By Ori Gold, CEO of Bench Media
Commerce media is no longer a shiny new tool in marketing. If you think it’s just another passing buzzword, you’re missing its real impact. By 2025, commerce media will be at the core of many CMOs’ strategies in Australia, especially across sectors like Retail, e-commerce, Travel, Finance, FMCG, and Entertainment. It is reshaping how brands drive engagement, loyalty, and sales in an increasingly fragmented digital landscape.
The challenge for CMOs is not just to keep pace, but to rethink how they engage customers in a world where omnichannel isn’t optional, transparency is a non-negotiable, and first-party data is a brand’s most valuable asset.
Beyond Retail Media – Commerce Media’s expanding reach
Retail media had its moment, and for a good reason, it gave brands a way to reach shoppers at the point of purchase within controlled environments – such as a retailer’s website or app – or to close-loop attribution in some walled gardens for endemic advertisers. But moving into 2025, retail media alone won’t cut it.
Commerce media is broader, reaching consumers well beyond owned environments. Whether scrolling on social media, browsing video content, or comparing products on e-commerce platforms, commerce media allows brands to engage consumers throughout the entire customer journey – not just when they’re ready to buy.
According to Bain & Company, commerce media is expected to grow into a $200 billion global industry by 2026, reflecting its rising influence in the advertising ecosystem. Morgan Stanley, projects that spending across retail media in Australia will grow to $2.8 billion by 2027. But as impressive as that growth is, commerce media will allow brands to also extend beyond the walls of retailer ecosystems, reaching consumers where they are at a precise moment – and long before they make a purchasing decision.
The shift to commerce media signals a need for CMOs to rethink their ad strategies, ensuring they can engage customers throughout their digital journey, not just at the final stage.
Strengthening your competitive position with 1st party data
The phase-out of third-party cookies has been looming for years, before Google turned its back on it, highlighting the value of data as a competitive asset for brands. As 2025 approaches, first- party data is more than a tool in the marketing toolbox, it’s the core asset that will differentiate successful brands from those that struggle to keep up. But it’s not enough to simply gather this data, brands need to act on it meaningfully.
Salesforce claims that 61% of marketers report that evolving data privacy regulations have fundamentally changed their data strategies. But there’s a delicate balance here, consumers want personalisation, but they’re also wary of how their data is used. In Australia today, first- party data isn’t just about driving personalisation, it is about building trust. As privacy concerns continue to grow, Australian brands that use data ethically, transparently, and intelligently will be the ones that keep their customers coming back.
Time to challenge the ‘Black Box’
The lack of transparency in ad tech isn’t a new conversation, but the stakes are getting higher as we move closer to 2025. Platforms like Google’s Performance Max (PMax) offers brands convenience and impressive reach, but they also come with a catch: there’s little transparency into where your ads are being placed, how they’re performing, or how much you’re truly paying.
For years, CMOs have tolerated this murkiness, but that time is coming to an end. According to an eMarketer survey, 56% of marketers cite transparency as a major challenge in ad tech. And it’s easy to see why. Without clear insights into how ads are working, it’s nearly impossible to optimise campaigns or even trust the reported results. CMOs should no longer accept this lack of visibility. The future of commerce media lies in platforms that allow for greater transparency, more control, and clearer attribution models. Brands need to know where their budgets are going – and that they’re getting real value from their media spend. In a landscape that increasingly demands accountability, transparency isn’t just a nice to have, it’s a necessity.
Omnichannel isn’t revolutionary, it’s a baseline expectation
For years, we’ve been talking about the importance of omnichannel strategies. But let’s be honest, while the concept has been around for a while, very few brands have truly mastered it. Having a presence across digital, social, and in-store platforms is one thing. Creating a seamless, cohesive experience for your customers across all those platforms is something else entirely.
As far back as 2021, McKinsey reported that 76% of consumers said they expected consistent interactions across different channels, yet still today, less than 30% of companies can deliver on that promise. That disconnect is puzzling, and it’s where many Australian brands are falling short.
In 2025, CMOs won’t have the luxury of treating omnichannel as an aspiration. Consumers will demand it, and the brands that can’t deliver won’t be competitive.
Commerce media plays a critical role, providing the infrastructure to ensure that a brand’s messaging and customer experience are aligned, no matter where the customer is engaging. Whether a customer is scrolling Instagram, shopping on a brand’s website, or visiting a physical store, the experience should feel like one continuous journey.
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Top image: Bench Media’s Ori Gold