Commerce Media
Commerce Media vs Retail Media vs Financial Media Explained
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Commerce media is the umbrella: any company that sells goods, services or payments turning its first-party transaction, loyalty or booking data and its own properties into advertising. Retail media is the retailer subset and the largest. Financial media is the bank, card and payments subset. Travel, telecom, delivery and mobility are further subsets. The data and measurement differ by subset.
Key facts
- The IAB formalised the umbrella in July 2025. Its explainer defines commerce media as "the growing practice of retailers, travel firms, financial institutions, and other companies turning their physical assets, digital properties, first-party data and proximity to customer journeys into integrated media opportunities" (IAB, July 2025).
- Retail is most of the money. eMarketer forecast US retail media ad spend of $69.33 billion in 2026, up from $58.79 billion in 2025, with Amazon and Walmart taking over 89% of the incremental dollars (eMarketer, November 2025).
- Commerce media overall is forecast above $100 billion. eMarketer's May 2025 forecast put US commerce media at $118.4 billion by 2029, a 15.3% compound annual growth rate (eMarketer, US Commerce Media Forecast 2025).
- Financial media is small but the fastest-growing subset. US financial media network ad spend was $680 million in 2025 and is forecast at $3.15 billion in 2028 (eMarketer, January 2026).
- Travel media is between the two. eMarketer's September 2024 forecast put US travel media network spend at $2.13 billion in 2024 and $2.96 billion in 2026 (eMarketer, September 2024).
- Europe uses the same umbrella. IAB Europe's definitions of 26 March 2025 name travel and mobility, payment providers, food delivery and classifieds as non-retail sellers (IAB Europe, 26 March 2025); European retail media reached €13.7 billion in 2024 and is forecast at €20.8 billion in 2026 and €24.9 billion in 2027 (PPC Land on IAB Europe, October 2025).
Definitions
Commerce media: advertising sold by companies whose primary business is commerce (selling goods, services, travel or payments) using their own first-party transaction, loyalty or booking data and their own properties, with results attributed to purchases they observe.
Retail media network: a commerce media network run by a retailer, selling sponsored products, display and offsite audiences on shopper and loyalty data, with closed-loop measurement on the retailer's own sales.
Financial media network: a commerce media network run by a bank, card network, payments company, BNPL provider or wallet, selling offers, onsite media or offsite audiences on transaction data, without transferring that data to the advertiser.
The IAB adds that the ecosystem now includes "travel media, financial services media, automotive media, telecom and utility media, and B2B media" alongside retail (Retail TouchPoints on IAB, July 2025). The naming matters less than the mechanism, which is the same in every subset: first-party data, owned surfaces, and attribution to a transaction. For the older contrast between retail media and ad networks, see Retail media vs ad networks.
The comparison table
6 of 6 rows
Download JSONTable by AdSovereign, CC BY 4.0.
Retail media | Retailers and marketplaces | SKU-level baskets, loyalty, site search | Sponsored products, display, offsite audiences, in-store screens | Closed-loop on the retailer's sales; IAB/MRC guidelines | Loyalty terms; opt-out for offsite | Amazon Ads, Walmart Connect, Target Roundel, Tesco Media, Carrefour Links | US $69.33B 2026 (eMarketer, Nov 2025); EU €20.8B 2026 (IAB Europe via PPC Land, Oct 2025) |
Financial media | Banks, card networks, payments, BNPL, wallets | Cross-merchant transactions, categories, recency | Card-linked offers, onsite sponsored search and display, offsite audiences | Offers: closed-loop by construction; onsite: in-app conversion; offsite: modelled | Opt-in for third-party marketing; GLBA opt-out (US); GDPR/PSD2 (EU) | Chase Media Solutions, PayPal Ads, Klarna, Mastercard Commerce Media, Amex Ads, Revolut, Zilch | US $680M 2025 → $3.15B 2028 (eMarketer, Jan 2026) |
Travel media | Airlines, hotel groups, OTAs, travel apps | Bookings, loyalty tier, trip timing, destination | App and seatback or in-room screens, sponsored listings, offsite via owner audiences | Bookings observed by the owner; brand lift | Opt-out of targeted ads; aggregated segments, no PII | Kinective Media (United), Marriott Media, Expedia Group Advertising, Booking.com, Viasat Ads (platform) | US $2.13B 2024 → $2.96B 2026 (eMarketer, Sep 2024) |
