3 recent commerce media moves and why they matter

The year started with a flurry of commerce media news, from Meijer Media expanding into off-site channels to Microsoft’s new ad capabilities.

Here are three announcements that caught our eye.

1. Meijer Media expands off-site inventory

Meijer Media is launching new tools enabling advertisers to serve ads across Pinterest, online video, and connected TV (CTV).

• Advertisers can leverage Pinterest’s first-party data to create highly visual, personalized ads for key retail events like back-to-school and holiday shopping.
• Meanwhile, online video and CTV ad formats help advertisers reach a wider audience and drive brand awareness.

Why it matters: We forecast US off-site retail media ad spend will grow 42.1% this year to $13.06 billion. This growth is driven by advertisers’ desire for more full-funnel campaigns that build awareness and drive conversions.

2. Hy-Vee adds audience targeting, promotes retail media leader

Hy-Vee is partnering with Dentsu to develop Hy-Vee ID, which gives advertisers insights into specific audiences, as reported by Chain Store Age.

• This allows advertisers to create custom audience segments, helping them to create more personalized, targeted campaigns.
• Hy-Vee ID also features measurement and sales optimization tools.

In addition, Hy-Vee has promoted Kathryn Mazza, former head of retail media, to senior vice president and CMO, per Media Post.

Why it matters: With mounting privacy laws and traditional targeting methods like third-party cookies in jeopardy, advertisers need to find privacy-safe ways to target consumers across the digital landscape.

• 62% of brand marketers worldwide believe first-party data will become more important in the next two years, according to October 2024 data from Econsultancy.
• Audience targeting is the top area US advertisers believe will be impacted by data privacy laws, according to July 2024 data from Proximic by Comscore Inc.

3. Microsoft rethinks retail media

After Microsoft shut down its retail media platform, PromoteIQ, in October 2024, it announced two new capabilities for commerce media growth earlier this month.

• Curate for Commerce, a new end-to-end commerce media platform, helps retailers use first-party data to serve ads from non-endemic brands.
• Sponsored Promotions by Brands, currently in beta, allows brands to serve sponsored pop-up ads across Microsoft Edge, Bing, and other retailer websites.

Why it matters: Microsoft Advertising rebranding its tools from retail media to commerce media reflects the current shift across digital advertising.

• Industries including financial services, travel, and fitness have begun launching media networks due to their ability to drive growth.
• US commerce media ad spend—which includes financial, travel, and retail media—will grow 21.8% this year, reaching $68.69 billion, per our December 2024 forecast.

This was originally featured in the Retail Media Weekly newsletter. For more marketing insights, statistics, and trends, subscribe here.