By Tim Rogers, Vice President, Commerce Media at PubMatic
When commerce media burst onto the digital advertising scene, the proliferation of networks created a practical challenge for brands: navigating hundreds of retail media networks and emerging commerce media platforms, each with its own bespoke systems and processes. This reality has made growth increasingly difficult for networks beyond the major players like Amazon, Walmart, Target, and Kroger. Brands simply don’t want to manage relationships with 250+ individual networks, and retailers recognize they need programmatic solutions to remain competitive and accessible to advertisers.
U.S. programmatic retail media digital display ad spending is growing rapidly, jumping 28.6% in 2025 to $20.93 billion. It’s expected to increase 26% to $26.57 billion in 2026, and reach $31.91 billion by 2027 (eMarketer). Commerce media networks are enthusiastically embracing programmatic and doing so with purpose. They are adopting a model that balances the efficiencies of automation with the need for quality, transparency, and shopper-centric experiences. As a result, their approach offers a roadmap for other channels (CTV, DOOH) showing how to scale efficiently while maintaining the premium experiences that both advertisers and consumers expect.
Using Programmatic to Serve the Full Funnel
Historically, commerce media has excelled at driving sales, offering brands the opportunity to reach customers in buying moments with precision. However, as networks pivot toward programmatic, they are not limiting themselves to lower-funnel tactics alone.
Early adopters are embracing a broader array of ad formats and creative strategies that allow commerce media to influence every stage of the funnel. From video and rich media to sponsored product placements and onsite display ads, retailers seeking growth are enabling brands to drive awareness, build consideration, and ultimately convert customers within the same ecosystem. This full-funnel approach, powered by automation and real-time optimization infrastructure, is unlocking new value for brands while expanding revenue streams for commerce media networks.
Holding Offsite Activation to a High Standard
As commerce networks evolve, they’re also embracing offsite activation of their data. Offsite advertising offers lower margins compared to on-site placements, but it delivers significant scale, allowing commerce media networks to extend their shopper audiences across premium inventory outside their own environments.
The key here is selectivity. Commerce media networks are not simply flooding the open internet with data for the sake of reach. Instead, they are ensuring that offsite experiences remain tied to quality inventory and premium environments that align with their brand and shopper expectations. By taking a curated approach, commerce networks can drive performance while preserving trust and delivering utility to shoppers wherever they engage.
Moving from Managed Service to True Self-Serve
To date, even with automated tools, much of commerce media has operated under a managed-service model, requiring human touchpoints between networks and brands to execute campaigns. This structure, while effective, is labor-intensive and lacks efficiency.
The next phase is true full self-service, where brands can directly plan, buy, and optimize on-site inventory through programmatic channels. For commerce media networks, this transition represents a low-lift, high-efficiency model that delivers pure margin while allowing them to scale without sacrificing control. Brands, in turn, gain agility, faster speed to market, and the ability to manage investments directly through the DSPs and tools they already trust.
Carefully Curating While Opening Access
A critical challenge in programmatic has always been balancing scale with control. Commerce media networks are navigating this tension by leveraging tools such as PMPs and programmatic guarantees, allowing them to curate and customize deals to ensure that the right advertisers are buying the right inventory.
At the same time, they are expanding access to broader programmatic demand, enabling higher fill rates and greater competition for inventory. This flexibility benefits buyers, too, removing the need for hundreds of individual insertion orders and allowing national buyers to embrace regional opportunities they otherwise wouldn’t have the bandwidth to support. By threading this needle, commerce media networks are delivering efficiency without compromise.
Prioritizing the User Experience
Programmatic can only succeed if it respects the end user. Commerce media networks understand that their hard-won audiences expect relevant experiences, not disruptive ads that pull them away from their shopping journey.
By ensuring that programmatic buys lead to endemic product pages, rather than generic brand sites, commerce networks are delivering utility to shoppers while improving performance for advertisers. This commitment to user experience is not only best for shoppers but also for brands, ensuring higher engagement and greater return on investment.
A Model for Others to Follow
The promise of programmatic has always been about efficiency, automation, and precision. But too often, the pursuit of scale has come at the cost of quality and transparency. Commerce media is showing that it doesn’t have to be that way.
By embracing programmatic thoughtfully, commerce media networks are proving that it’s possible to automate with intention. Their approach can serve as a model for other channels navigating their own programmatic journeys, offering lessons on how to scale efficiently while delivering the premium experiences that shoppers and advertisers expect.
Commerce media’s evolution is far from over, but it’s already clear that it is rewriting the playbook for what programmatic can and should be in the next era of digital advertising.
