Retail media and CTV converge as shopping shifts to streaming

Consumers are shifting from linear television to streaming platforms while simultaneously changing their shopping behaviors. Retail media and connected television are converging at speed, according to IAB Europe analysis published on November 6, 2025.

Marie-Clare Puffett, Industry Development & Insights Director at IAB Europe, explores how retail media and CTV strengths complement each other through data-driven targeting, omnichannel attribution, and brand-building capabilities. The analysis examines this convergence through two perspectives: the retail media activist and the TV activist.

Retail media growth accelerates

Retail media has experienced exponential growth, with global advertising spend reaching $29 billion according to the IAB Europe document, excluding Amazon's contribution. This sector is projected to capture 20% of global advertising revenue by 2030, representing approximately $300 billion in spending.

Retail media networks are positioning themselves beyond traditional advertising channels. According to the document, retail media provides infrastructure that powers all media formats rather than functioning solely as a single channel. This infrastructure approach enables partnerships with content creators and platforms, with examples including collaborations between retailers like Walmart and creators such as MrBeast.

The retail media activist perspective emphasizes measurable outcomes and first-party data targeting. Retailers leverage transaction data, loyalty program information, and user-generated content to create actionable audience segments. These segments can target specific consumer groups across connected television inventory with relevant advertising for products including communication services, insurance, and electricity providers.

Television maintains scale advantages

Television still dominates total media spending when aggregating linear, CTV, and other formats according to the IAB Europe analysis. Decades of brand-building evidence support television's long-term effectiveness, with compounding impact over extended periods. The TV activist perspective highlights television's cultural icon creation capabilities, an area where retail media has yet to establish equivalent influence.

However, the document acknowledges that CTV's share of media budgets is projected to double from 14% in 2023 to 28% in 2025, with 72% of marketers planning to increase programmatic advertising investment. This growth positions connected television as a critical channel for both brand awareness and performance-driven outcomes.

Five key convergence themes emerge

The IAB Europe analysis identifies five core themes driving retail media and CTV integration.

CTV Integration represents the first theme. Retail media advertising spend on connected television is projected to grow three times faster than retail media search, signaling a substantial shift toward video-based commerce advertising. This acceleration reflects advertiser demand for combining retail data precision with television's reach capabilities.

Commerce Signal Targeting enables brands to leverage first-party data including purchase history and browsing behavior for highly personalized advertisements in CTV environments. This targeting approach connects retail transaction insights with streaming inventory at scale.

Omnichannel Attribution has expanded measurement capabilities to track performance across digital, in-store, and CTV touchpoints. Retail media networks face persistent measurement challenges despite sector growth, with 53% of stakeholders citing lack of standardization as a significant barrier according to previous IAB Europe research.

Performance-Driven CTV marks connected television's transition from brand-awareness tool to full-funnel performance platform capable of driving conversions and measurable return on investment. Criteo and WPP Media launched commerce-driven CTV activation in July 2025, combining real-time commerce signals with premium inventory.

Interactive Ad Formats including QR codes, gamified experiences, and mobile-television syncing are becoming more widely adopted. These formats enable viewers to engage directly with advertisements, creating measurable actions within streaming environments.

RTL and OBI case study demonstrates partnership potential

The IAB Europe document includes a case study from RTL and OBI demonstrating how retailer data combines with connected television reach for measurable impact. The partnership exemplifies full-funnel campaign activation combining precise audience targeting with scalable reach and sophisticated measurement capabilities.

According to the document, retailers can create specific audience segments such as "Home Movers" using transaction data, loyalty program data, and user-generated content. These segments receive targeted CTV advertisements for relevant products including communication services, insurance, and electricity providers.

Partnerships between retailers and publishers allow advertisers to reach new target groups by combining retail data with inventory on large screens, web areas, or mobile phones. Retail data supports lower-funnel campaigns and offers new targeting options, particularly for clients with high brand awareness seeking to encourage purchases.

Six current use cases defined

The analysis outlines six current use cases for retail media and CTV convergence.

Precise Targeting enables retailers to create actionable segments for CTV campaigns. Transaction data and loyalty program information combine to identify specific consumer groups for relevant advertising.

Reaching New Target Groups occurs through partnerships between retailers and publishers, combining retail data with premium inventory across screens and devices. This approach extends advertiser reach beyond traditional retail environments.

Supporting Lower-Funnel Marketing uses retail data for campaigns targeting consumers with high brand awareness who require encouragement to complete purchases. This application addresses the bottom of the marketing funnel where purchase decisions occur.

Activating Users Across the Ecosystem represents retail media's main use case: targeting across different platforms outside retail environments. Collaborating with premium partners drives reach for advertisers seeking scale beyond owned properties.

Offering Products for Specific Life Moments creates data segments for special circumstances including people moving or building houses. These segments receive relevant product advertisements from insurance or financial institutions aligned with their current needs.

Extending Targeting with Lookalikes expands overlapped audiences to reach potential customers likely to purchase even if they are not current customers. This modeling approach increases addressable audience size while maintaining targeting precision.

Industry calls for collaboration over competition

"The future isn't about competition between retail media and CTV — it's about collaboration," according to Sandy Ukat, Lead Data Solutions at Ad Alliance, quoted in the IAB Europe document. "Together, we can deliver campaigns that combine reach with measurable sales impact, creating real value for both brands and consumers."

This sentiment reflects broader industry recognition that retail media and connected television can coexist and complement each other. Strategic partnerships demonstrate both channels are growing, particularly with CTV's rise. Case studies suggest unity and partnership drive future success rather than competitive positioning.

