Retail media can be monetized across three main digital channels: the web, mobile apps and connected TV (CTV). On web and app, a retailer can sell placements in its own store and also use its shopper audiences on other publishers' sites and apps. On CTV, retail media usually means using those audiences on streaming publishers' inventory. Each channel suits a different buyer goal, uses different formats and measures success differently, so the strongest plans treat them as parts of one offer rather than three separate sales efforts.
This guide walks through each channel in turn, then looks at how to plan and sell them together.
How do the three channels compare at a glance?
The summary below is a general guide, not a fixed rule. Individual retailers and publishers will vary.
| Web | App | CTV | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Where it runs | Retailer site and publisher websites | Retailer app and publisher apps | Streaming apps and services on TV screens |
| Typical buyer goal | Consideration and product discovery | Frequent, everyday reach and engagement | Brand awareness and storytelling at scale |
| Common formats | Display, native, rich media, video, high-impact | Rich media, overlay, in-stream, rewarded, interstitial | In-stream video, overlay, home screen, live streaming, interactive |
| How it is often measured | Viewability, clicks, attributed sales | Viewability, engagement, attributed sales | Video completions, reach, frequency |
| Retailer role | Owns its site; supplies audiences offsite | Owns its app; supplies audiences offsite | Usually supplies audiences offsite |
Web: the most familiar channel
The web is where most retail media starts, because it includes the retailer's own site. Onsite placements such as search, category and product pages sit right next to the purchase. Offsite, the retailer's audiences can be used on publisher websites, reaching shoppers while they read about the things they plan to buy.
Formats and buyer fit
Display advertising and native formats suit consideration, since they put a product in front of someone who is researching. Rich media and high-impact units suit launches and seasonal moments. Video on the web can carry a brand story to an audience already showing purchase interest.
What to watch
Web inventory varies widely in quality. Clutter, slow pages and invalid traffic, meaning fake or non-human ad activity, can all undermine a campaign. Choose publishers with clear ads.txt records and sensible ad load. Our article on web publisher representation and monetization strategy explains what good web supply looks like from the publisher side.
App: everyday reach on the phone
Many shoppers browse and buy on their phones, and many retailers have an app their most loyal customers use. That makes app a natural second channel.
Formats and buyer fit
In-app advertising offers formats the web does not. Rewarded ads give a user something of value, such as an extra life in a game, in return for watching an ad. Interstitials are full-screen ads shown at natural breaks. Rich media and overlay units add interaction. On a retailer's own app, placements tend to mirror the website: search, category and product views. Offsite, retail audiences can reach shoppers in games, utilities, news and lifestyle apps.
What to watch
App audiences expect smooth experiences, so ad frequency and placement timing matter. Interstitials that interrupt a task can annoy users quickly. Privacy rules on mobile devices also shape how audiences can be matched, so consent and platform policies need checking before campaigns run. For the publisher view of this channel, see mobile app publisher representation and monetization.
CTV: retail audiences on the big screen
CTV advertising means ads shown through streaming apps and services on internet-connected televisions. Few retailers run their own streaming service, so CTV retail media usually means using a retailer's consented audiences on streaming publishers' inventory.
Formats and buyer fit
In-stream video advertising, meaning ads that play before, during or after a show, is the core format. Overlays, home screen placements, live streaming and interactive formats add options. CTV suits brand storytelling: a household watching a show together is in a very different mindset from a shopper scanning a product page.
What to watch
CTV is a lean-back, shared screen, so a retail audience signal may describe one shopper while several people watch. Measurement usually focuses on completions, reach and frequency rather than clicks. Premium CTV supply is often sold through direct deals or programmatic guaranteed arrangements, so planning ahead matters. Our CTV representation and monetization guide covers the channel in more depth.
Example (illustrative)
A national sporting goods retailer plans a back-to-school season. On the web, it sells category page display on its own site and runs its "youth sports shoppers" audience on sports news publishers. In its app, it offers product view placements to equipment brands. On CTV, the same consented audience reaches families through in-stream video on streaming sports and family content, sold as a programmatic guaranteed deal. One set of data rules and one pricing approach apply across all three. This is a hypothetical example, not a real campaign.
How should a retailer plan across channels?
Selling three channels separately can confuse buyers and create conflict. A few principles help keep the offer coherent.
- One set of data rules. Decide once how audiences can be used, in what form and under which consent, then apply it to every channel.
- Channel-appropriate goals. Do not judge CTV on clicks or web display on video completions. Agree the right measure for each.
- Frequency across screens. A shopper who sees the same message on web, app and TV in one evening may feel followed. Coordinate where possible.
- Packages built around buyer needs. Combine channels into curated deals when a buyer wants one result across screens, such as a seasonal launch.
- Consistent pricing logic. Price each channel on its own terms, but make sure the logic is explainable to buyers.
Analysis
Most retailers will not need all three channels at once. A sensible sequence is to get the owned web and app offer right, then add offsite web and app, then add CTV once audience rules and buyer demand are proven. Each step builds on the trust earned in the last.
The IncrementX perspective on multichannel retail media
IncrementX is a global media representation partner, and retail media is a new strategic focus for us. We already work with web, app and CTV/OTT publishers, and our retail media representation approach brings that channel experience to retailers. We have no announced retail clients or results, so we describe this in terms of what representation can do.
Channel by channel, that can mean packaging web inventory across display, native, rich media and video formats through our web channel, app inventory including rewarded and interstitial formats through our app channel, and CTV inventory including in-stream, overlay and home screen formats through our CTV channel. Our publisher-side work is described on our web publisher representation, mobile app publisher representation and CTV representation pages. Across all three, retail audiences and publisher inventory can be offered together as curated deals, including PMP, PG, audience, contextual and CTV and video deals.
For a closer look at taking retail audiences beyond the store, read our guide to offsite retail media monetization.