Retail & commerce · also called Offsite retail media
Off-site retail media
Off-site retail media is advertising that uses a retailer's shopper data to target and measure ads outside the retailer's own properties, such as on the open web, social media or CTV.
On-site retail media is limited by how much space a retailer's own site and apps have. Off-site retail media extends reach: a brand uses the retailer's audiences, such as "bought baby products in the last three months", to target ads elsewhere, then measures sales back in the retailer's data.
Activation typically happens through a DSP partnership, social platform integrations, CTV partners or the retailer's own programmatic tools, with identity matched via hashed emails or clean rooms. Examples include retailer audiences running on streaming TV services, social media or across open-web publishers, all with closed-loop measurement.
Off-site buys bring open-web challenges into retail media: Invalid traffic, made-for-advertising sites, viewability and brand safety. They also have more complex measurement, because retailers attribute sales to exposures they did not serve themselves. Buyers should apply the same verification and supply-path standards as for any programmatic campaign.
Think of it like this
Off-site retail media is like a supermarket lending brands its customer knowledge to put up billboards across town, then checking its tills to see who responded.
An example
A pet-food brand uses a European retailer's "cat owners" audience to run CTV and online video ads, then sees in the retailer's reports that exposed shoppers' purchases rose 8%.
Related terms
Retail media
Retail media is advertising sold by retailers, on their own websites, apps and stores or elsewhere using their shopper data, letting brands reach customers close to the point of purchase.
Retail media network (RMN)
A retail media network (RMN) is a retailer's advertising business, including its ad inventory, shopper data, ad technology and sales team, that sells ads to brands on and off the retailer's properties.
Closed-loop measurement
Closed-loop measurement links ad exposure directly to actual sales data for the same people, typically within a retailer or data owner, showing whether ads led to purchases.
Data clean room
A data clean room is a secure environment where companies combine and analyse their customer data together, getting aggregated insights or audiences without exposing each other's raw personal data.
CTV (connected TV)
CTV (connected TV) is any television connected to the internet, such as a smart TV, streaming stick, games console or set-top box, and the advertising shown in streaming apps on it.
Sources: IAB: retail media