail media may seem like a far-off, futuristic concept, but implementations are already underway. There’s a lot of opportunity to connect what happens online to in-store experiences. In some cases, that involves loyalty programs being used to close the loop between online and in-store.

“Above 90% of purchases still happen in-store—yet in-store media is just beginning to mature.” – Alison O’Keefe

This statistic reveals the massive untapped potential in physical retail environments. In-store commerce media is bound to expand this year. Currently, almost no retailers have deployed retail media chain-wide, but it is being used in select stores. Connected digital displays are being used in the middle of aisles and also close to the checkout.

The integration of in-store digital advertising with online behavioral data represents one of the most promising frontiers for commerce media growth, offering brands the ability to influence purchase decisions at the moment of maximum intent.

Omnichannel Marketing Is A Necessary Step For Commerce Media

The hundreds of billions in growth that Mary predicted aren’t just sitting there waiting to be claimed. They’ll go to the companies that can balance innovation with execution, scale with personalization, and growth with sustainability. The winners will be those who understand that commerce media isn’t just about advertising; it’s about creating value at every touchpoint of the customer journey.

Brands need technology to enable consistent messaging across the customer journey. With off-site and in-store, advertisers now have the capability to reach their audience across digital platforms and physical stores for the first time. Advertisers will need to make sure they’re keeping the customer journey consistent across this divide to make full use of the channel. They’ll need the right partnerships in place to make that happen.