Commerce media network

A commerce media network is an advertising business run by a company that holds first-party purchase, loyalty, booking or transaction data and sells advertisers access to those customers, on its own properties and on third-party media, with results attributed to the customers' subsequent purchases.

The term widens "retail media" to include companies that are not retailers. 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 proximity to customer journeys into integrated media opportunities" (IAB, Defining Commerce Media and Its Ecosystem, July 2025). IAB Europe's definitions one-pager of 5 May 2026 separates on-site, off-site and in-store commerce media and names travel, payments and delivery platforms among non-retail sellers (IAB Europe, 5 May 2026).

What makes a network a commerce media network rather than a publisher with good data is the closed loop: the seller can observe the purchase it claims credit for. A bank sees card transactions, an airline sees bookings, a grocer sees baskets. The product follows the signal. Transaction networks sell card-linked offers; loyalty networks sell sponsored products and offsite audiences; booking networks sell sponsored listings.

Example: Chase Media Solutions (launched 3 April 2024) sells cash-back offers inside the Chase app, targeted on card transactions, and reports merchant spend it observed directly; it is a commerce media network but not a retail media network. The full list by category is in the commerce media networks directory.

Related: retail media network, financial media network, closed-loop measurement, clean room.

Source: IAB, "Defining Commerce Media and Its Ecosystem" (July 2025); IAB Europe, "Retail and Commerce Media Definitions" (5 May 2026).

1. IAB, Defining Commerce Media and Its Ecosystem, July 2025
2. IAB Europe, 5 May 2026