Retail media has evolved from an emerging channel into a core part of the media mix. With increasing brand investments in retail media networks, the focus is shifting away from merely selecting ad placements to designing more unified customer experiences. As commerce media platforms expand how and where brands reach consumers, connecting those experiences has become just as important as the media itself.

One area seeing particular momentum is offsite advertising. US offsite retail media ad spending will reach $17.1 billion this year, growing more than 30% YoY, according to EMARKETER’s June 2026 forecast. That growth reflects a broader realization: influencing purchase decisions doesn’t begin when a shopper starts browsing for products. It begins much earlier.

The next evolution of commerce media isn’t about choosing between onsite and offsite advertising. It’s about connecting the shopper journey.

Onsite retail media remains one of the best ways to engage consumers when they’re already in a buying mindset. Offsite retail media serves a complementary role, helping brands build awareness, stay relevant, and inspire consideration before shoppers are actively browsing for products. Together, they create a more seamless path from discovery to purchase.

We’ve seen the impact of that connected approach firsthand through our partnership with The Magnum Ice Cream Company.

Magnum Ice Cream’s objective extended beyond acquiring new-to-brand and new-to-category shoppers. The brand wanted to redefine how consumers think about ice cream, positioning it as an everyday snack that could compete with chips, cookies, and candy during impulse-driven snacking moments.

To bring that strategy to life, Magnum Ice Cream partnered with DoorDash Ads and DoorDash Creative Studio on a coordinated full-funnel campaign. The campaign leveraged DoorDash’s platform to connect discovery, consideration, and purchase across the shopper journey, pairing its craving-driven consumer environment with Symbiosys-powered social amplification to reach consumers across the shopper journey. Upper-funnel offsite media, including connected TV through Netflix Ads, online video across YouTube, paid social across Meta, TikTok, Snapchat, and Pinterest, and CRM email touchpoints, worked alongside onsite Sponsored Brands and Sponsored Products ads to create a connected path from awareness to purchase.

The campaign also marked the first brand to activate across Symbiosys’ full social suite with DoorDash. This extended Magnum Ice Cream’s reach across key snacking audiences while creating a seamless connection between offsite influence and onsite conversion.

The creative strategy was just as important. The campaign built around the platform “Must Ice Cream” repositioned ice cream as an immediate, crave-worthy snack rather than a dessert reserved for special occasions. By activating across streaming, video, social, and onsite environments, Magnum Ice Cream stayed top of mind during key snacking moments and reinforced that message once consumers arrived on DoorDash, creating a consistent brand experience across touchpoints.

The campaign also showcased the value of thinking beyond a single product. Rather than focusing on one hero SKU, Magnum Ice Cream leveraged the breadth of its portfolio to reach incremental audiences, meet different consumer needs, and encourage both category entry and cross-brand trial.

The results reinforced the power of a connected commerce media strategy. The campaign generated more than 125 million impressions across onsite and offsite and drove an 85% increase in new consumers compared with the previous period.

While every campaign is different, the broader lesson extends well beyond a single brand. As commerce media continues to evolve, success will increasingly depend on how well marketers connect media investments across the shopper journey rather than optimizing each placement independently.

Three principles stand out for marketers:

• Plan for the shopper journey, not individual channels. Consumers don’t distinguish between onsite and offsite experiences, and your media strategy shouldn’t either.
• Match media to shopper mindset. Offsite placements can build familiarity and consideration before consumers are ready to buy, while onsite placements help convert intent when they’re actively shopping.
• Balance reach with results. Pair upper-funnel metrics like impressions with lower-funnel outcomes like new consumer acquisition to understand the full impact of your campaigns.

As commerce media continues to evolve and offsite advertising continues to grow, the opportunity isn’t simply to expand media plans. It’s to connect them. The brands that stand out won’t be those treating onsite and offsite as separate tactics. They’ll be the ones creating coordinated experiences that guide consumers from discovery to purchase, no matter where that journey begins.

Discover how DoorDash Ads is helping brands create connected commerce experiences that drive results.