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Retail

Innovid unveils retail media tools for onsite and offsite campaigns

Tech platform bridges gap between retailers and brands with new features targeting fastest-growing ad category.

Luis Rijo

• 6 min read
Innovid retail media platform connecting shopping interfaces with CTV advertising analytics and performance metrics
Innovid retail media platform connecting shopping interfaces with CTV advertising analytics and performance metrics

Innovid released new features focused on retail media networks on July 8, 2025, targeting one of the fastest-growing advertising categories. According to Mediaocean's upcoming H2 Market Report, more than a third of marketers plan to increase RMN ad spend in H225. These updates address both retail media networks and the brands that advertise through them.

The announcement represents the latest development in Innovid's Feature Beat series. Last time, the company introduced social advertising tools. This month centers entirely on retail media networks, which according to Simeon Powers, Senior Director of Strategy at Innovid, require alignment between retailers and brands.

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Summary

Who: Innovid, an independent ad tech platform that merged with Flashtalking under Mediaocean, announced new retail media features targeting both retail media networks and advertising brands.

What: Four new capability areas including Platform Tech integration, Self-Service Power tools, Creative Built for Shopping formats, and Incrementality analytics designed to streamline retail media execution across onsite and offsite campaigns.

When: The announcement was made on July 8, 2025, as part of Innovid's Feature Beat series, following previous social advertising tool introductions.

Where: The features target retail media networks globally, with particular focus on markets where more than a third of marketers plan to increase RMN ad spend in H225, according to Mediaocean's upcoming H2 Market Report.

Why: Retail media represents one of the fastest-growing advertising categories, with European spending growing 22.1% compared to 6.1% for the broader advertising market, creating demand for integrated tools that bridge retailers and brands with shared data and creative flexibility.

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"Retail media success relies on alignment between retailers and brands, and that starts with shared tools, data, and creative flexibility," Powers said. "We're focused on bridging that gap with one platform that supports both sides of the equation – from shoppable formats and dynamic creative to self-service workflows and incrementality analytics."

Four core capabilities drive platform expansion

The updates concentrate on four main areas designed to streamline retail media execution. Platform Tech functions as a force multiplier, integrating RMNs into broader media strategies. Brands can now use retail data to deliver personalized messaging across CTV, social, and display channels. This extends shopper insights beyond retail sites into every screen throughout the customer journey.

Self-Service Power brings more control in-house for RMNs. The toolkit includes white-labeled campaign interfaces tailored to RMN workflows, creative automation for co-branded templates, and seamless integrations with third-party platforms. RMNs can build, run, and optimize campaigns at scale from one centralized location.

Creative Built for Shopping delivers turnkey activation capabilities. From shoppable CTV to dynamic display product catalogs, the features arm brands and RMNs with performance-driven creative formats. Shoppable add-to-cart integrations span CTV, video, display, and mobile platforms. In-house QR code generation and reporting streamline implementation. Dynamic creative optimization utilizes real-time data feeds including SKUs, inventory levels, and promotions.

Incrementality analytics help RMNs prove their value while giving brands clear visibility into campaign performance. Unified reporting covers onsite and offsite activations. Audience deduplication reduces over-frequency and waste. Incrementality metrics demonstrate impact beyond existing media, validating performance and optimizing future investments.

Retail media networks gaining traction amid industry growth

The retail media network category has experienced significant momentum, with European retail media spending outpacing the broader advertising market by nearly four times. While the overall advertising market grew by 6.1% in 2024, retail media surged by 22.1%. Sponsored Products emerged as the central driver of this growth, according to recent industry analysis.

Research from DoubleVerify highlights both opportunities and challenges in the retail media landscape. Based on analysis of over one trillion impressions from 2023, RMNs offer advantages in brand suitability, ad fraud prevention, and user engagement. However, challenges remain including limited targeting options, constrained ad space, and higher costs compared to other channels.

The data reveals US advertisers lead adoption, with 87% already using RMNs and 83% planning to increase spending. Amazon Advertising represents the most widely used RMN, particularly in the US, UK, and Germany markets. While RMN CPM rates run higher than other channels, 61% of buyers believe RMNs deliver better return on ad spend than alternative options.

