The detonation of retail media’s limits is exciting, but it’s only half the point – and half of the reason commerce media is so hot. The real value of commerce media is the compounding effect– that is, the exponential growth – that unleashed supply and demand capabilities represent when paired together. Not only can a brand acquire new customers from new places, but they can immediately monetize that new customer more effectively with spend from other compatible brands looking to do the exact same thing.

Over the last year, commerce media has emerged as the younger, taller and hotter little brother of retail media. Newsletters and podcasts once focusing on retail media have been renamed, if not replaced altogether, to reflect their expanded scope.

Rightfully so, sales and marketing leaders are enthralled by their expansive, newfound access to inventory and audiences across surfaces they never imagined engaging with before. Instead of being limited to a given retailer’s ad inventory, brands can now merchandise across a plethora of new publishers, apps and retailers, in new placements– digitally, out-of-home and even in-store. Similarly, instead of only monetizing their real estate with ads for products their customers already know, big retailers (and brands with no retail media pipes alike!) can now monetize all their placements across all their properties more effectively.

The detonation of retail media’s limits is exciting, but it’s only half the point– and half of the reason commerce media is so hot.

The real value of commerce media is the compounding effect– that is, the exponential growth– that these new halves of unleashed supply and demand capabilities represent when paired together. Not only can a brand acquire new customers from new places, but they can immediately monetize that new customer more effectively with spend from other compatible brands looking to do the exact same thing.

At Fluent, we call this concept the Fluent Flywheel. While network partners and advertisers benefit from strong monetization and acquisition performance respectively, the most substantial, lasting value for any given partner comes from stitching both sides together, engaging commerce media in a cyclical and self-sustaining way.

Of course, the relationship between acquisition and monetization isn’t necessarily unique to Fluent. Brands engaging in commerce media across any network can and should capitalize on this flywheel pattern, keeping in mind that the differentiator behind exceptional performance in commerce media comes down to data and how it’s used (as is almost always the case).

An example of uniquely powerful ways to use data, our Fluent Identity Graph (FIG, for short) threads together Fluent’s hundreds of millions of first-party data profiles with sanctioned partner data, as well as expansive third-party data from Experian. We’ve also recently developed our own data clean room capabilities, meaning we’re able to safely collaborate with partners and advertisers alike on creative ways to enrich their customer insights and experiences.

By combining these unique capabilities with our proactive partnership approach, we’re able to deliver up to 40% better outcomes versus our direct competitors. Recently, we’ve used data-driven insights to lead the collaborative testing and launch of innovative offer structures and new verticals within our expanding network.

These kinds of compelling results and innovations are ultimately what come from that strategic space between supply and demand and what signify the full potential of commerce media. When done well, commerce media offers brands the chance to grow both extensively and intensively across audiences. It offers a completely new, highly integrative and fully measurable channel for strategic growth, uniquely strengthened by the given network’s data and approach.

At Fluent, we’re dedicated to helping our network partners and advertisers realize the full power and impact of this space. As an industry, we may have broken the boundaries of retail media, but we’re only beginning to realize the value of what makes commerce media so hot.