Telecom media | Carriers | Subscriber, app, location (aggregated) | In-store screens, app, DOOH, offsite | Mostly audience and exposure metrics | CPNI (US); ePrivacy and GDPR (EU); consented identifiers (Utiq) | T-Mobile Advertising Solutions; Utiq (EU addressability layer) | n/d as a category |
Delivery and mobility media | Ride-hailing and delivery platforms | Orders, trips, location context | Sponsored listings, in-trip ads, car-top and in-car screens | Closed-loop on orders; brand lift for rides | App terms; contextual for rides | Uber Advertising, DoorDash Ads, Lyft Media, Gopuff Ads | Uber: $2B+ annualized run rate (Uber, 4 Feb 2026) |
Pharmacy and c-store media | Drugstore and convenience chains (retail, but with health and fuel specifics) | Loyalty baskets (front-store only), fuel visits | Onsite, in-store and at-pump screens, offsite | Closed-loop on loyalty purchases; clean rooms offsite | HIPAA and state health laws exclude prescription data; loyalty terms | CVS Media Exchange, Walgreens Advertising Group, Boots Media Group, Casey's Access, Gulp Media Network, GSTV (platform) | Included in retail figures |
Diagram by AdSovereign, CC BY 4.0.
Where the subsets differ
Data depth versus breadth. A retailer sees the item but only in its stores. A card issuer sees the merchant across the whole wallet but not the item. A travel company sees intent and timing months ahead of a purchase. This is why retail sells sponsored products, financial media sells offers and competitor-conquest audiences, and travel sells destination and trip-moment placements. The retail side of this is covered in Retail media network platforms compared; the financial side in Financial media networks explained.
Measurement. Retail media has a published standard: the IAB/MRC Retail Media Measurement Guidelines, final in January 2024 (IAB, January 2024), explained in Retail media measurement standards explained. Financial media has no equivalent; card-linked offers are closed-loop because the purchase is the billing event, while offsite audiences rely on the owner's purchase graph and modelled attribution. Travel media reports bookings the owner processes and uses brand lift for the rest.
Consent and law. Retail media runs on loyalty terms and, for offsite, opt-outs. Financial media sits under GLBA and Regulation P in the US and under GDPR and PSD2 in the EU, which is why every live bank network keeps transaction records inside the bank and exports only segments and reports. Telecom media is bounded by CPNI in the US and ePrivacy in the EU. Pharmacy networks exclude prescription data under HIPAA and state health-privacy laws. The compliance detail is in the ad tech compliance hub.
Concentration. Retail media is concentrated: Amazon and Walmart take over 89% of incremental US dollars in 2026 (eMarketer, November 2025), and WARC forecasts global retail media at $200.4 billion in 2026 and $223.4 billion in 2027 with growth slowing (The Desk on WARC, August 2026). The non-retail subsets are not: no financial or travel network has more than a few percent of the category, which is why eMarketer frames the next phase of commerce media growth as "winning dollars that already have a home" rather than new budgets (eMarketer, 2026). The dated forecasts and scheduled events for next year are collected in Commerce media in 2027.
Why the definition matters in practice
- Budgets. Retail media budgets come from trade and shopper marketing. Financial and travel media budgets come from brand and performance lines, and the buyer is often a different team. Pitching a bank network as "retail media" sends it to the wrong budget.
- Standards. Retail media has measurement guidelines; the other subsets are negotiating them case by case. Buyers increasingly ask non-retail networks to report in IAB/MRC terms anyway.
- Regulation. The umbrella term hides very different legal bases. A commerce media platform that works for a grocer may not pass a bank's audit or a pharmacy's HIPAA review.
- Technology. All subsets need the same stack layers (audience engine, onsite decisioning, offsite bidder, clean room, measurement), but the non-retail subsets have stricter requirements on where the data sits. See the commerce media networks directory for which networks rent which layer.