Technical infrastructure supports complex retail scenarios

Innovid's approach addresses retail media's unique technical requirements. Unlike traditional display advertising, retail media demands integration between product catalogs, inventory systems, and real-time promotional data. The platform automatically pulls elements from product listings, including images and titles, eliminating the need for additional creative assets.

This native format creates digital equivalents of premium shelf placement in physical retail environments. The system supports multiple integration points throughout the purchase funnel, from initial discovery through checkout completion. Some retailers extend opportunities into the shopping cart and checkout pages, creating additional discovery moments through "You Might Also Like" sections.

The measurement framework emphasizes standardized approaches across different retail environments. InnovidXP platform capabilities extend beyond basic reach and frequency metrics, delivering actionable data across all TV campaign aspects. Publisher-level outcomes analysis provides granular, unbiased views for comparing performance across different media sources.

Industry consolidation shapes competitive landscape

These announcements occur within the context of broader industry consolidation. Mediaocean acquired Innovid for $500 million in a deal announced November 21, 2024, merging it with Flashtalking to create an independent advertising technology alternative. The acquisition completed in early 2025, combining Innovid's connected television expertise with Flashtalking's ad serving capabilities.

The merged entity operates under Zvika Netter's leadership as CEO, reporting to Mediaocean Co-Founder and CEO Bill Wise. Grant Parker serves as President of the combined organization. This consolidation creates comprehensive advertising platform capabilities spanning ad delivery systems, creative personalization tools, measurement capabilities, and optimization features across multiple channels.

The integration addresses industry challenges identified by market analysts, particularly limitations from "walled gardens" – closed technology ecosystems controlled by major media sellers. The combined platform provides cross-channel orchestration capabilities, AI-powered automation systems, creative personalization tools, transparent measurement metrics, and real-time optimization features.

Advanced measurement capabilities enhance attribution accuracy

Recent platform developments include pixel-free purchase attribution launched June 11, 2025, within the InnovidXP platform. This connects converged TV advertising directly to sales outcomes without requiring pixel implementation. Marketers can measure ad performance based on sales lift, return on ad spend, and incrementality across billions of in-store and online purchase transactions.

Affinity Solutions serves as the inaugural partner, contributing deterministic data from 18 billion annual online and in-store credit and debit card transactions from more than 95 million consumers. This enables direct correlation between TV ad exposures across direct insertion orders, programmatic buys, live sports purchases, and streaming placements with actual purchase behavior.

Christopher Murphy, Senior Vice President of Strategy & Business Development at Innovid, stated: "By integrating Affinity Solutions' industry-leading dataset into InnovidXP, we're giving marketers the ability to prove and improve the real-world business impact of every ad dollar spent."

The timing coincides with broader industry movement toward purchase-based attribution. Attribution accuracy remains critical as privacy regulations restrict traditional tracking methods. Institute of Practitioners in Advertising research indicates marketing effectiveness measurement requires combining multiple approaches including marketing mix modeling, experimentation, and attribution methodologies.

Frequency management addresses viewer experience concerns

Harmony Frequency launched July 31, 2024, providing comprehensive frequency intelligence across CTV and digital advertising channels. This addresses persistent challenges in ad frequency management where traditional methods operated in silos, resulting in viewers experiencing repetitive ads and inefficient spending.

The solution leverages Innovid's ad server technology to provide holistic views of ad impressions across various publishers, platforms, devices, and households. Rich data signals integrate into demand-side platforms, incorporating frequency management insights directly into programmatic buying strategies before bids are placed. Benefits include reduced wasted spend by preventing overexposure, maximized budgets through reallocation to underexposed households, and improved viewing experiences by mitigating ad fatigue.

LG Ad Solutions joined the Harmony initiative on October 24, 2024, expanding the program's reach. According to Innovid's data, Harmony Direct launch partners experienced substantial performance improvements. Agency partners saw average 8% increases in working media, while publisher partners improved yield by up to 15%, with average fill rates climbing from 90% to 100%.

These improvements could translate to over $1 billion in immediate savings across the US CTV market in 2024. PMG, an early agency adopter, implemented Harmony Direct across its client portfolio after successful trials with multiple quick-service restaurants and a national restaurant chain, demonstrating significant reduction in wasted spend and lost impressions.

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