Retail Media Radar– March 2025: PayPal, shoppable TV ads & the power of convenience media
As retail media continues to evolve, brands and advertisers are exploring new opportunities to engage shoppers in more targeted and interactive ways. Over the past month, we’ve seen major developments in retail media networks, category management, and data monetisation, shaping the future of digital advertising in retail.
From PayPal’s entry into retail media, Target’s push for Roundel growth, the growing influence of Shoppable Connected TV (CTV), the rise of convenience retail media and digital screens in grocery stores, the industry is rapidly shifting toward more data-driven, omnichannel strategies.
Let’s explore what’s next in retail media and digital commerce!
1. PayPal ventures into retail media advertising
This move leverages PayPal's extensive transaction data to offer targeted advertising opportunities to marketers.
PayPal Ads provides advertisers access to a vast user base, including over 400 million PayPal users, 90 million Venmo users, and millions of Honey users, enabling brands to connect with a diverse and extensive audience.
Leveraging comprehensive transaction data, PayPal Ads offers advertisers valuable insights into consumer behaviour, market share analysis, and optimisation opportunities across multiple touchpoints, enhancing the effectiveness of advertising campaigns.
The platform allows brands reach consumers at various stages of their shopping journey and providing a holistic advertising solution.
PayPal plans to expand its advertising offerings to include video ads, develop self-service ad software for clients, and extend PayPal Ads to additional territories, such as the UK and Germany, broadening the platform's capabilities and reach.
Users have the option to opt out of data sharing with advertisers, ensuring that privacy preferences are respected while maintaining the platform's robust data-driven advertising capabilities.
These features position PayPal Ads as a significant player in the digital advertising landscape, offering brands innovative ways to engage with consumers through PayPal's extensive network.
Find out more here.
2. Advertising in convenience stores achieves double the visibility compared to larger retail environments
The findings stem from a collaboration between Co-op Media Network and Lumen Research, utilising eye-tracking technology to assess shopper engagement with advertisements in both small and large Co-op store formats.
According to the research, shoppers in convenience settings pay three times more attention to advertisements than those in bigger stores, and convenience store advertising leads to four times higher brand recall relative to campaigns in larger retail formats.
The study positions retail media, especially within convenience stores, as a potent tool for long-term brand development, challenging the traditional view of in-store advertising being solely for immediate sales activation.
And, in comparison with traditional media, Retail Media demonstrated higher brand recall effectiveness than traditional channels like out-of-home, digital display, and social media advertising.
These results demonstrate the importance of brands being able to reach and target customers across the myriad of different shopper journey and point to the increased importance of the Convenience retail in the marketing mix.
Find out more here.
3. Iceland Foods expands retail media with new dedicated team
Iceland Foods has launched a dedicated in-house retail media team in the UK to enhance its marketing capabilities across in-store digital screens, online advertising, and point-of-sale materials.
The retailer plans to install thousands of digital screens across its store estate by the end of 2025, strengthening supplier partnerships and delivering targeted, data-driven advertising content.
To lead this initiative, Iceland has appointed a Head of Retail Media, reflecting its commitment to building a structured and strategic retail media offering.
By integrating a comprehensive retail media strategy, Iceland aims to create more personalised shopping experiences for customers while offering enhanced marketing opportunities for brands.
With major UK grocers already investing in retail media, Iceland needed to get in the game to remain competitive. The ability to offer brands targeted, high-impact advertising solutions will be crucial in maintaining supplier relationships and driving incremental revenue in an increasingly retail media-driven landscape.
Find out more here.
4. Target’s Roundel retail media business grows, but can it compete?
Target’s advertising business generated $649 million in revenue in 2024, marking a 25% increase compared to the previous year.
Despite this growth, Target lags behind major competitors, with Walmart reporting $4.4 billion and Amazon a staggering $50 billion in ad revenue for the same period.
To strengthen its retail media proposition, Target has rolled out to key strategic enhancements
The first is Roundel Media Studio, launched last year as a self-service buying tool enabling advertisers to manage campaigns with increased flexibility and speed.
The second is Rondel’s transition to a second-price auction system, aligning with industry standards and potentially offering more competitive pricing for advertisers.
As the U.S. retail media market is projected to hit $62.35 billion in ad spending this year, Target aims to capture a larger share by offering enhanced targeting capabilities and better measurement tools.
One of the key issues has been that Target’s Roundel has limited ad inventory, mostly confined to Target-owned properties and this restricts advertiser reach. Amazon Ads and Walmart connect both leverage on-site and off-site advertising via DSPs.
Target needs to aggressively grow its ad revenue by expanding partnerships, enhancing audience insights, and developing a more competitive programmatic offering.
Additionally it needs to enhance it’s investment in AI-driven targeting, predictive analytics, and dynamic ad placement could help bridge the gap.
With retail media becoming an essential revenue driver, mid-tier retailers like Target must continue innovating to stay competitive.
Find out more here.
5. Shoppable Connected TV (CTV): The next frontier in retail media
As the advertising landscape evolves, shoppable Connected TV (CTV) emerges as a pivotal innovation, merging the expansive reach of television with the immediacy of e-commerce. This convergence offers brands a unique avenue to engage consumers directly from their living rooms, transforming traditional viewing into interactive shopping experiences.
Recent data underscores the growing significance of shoppable CTV in retail media:
Approximately 38% of U.S. ad buyers have increased investments in shoppable ads in 2025, signalling a robust shift towards this format.
A notable 43% of consumers express a desire to shop online using their TV, yet only 10% have engaged in such transactions, highlighting a substantial growth opportunity.
CTV ad spending is forecasted to reach $33.35 billion in 2025, accounting for 7.8% of total ad expenditures, while retail media networks are projected to command $62.35 billion, representing 14.7% of ad spend.
Amazon, Albertsons, and Instacart have already introduced shoppable CTV formats, reflecting the industry's momentum towards interactive television commerce. And Target's Roundel has partnered with The Trade Desk to facilitate programmatic buys of CTV inventory, enhancing targeted advertising efforts.
Shoppable CTV represents a significant opportunity in retail media, offering a dynamic platform for brands to engage consumers and drive measurable outcomes. As technology and consumer behaviours evolve, embracing this medium could be pivotal for advertisers seeking to innovate and thrive in a competitive marketplace.
Find out more here.
Summary
As retail media continues to evolve, innovation and strategic adaptation will be key to staying ahead in this rapidly growing space. From new players like PayPal entering the market to Target’s push to enhance Roundel, the competition is intensifying. Meanwhile, Shoppable CTV is emerging as a game-changer, bridging the gap between media and commerce, and retailers like Iceland are doubling down on in-store digital advertising to capture consumer attention at key moments.
The intersection of data, technology, and media is shaping the future of how brands connect with shoppers—whether through smarter programmatic retail media networks, hyper-targeted in-store activations, or seamless shopping experiences on CTV. As the retail media landscape grows, the focus will be on maximising data insights, expanding audience reach, and delivering measurable results for advertisers.