Commerce media

Commerce media is advertising sold by companies close to the purchase, such as retailers, marketplaces, banks, travel firms and delivery apps, using their transaction data and customer touchpoints to target ads and measure sales.

The IAB's July 2025 explainer describes commerce media as retailers, travel firms, financial institutions and other companies turning their physical assets, digital properties, first-party data and closeness to customer journeys into media (IAB, July 2025). Retail media is the largest and most mature part. Financial, travel, mobility, delivery and telecom media follow the same model with different data.

The business that sells it is a commerce media network; commerce media is the practice and the market. The IAB sorts it into three settings. On-site placements run on the network's own properties, and off-site placements run on third-party media using the network's data. In-environment formats are digital ads in physical places such as stores, branches and airports.

What links them is the closed loop. A seller of commerce media can usually observe the purchase it claims credit for, whether that is a basket, a card transaction or a booking. That is the main difference from a publisher that only knows what people read or watch.

Example: The IAB explainer cites eMarketer's projection that US commerce media ad spending will exceed $100 billion by 2028 (IAB, July 2025).

Related terms: commerce media network, retail media network, financial media network, onsite media, offsite media, closed-loop measurement.

Authoritative source: IAB, "Defining Commerce Media and Its Ecosystem" (July 2025).

Read the full guide: Commerce media vs retail media vs financial media.