The commerce media space is growing fast, and as it gets more crowded, it’s becoming harder to keep up with the retail media giants. But by teaming up, smaller players can more easily scale their networks to achieve the reach to stay competitive.

The rest of the year is top-of-mind for leaders in marketing and retail, which they expect to be challenging but riddled with opportunities to stand out from competition.

At Cannes Lions 2025, commerce media partnerships once again reigned supreme. Once the domain of digital shelf tactics and retail data, commerce media is now reshaping how brands show up across social platforms, connected TV (CTV), and in-store displays. This year’s festival offered a glimpse into a more integrated, AI-driven future—one where conversational ads, programmatic pipes, and real-world touchpoints blur the lines between media and purchase.

DoorDash is strengthening its media network through new ad products and the acquisition of tech company Symbiosys, aiming to help brands reach consumers both on and off its platform.

FMNs are a small but burgeoning part of commerce media, offering valuable first-party transaction data. Despite their promise, FMNs face scale limits due to data sensitivity and must find ways to shift audiences toward commerce-focused behaviors.

Retail and commerce media were huge topics at last year’s Cannes Lions festival, and this year, the festival is doubling down on the channel by introducing a new retail media sub-category in the Media Lions and Creative Commerce Lions awards. However, “the tone is definitely shifting” as the industry matures—and faces the threat of tariff-related impacts, according to our analyst, Sarah Marzano.

There are now more than 80 retail media networks (RMNs) in the US. The volume of RMNs, combined with the dominance of Amazon and other established competitors, makes it challenging for new and niche RMNs to capture share.

The outlook for retail media ad spending remains bright throughout most of the world, even as ad budgets are increasingly constrained in the face of economic storm clouds.

Incrementality has always been the holy grail of retail media. But lately, it’s taken on greater importance as ad budgets are squeezed and retail media networks (RMNs) fight for their share of ad dollars.

Retail media ad spending in France, Germany, and the UK continues to rise, outpacing all other ad formats. The space is developing rapidly despite fragmentation and a lack of standards.

On this special edition podcast, we explore how top brands master commerce media—choosing the right networks, weaving in existing channels, and optimizing for maximum impact. EMARKETER’s Sarah Marzano hosts InfoSum’s Senior Vice President, Sales, North America, Marc Cestaro and Kettle & Fire’s Senior Director, Media and Omnichannel, Niccolò Gloazzo in this live panel from EMARKETER’s May 9th virtual summit, Commerce Media Trends 2025. Listen everywhere you find podcasts, or watch on YouTube and Spotify.

On today’s special edition podcast, EMARKETER analysts Sarah Marzano and Max Willens explore how commerce media is reshaping advertising—covering platform innovation, measurement, and its overlap with CTV and social—before a fireside chat with Chase Media Solutions’ Lauren Griewski. Recorded live at the EMARKETER Commerce Media Trends 2025 virtual summit on May 9th. Listen wherever you find podcasts, or watch on YouTube and Spotify.

Commerce media is evolving beyond online retail into new frontiers like out-of-home (OOH) ads at gas stations and convenience stores, creating “a once in a career window to reorient your business to the opportunity,” according to Sean McCaffrey president and CEO of GSTV, which serves commerce media ads at gas pumps.

With US commerce media ad spending projected to reach nearly $70 billion in 2025, understanding how to effectively operate in this space has become critical for marketers.

Commerce media is expanding in terms of numbers of players, but ad spend patterns remain the same.

Many retailers in Latin America like Mercado Libre, Rappi, and even Walmart function not only as commerce players, but as financial institutions as well. As a result, commerce media in Latin America is charting a different course than it has in the US, one that could result in unique opportunities for companies with access not only to shopper habits, but to financial data as well.

Multi-industry players have the power to redefine the future of commerce media advertising. Unlike in the US, where retailers and FIs typically operate independently, many Latin American retailers act as financial services providers—offering credit lines, digital wallets, and other banking products to unbanked and underbanked consumers.

Latin America’s commerce media ecosystem is rapidly evolving. Financial, travel, and other nonretail players are now looking to monetize their own first-party data—following the path retailers have already paved.

Skai launches Celeste AI to streamline commerce media: Celeste combines cross-channel analysis and optimization, cutting task time from hours to seconds.

Bridging the retail media measurement gap: Night Market’s AI-powered platform draws interest as brands seek clearer metrics.