Retail media networks continue to thrive, attracting financial institutions like Chase and Revolut. PayPal, active in advertising since October 2024, recently introduced Transaction Graph, a new tool for advertisers operating both onsite and offsite.
Transaction Graph segments audiences based on purchase data across PayPal’s platforms: Honey, PayPal, and Venmo. The company highlights its advantage by accessing data from 30 million merchants and 400 million global consumers, covering about 25% of global commerce.
“We have a much better understanding than competitors of consumer purchase behavior—what they buy, when, where, and in what order,” said Mark Grether, PayPal Ads’ senior vice president. “From an advertiser’s perspective, we can answer many more questions than a single retailer can.”
PayPal operates in 200 markets worldwide, leveraging insights about diverse consumer groups. For example, it identifies the typical “young, urban, social” demographic active on Venmo. After launching PayPal Ads in the U.S., the service expanded to the U.K. and Germany earlier this year.
Because PayPal aggregates transaction data across multiple merchants, it can estimate market shares and advise brands on expanding theirs. “We can assist with incrementality not only from a single merchant but across all merchants,” Grether explained.
Transaction Graph has been in beta for eight months and is already used by advertisers such as Target, Best Buy, and Verizon. Although specific campaign results were not disclosed, PayPal collaborates with nearly a dozen full-funnel measurement firms including Lucid and InMarket.
“Transactions are the new cookie,” Grether stated, highlighting improved confidence, security, and trust in building this ad business.
According to eMarketer forecasts, retail media will capture more than 20% of digital media spending by 2029. More announcements from retailers and financial institutions about their media networks are expected in the coming weeks.
At the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, notable retail media events are scheduled, such as Nectar360’s retail media summit and Albertsons Media Collective’s pop-up grocery store at MediaLink beach. Tim Ringel, Global CEO of Meet the People, emphasized the transition from hype to practical applications in retail and financial media networks.