Winterberry Group, Chicory and Mars United Commerce research reveals contextual commerce is filling retail media gaps for brands
NEW YORK, May 28, 2025 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- Winterberry Group, with the support of Chicory and Mars United Commerce, today released a new report revealing nearly 70% of marketers are already using contextual commerce and increasingly see it as a critical way to complement retail media network (RMN) strategies.
The report, Demystifying Contextual Commerce: From Online to In-Store, explores how brands are embedding shoppable experiences into lifestyle content, social platforms, and apps to connect with consumers in high-intent moments outside the traditional retail ecosystem.
The release follows Winterberry Group's February report, which forecasted that US spending on connected commerce—a broad category encompassing various online and offline commerce touchpoints—would exceed $112 billion in 2025. This new research narrows the focus to contextual commerce, a rapidly growing segment within that broader category, with spending expected to exceed $1 billion by 2026. As brands face growing competition for RMN inventory, contextual commerce is emerging as a vital way to extend connected commerce investments and engage consumers earlier in their journey.
Unlike traditional e-commerce, where consumers must actively search for products, contextual commerce allows transactions to happen within the content people are already engaging with, such as recipes and editorial, to influencer videos and shopping lists. As RMNs mature and inventory tightens, marketers seek privacy-safe, scalable ways to drive reach, relevance, and return.
Key findings from the report:
- Contextual commerce is growing: over 69% of marketers surveyed are already using contextual commerce as part of their connected commerce efforts
- RMN dependency prompts diversification: Brands are turning to contextual commerce to complement and, in some cases, offset heavy reliance on RMNs.
- AI and real-time relevance accelerate adoption: Contextual commerce leverages machine learning and real-time signals to surface hyper-personalized product recommendations without relying on third-party cookies.
- Measurement misalignment: Fragmentation across platforms and a lack of unified standards continue to create attribution blind spots, reinforcing the need for industry-wide collaboration on metrics and responsible AI practices
"Retail media demand is outpacing supply and brands are feeling the squeeze," said Yuni Baker-Saito, co-founder and CEO. "Limited inventory and rising costs are forcing marketers to rethink their marketing mix, and I believe it's why contextual commerce is emerging as the next big bet. It complements RMNs, extends brand reach, and connects with consumers in a moment when they're most likely to purchase."
A full copy of the report is available to download here: https://winterberrygroup.com/demystifying-contextual-commerce-from-online-to-in-store
Notes to editors:
About Chicory
Chicory is the leading contextual advertising platform for CPG and Grocery advertisers. It combines the power of contextually relevant and brand-safe content and engaging media with a commerce experience powered by proprietary technology to deliver results and insights for its customers.The platform powers a network of recipe publishers and retailers that CPG brands use to reach 123 million high-intent grocery shoppers each month. Chicory's contextual advertising and shoppable recipe solutions can be found on over 5,200 websites and food blogs, including Taste of Home, The Kitchn and Food Network. Sites enabled with Chicory's technology take grocery shoppers from inspiration to checkout in just a few clicks, driving products to cart for 70+ leading retailers.
About Winterberry Group
Winterberry Group is a growth consultancy specializing in the intersecting disciplines of marketing, advertising, technology, data and analytics. We collaborate with stakeholders across those ecosystems—agencies, service providers, technology developers, brands, publishers and investor groups— leveraging deep industry expertise to build actionable strategies that spur growth and drive the creation of real and lasting stakeholder value.
Learn more at Winterberrygroup.com
NOTICE: This report contains brief, selected information and analysis pertaining to the advertising, marketing and technology industries and has been prepared by Winterberry Group. It does not purport to be all-inclusive or to contain all of the information that a prospective manager, investor or lender may require. Projections and opinions in this report have been prepared based on information provided by third parties. Neither Winterberry Group nor its respective sponsors make any representations or assurances that this information is complete or completely accurate, as it relies on self-reported data from industry leaders—including advertisers, marketing service providers, technology developers and agencies. Nor shall any of the foregoing (or their respective officers or controlling persons) have any liability resulting from the use of the information contained herein or otherwise supplied. All trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
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SOURCE Winterberry Group
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