Canada’s retail media landscape is evolving at record speed, propelled by omnichannel shopping behaviours, loyalty ecosystems, and data collaboration capabilities that stretch far beyond traditional media placements. As retailers, brands, and agencies build integrated systems connecting in-store experiences, digital channels, and payments, the term “retail media” no longer fully captures the scale or sophistication of this marketplace. To reflect its broader strategic role in driving measurable outcomes across the entire shopper journey, industry has effectively re-branded this sector as “Connected Commerce.”
Shopper journeys are omnichannel, not “retail-only”
Canadian shoppers move fluidly between store, site, app, curbside, and social. KPMG’s national survey shows Canadians expect seamless experiences across online and offline, which requires breaking data silos and rethinking consumer journeys end-to-end.
The network now spans in-store, onsite, offsite, and payments
IAB Canada’s research with Stingray Advertising and Leger highlights fast-maturing in-store touchpoints like audio are becoming standard parts of the media buy. That goes far beyond banners on a retailer’s website. A connected commerce framework lets brands plan in-store audio, digital screens, onsite, and offsite together as one performance campaign.
First-party loyalty data and clean-room collaboration are central
Canadian RMNs increasingly activate large loyalty graphs and privacy-safe data collaboration. Loblaw’s Advance integrates LiveRamp for secure first-party data activation and closed-loop outcomes, showing how media, merch, and measurement now connect across partners. “Connected commerce” reflects that data collaboration layer better than “retail media.”
Commerce signals go beyond media impressions
Payment modernization and richer remittance data are reshaping attribution and targeting in Canada. Interac and RCC point to growing demand for new payment options, while Payments Canada tracked a whopping 21.7B retail payment transactions in 2023. Calling the space “connected commerce” captures signals from tender, loyalty, and fulfilment that sit outside classic media.
Canadian spend and organizational design already assume a connected system
According to our latest Internet Ad Revenue Report, Connected Commerce in Canada grew by 20.4% in 2024 and is poised for further growth. As budgets scale, brands in Canada are integrating brand and shopper teams and seeking cross-network standards, which aligns to a connected commerce mandate rather than a narrow media label.
Leading Canadian RMNs sell full-funnel, not just “retail” inventory
Walmart Connect Canada and Loblaw emphasize full-funnel solutions across onsite, offsite, and in-store, anchored by robust shopper data and omnichannel measurement platforms like LOOP. The category behaves like an integrated commerce engine, not a media silo.
IAB Canada is hosting a webinar with Walmart Connect to help agency planners and strategy leads learn how to plan and buy for Retail Media. Join the session to gain practical insights and best practices.
What changes when we adopt “Connected Commerce” in Canada
- Measurement: Move to closed-loop KPIs that blend media, merchandising, loyalty, and payment outcomes across networks. IAB Canada and partners are prioritizing cross-network accountability.
- Planning: Brief and budget against the whole journey: in-store audio and screens, onsite, offsite, social commerce, and last-mile.
- Data: Normalize clean-room collaboration and consented first-party activation with Canadian privacy expectations in mind.
- Retailer partnerships: Engage RMNs as commerce platforms tied to loyalty and fulfilment, not just media sellers.
