Commerce media extends the retail media playbook to industries beyond traditional retail. While retail media networks from Amazon and Walmart dominate digital advertising growth, the broader commerce media category encompasses travel, financial services, rideshare, and hospitality networks launching their own advertising businesses. US advertisers will spend $71.09 billion on retail media in 2026 according to a December 2025 EMARKETER forecast, but the real expansion opportunity lies in non-retail commerce media networks (CMNs) that are gaining ground on smaller retail media networks. This FAQ addresses what commerce media is, how it differs from retail media, and where growth opportunities exist for advertisers in 2026.

What is commerce media?

Commerce media is advertising sold by companies that facilitate transactions and possess first-party customer data, regardless of whether they are traditional retailers. The category includes retail media networks but extends to any platform where consumers make purchases or bookings.

Examples span multiple industries: travel platforms (Expedia, Booking.com, United Airlines), rideshare and delivery services (Uber, Lyft, DoorDash), hospitality brands (Marriott), and financial services companies (Chase, PayPal, Klarna). Each monetizes transaction data and high-intent audiences by selling advertising placements across owned digital properties, apps, and partner channels.

Commerce media networks generated significant ad revenues in 2025 as these players now compete directly with traditional retail media networks for advertiser budgets.

How does commerce media differ from retail media?

Retail media refers specifically to advertising sold by retailers on their owned properties (websites, apps, stores) using shopper purchase data. Commerce media is the broader category that includes retail media plus advertising sold by non-retail transaction platforms.

The distinction matters because each commerce vertical offers different data signals.

• Retailers provide SKU-level purchase data and proximity to the point of sale.
• Financial services companies bring cross-merchant transaction data spanning multiple retailers.
• Travel networks offer booking intent, trip timing, and destination data.

"Financial services being able to bring purchase data that is cross-merchant and therefore more expansive, versus retailers who have really granular or SKU-level data," EMARKETER principal analyst Sarah Marzano explained.

This suggests advertisers can assemble complementary commerce media strategies by combining different data types across verticals rather than treating retail media as the only option.

Why is commerce media expanding beyond retail?

Three factors are driving expansion into travel, financial services, and other verticals:

• Retail media saturation. Amazon and Walmart will capture over 89% of incremental retail media spending in 2026, leaving limited growth opportunity for smaller RMNs. Non-retail commerce media offers advertisers access to different audiences and data.
• First-party data value. Transaction platforms outside retail hold valuable customer data. Travel intent, purchase history across merchants, and booking behavior all enable precise targeting.
• High-margin revenue streams. Financial institutions face shrinking margins on traditional products due to reduced interchange fees and regulatory restrictions. Advertising represents a high-margin alternative.

Which industries are building commerce media networks?

Commerce media networks are launching across four primary verticals:

• Travel and hospitality. Marriott International launched Marriott Media in June 2025, leveraging 237 million Marriott Bonvoy members and 200+ targetable attributes. United Airlines debuted Kinective Media, claiming an airline industry first. Expedia, Booking.com, and Tripadvisor operate established travel media businesses.
• Financial services. Chase, PayPal, Klarna, and Revolut have launched advertising arms. PayPal uses purchase data from millions of users including Venmo transactions; Klarna reached 100 million users across 724,000 merchants as of Q1 2025.
• Rideshare and delivery. Instacart generated $960 million in US ad revenues in 2025. Uber, Lyft and DoorDash operate competing networks.
• Quick-service restaurants and automotive. Travel, QSR, real estate, and home services are primed for commerce media growth, per a November 2025 Koddi study.

What makes travel media networks attractive to advertisers?

Travel media networks offer advertisers access to high-intent audiences across an extended customer journey.

Three characteristics distinguish travel networks:

• Extended engagement windows. Time spent in airports, on mobile apps, and in-flight can total 3.5 hours of attention per traveler, per United Airlines.
• Full-funnel activation. Travel networks activate advertising at multiple stages: 60% during discovery, 68% in the booking funnel, and 50% post-booking, per Koddi research.
• Cross-industry partnerships. Marriott Media's pilot partners include United Airlines, Uber, Visa, and Starbucks, enabling multi-touchpoint campaigns across the travel journey.

How are financial media networks monetizing transaction data?

Financial media networks leverage purchase history across merchants to target advertising.

Key players employ distinct approaches:

• Chase targets ads based on customers' purchase history through Chase Offers, providing cash back when customers activate offers and make purchases.
• PayPal is establishing an advertising arm using transaction data from millions of consumers and merchants, including Venmo purchase behavior.
• Klarna offers in-app ads, CRM, audience extension, and programmatic ads.

The opportunity carries constraints. Consumers spend approximately 31 minutes daily on mobile apps that fall under “other activity” (which includes banking), limiting ad exposure compared to video apps that claim a larger share of total app time. Financial institutions must also balance advertising with consumer trust expectations around data use.

What challenges do new commerce media networks face?

Commerce media networks outside retail confront several obstacles to reaching scale:

• Maturity gaps. Only 13% of commerce media networks qualify as "trailblazers" across strategy, technology, measurement, and operations, per a November 2025 Koddi study. Travel and hospitality networks show just 8% trailblazer classification.
• Proving incrementality. "CMNs haven't yet made a case for stealing those budgets," an EMARKETER's report noted. Most advertiser spending on commerce media networks comes from testing budgets rather than reallocated retail media dollars.
• Measurement fragmentation. Commerce media networks lack the standardization efforts underway in retail media. Cross-network attribution remains difficult when campaigns span travel, financial, and retail touchpoints.
• Limited engagement time. Financial and travel apps generate less daily usage than social and video platforms, constraining ad inventory and frequency opportunities.

How should marketers evaluate emerging commerce media networks in 2026?

Marketers assessing commerce media opportunities beyond retail should examine four factors:

1. Data differentiation. What customer signals does this network provide that retail media cannot? Financial networks offer cross-merchant purchase data; travel networks provide destination intent and trip timing.
2. Journey touchpoints. Where in the customer journey does the network reach audiences? Travel networks excel at extended engagement from discovery through post-booking. Rideshare networks capture high-intent moments near points of purchase.
3. Audience overlap. How incremental are the network's audiences to your existing retail media investments? Test whether commerce media networks reach customers you're not already reaching through Amazon or Walmart.
4. Measurement capabilities. Can the network prove incrementality and connect ad exposure to conversions? Prioritize networks that support holdout testing and data collaboration through clean rooms.

Start with commerce media networks whose customers match your target audience. Travel advertisers should test airline and hotel networks; financial services brands should explore PayPal and Chase. Use testing budgets before shifting significant spend from established retail media investments.

We prepared this article with the assistance of generative AI tools and stand behind its accuracy, quality, and originality.

EMARKETER forecast data was current at publication and may have changed. EMARKETER clients have access to up-to-date forecast data. To explore EMARKETER solutions, click here.