FAQ
Is retail media a type of commerce media? Yes. The IAB's July 2025 explainer treats retail media as the most mature segment of commerce media, alongside travel, financial services, automotive, telecom and utility, and B2B media (IAB, July 2025). IAB Europe uses the same structure (IAB Europe, 26 March 2025).
What is a commerce media network? A commerce media network is the advertising business a commerce company builds to sell ad space and audiences to brands that want to reach its customers, alongside its core business. The IAB describes companies building these networks "to complement their core businesses while selling ad space to brands that reach the CMNs' customers across their journeys" (IAB, July 2025).
Is Amazon Ads retail media or commerce media? Both. Amazon Ads is a retail media network, and retail media is a subset of commerce media. It is also the reason the retail subset is so concentrated: eMarketer projects Amazon's retail media revenue will exceed $75 billion by 2028 (eMarketer, November 2025).
What is a travel media network? A travel media network is a commerce media network run by an airline, hotel group, online travel agency or travel app on booking and loyalty data. United's Kinective Media (June 2024), Marriott Media (June 2025) and Expedia Group's travel media network (May 2024) are the main examples; eMarketer forecast US travel media network spend at $2.96 billion in 2026 (eMarketer, September 2024).
What is the difference between a financial media network and card-linked offers? Card-linked offers are one product; a financial media network is the business that sells them plus onsite media and offsite audiences. Chase, Mastercard and Amex Offers are offer-led; Klarna and Amex Ads sell onsite media; PayPal sells offsite audiences. The mechanics are in Financial media networks explained.
Continue reading
Use the commerce media guide to compare the related operating models, definitions and evidence before making this decision.
How this works on owned infrastructure
Every subset above needs the same five layers: an audience engine on first-party data, onsite ad decisioning, an offsite bidder, a clean room, and measurement. What differs is how strictly the data must stay with its owner. AdSovereign is an enterprise, on-premise RTB stack (DSP, SSP, exchange, DMP and clean room) that runs those five layers inside the owner's perimeter, which is the configuration banks, carriers and pharmacies need and retailers increasingly choose. The architecture page describes the deployment, use cases lists where it fits and where it does not, and the pilot page describes a 60-day evaluation. This page stays neutral; the product is mentioned only here.
Sources
- IAB, "Defining Commerce Media and Its Ecosystem" (July 2025). https://www.iab.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/IAB_Commerce_Media_and_its_Ecosystem_Explainer_July_2025.pdf
- Retail TouchPoints, "IAB Sets Out to Define the Growing World of Commerce Media" (July 2025). https://www.retailtouchpoints.com/topics/digital-marketing/iab-sets-out-to-define-the-growing-world-of-commerce-media
- IAB Europe, retail and commerce media definitions (26 March 2025). https://iabeurope.eu/?p=62232
- eMarketer, "Retail Media Ad Spending Forecast and Trends H2 2025" (November 2025). https://www.emarketer.com/content/retail-media-ad-spending-forecast-trends-h2-2025
- eMarketer, "US Commerce Media Forecast 2025" (May 2025). https://www.emarketer.com/content/us-commerce-media-forecast-2025
- eMarketer, "The State of Financial Media Networks 2026" (January 2026). https://www.emarketer.com/content/state-of-financial-media-networks-2026
- eMarketer, "Travel media network ad spend will exceed $2 billion this year" (September 2024). https://www.emarketer.com/content/travel-media-network-ad-spend
- eMarketer, "Commerce media's next growth problem" (2026). https://www.emarketer.com/content/commerce-media-s-next-growth-problem--winning-dollars-that-already-have-home
- PPC Land on IAB Europe, "European retail media spending reaches €13.7 billion" (October 2025). https://ppc.land/european-retail-media-spending-reaches-eu13-7-billion-with-21-1-growth/
- The Desk on WARC, "Retail media ad market to top $200 billion as growth slows" (August 2026). https://thedesk.net/2026/08/warc-retail-media-ad-market-to-top-200-billion-as-growth-slows/
- IAB, final IAB/MRC Retail Media Measurement Guidelines (January 2024). https://www.iab.com/guidelines/final-iab-mrc-retail-media-measurement-guidelines-available-for-download/
- Business Wire, Uber Q4 and FY2025 results (4 February 2026). https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260204947622/en/