Blog posts

The Rapid Rise of Open Retail Media & Commerce Media Networks

Teemu Kurri
Teemu Kurri
 — 
Co-founder, Chief Growth Officer
Connect via LinkedIn
Retail media is evolving rapidly. Two major trends are shaping its future: commerce media and open networks. This blog post – along with the attached video – explains what these are and why they represent the future of retail media.

Retail Media or Commerce Media?

Retail media has changed the marketing landscape faster than perhaps any megatrend before. The market’s growth has been staggering, and its definition has expanded into new areas.

As retail media has spread beyond traditional retail sectors into industries like travel, healthcare, and finance, it has gained a broader name: commerce media.

Commerce media includes many of the same features as retail media – such as audiences based on first-party data, the means and channels to reach those audiences, and the contextual relevance that makes ads meaningful to consumers.

However, unlike traditional retail media (such as FMCG-based networks), commerce media is not typically built on supplier relationships. The advertisers using these channels are often non-endemic – their products or services cannot be purchased directly from the media owner.

Open Networks

The second major shift is the emergence of open retail and commerce media networks. While traditional retail media networks created by large retailers have operated as closed, walled gardens, a new generation of open networks is taking shape.

An open network allows multiple retailers and commerce media players to join forces in a shared ecosystem. This gives advertisers the ability to reach consumers across all participating stores, websites, apps, and channels – including CRM and email campaigns.

These networks manage shared audience inventories and coordinate media sales across the members’ various touchpoints:

While open networks are still emerging, we at Doohlabs are aware of several in development – and we’re confident that many more are being planned.

Video from the IAB Event

Here’s a video of our presentation at IAB Finland’s Retail Media event in May 2025, where we spoke together with our partner Aller Media:

Stay tuned!
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Teemu Kurri

Teemu Kurri

Co-founder, Chief Growth Officer

Connect via LinkedIn