The convergence addresses advertiser needs for combining television's scale with retail media's measurement capabilities. Traditional brand ambitions of reach and frequency now merge with performance-driven commerce metrics. According to the document, this creates full-funnel, performance-driven strategies in connected television environments.

European retail media partnerships have deepened significantly, with buy-side stakeholders maintaining retailer partnerships for more than one year increasing from 50% to 63% in 2025 according to IAB Europe research. Brands working with four to six retail media networks more than doubled from 10% to 24%, indicating strategic portfolio expansion.

Agentic commerce accelerates transformation

The IAB Europe analysis notes that advances in agentic commerce are supercharging the retail media and CTV convergence. Agentic commerce refers to automated systems that execute transactions alongside or on behalf of human users, potentially reshaping how consumers discover and purchase products through streaming environments.

This transformation marks more than a media shift according to the document. It signals a new paradigm and powerful opportunity for marketers, retailers, broadcasters, media owners, and technology platforms.

The document emphasizes that this convergence creates opportunities for multiple stakeholders. Retailers can expand retail media campaigns to CTV inventory for increased revenue. Advertisers gain access to premium inventory with enhanced targeting capabilities. Publishers and broadcasters can monetize streaming inventory more effectively through retail data integration.

Implementation challenges remain

Despite optimism about retail media and CTV convergence, implementation challenges persist. Measurement standardization gaps affect 53% of buy-side stakeholders according to IAB Europe's 2025 Attitudes to Retail Media Report. Network fragmentation impacts 51% of stakeholders, representing significant barriers to retail media growth.

IAB has pushed for standardized Conversion APIs to close CTV's outcome measurement gap with search and social channels. Survey data collected between July 22 and August 19, 2025 found two-thirds of advertisers reported improved return on advertising spend after implementing Conversion APIs.

Technical integration between retail media platforms and CTV inventory requires substantial infrastructure. Partnerships like Equativ and Titan OS announced in March 2025 demonstrate industry efforts to combine CTV reach with retail data precision for more targeted advertising campaigns.

Creative adaptation challenges persist, with research showing 72% of marketers reuse or slightly modify assets across social media and connected TV platforms. Only 25% develop tailored creative for both channels, limiting campaign effectiveness.

Growth projections remain strong

The convergence occurs amid strong growth projections for both sectors. IAB forecasts suggest CTV advertising spending will total $26.6 billion in 2025, representing 12% increase from 2024. Retail media maintains 13.2% projected growth despite broader economic headwinds according to IAB's revised 2025 forecast.

The retail media and CTV convergence represents a fundamental shift in digital advertising dynamics. As consumers continue migrating from linear television to streaming while simultaneously changing shopping behaviors, the integration of retail data with connected television inventory creates new opportunities for precision targeting at scale.

The synergies between retail media's data-driven targeting and CTV's brand-building power are becoming increasingly clear. Whether through partnerships between retailers and streaming platforms, technology integrations enabling retail data activation across CTV inventory, or new measurement frameworks connecting advertising exposure to commerce outcomes, the convergence is accelerating.

Timeline

• September 2023: IAB Europe Retail Media Committee develops first retail media educational resources
• March 2025: Equativ and Titan OS partner to enhance CTV advertising with retail media data, combining CTV reach with retail data precision
• March 2025: IAB Europe publishes comprehensive pan-European definitions covering on-site, off-site, and in-store retail media categories
• April 2025: European retail media surges 22.1% compared to 6.1% growth for broader advertising market
• July 2025: Criteo and WPP Media launch commerce-driven CTV activation piloting with Roku, Samsung, and Scripps
• July 2025: IAB Europe releases second annual Attitudes to Retail Media Report showing brands working with 4-6 retail media networks doubled
• September 2025: Retail media projected to capture 20% of global advertising revenue by 2030, representing approximately $300 billion
• October 2025: Macy's integrates Amazon's retail advertising technology, first major department store adoption
• October 2025: IAB releases guide showing Conversion APIs can bridge CTV's measurement gap with search and social channels
• November 6, 2025: IAB Europe publishes analysis examining retail media and CTV convergence

Summary

Who: IAB Europe Industry Development & Insights Director Marie-Clare Puffett authored analysis examining retail media and connected television convergence. The analysis draws on insights from Daniel Knapp's presentation at IAB Europe's inaugural Retail Media Impact Summit and includes perspective from Sandy Ukat, Lead Data Solutions at Ad Alliance.

What: The analysis examines how retail media networks and connected television platforms are converging through five key themes: CTV integration, commerce signal targeting, omnichannel attribution, performance-driven CTV, and interactive ad formats. Retail media advertising spend reached $29 billion globally excluding Amazon, while CTV's share of media budgets is projected to double from 14% to 28% by 2025.

When: IAB Europe published the analysis on November 6, 2025, following the organization's inaugural Retail Media Impact Summit where industry executives discussed collaboration opportunities between retail media and CTV ecosystems.

Where: The convergence affects global advertising markets, with particular focus on European retail media growth of 22.1% compared to 6.1% for broader advertising markets. Implementation occurs across streaming platforms, retail media networks, and programmatic advertising infrastructure connecting the two channels.

Why: Consumer behavior shifts from linear television to streaming platforms while simultaneously changing shopping patterns create natural convergence points. Advertisers demand both television's scale and brand-building power alongside retail media's data-driven targeting and measurable outcomes. This convergence enables full-funnel campaigns combining reach with measurable sales impact across digital, in-store, and CTV touchpoints.